Is There Life Outside the Garage?
May 1st, 2009I Think I Hear the Ice Cream Truck!
The lathe has absorbed my life. I rented a tool grinding video from Smartflix, and the disk was corrupted, so I could not copy it and return it right away. I have been spending whatever time I can find, sitting and making notes, but it’s taking forever. Sometimes it doesn’t play correctly, which is irritating. I received two other disks with it, and I decided to go ahead and send them back.
I now have two lathe motors, and neither is in a lathe. I have to put the “new” motor in and rig up the VFD. I was going to dump the drum switch and use the VFD for forward/reverse control, but I now think that would be stupid. The lever on the front of the lathe is super convenient, and the buttons on the VFD will never be as easy to use. I figure all I have to do is arrange the drum switch so it switches two wires on the motor’s input. I should be able to figure that out. I don’t see why the VFD would object. I don’t think it will know the difference.
I think the best thing is to dump both motors and install a Baldor. The perfect motor (nearly so, anyway) is available on Ebay very cheap. I’ll check the shaft size to be sure, but that’s the only variable that could give me trouble.
Being unable to learn from painful experience, I have contacted another dealer about a milling machine. He’s going to root around in his stock and tell me what he can offer. He has two nice-looking mills with DROs on his site, with all sorts of scrapy marks visible on the saddles and beds. The other possibility is to get a restored mill which is in better shape but costs more.
I told the guy with the DRO machines I wanted to use an escrow company or pay a mechanic look the machines over. That much, I have learned.
Og says virtually all machine tool dealers are jerks. The guy I’m dealing with now sent me a big long email packed with information, and he didn’t resent me flat-out stating that I was afraid he would screw me over. He must be a freak of nature.
If I ever create anything with the lathe (beyond the amazing 5/8″ bolt with no head), I will post it so you can admire it.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Is there life outside of teh garage?
That depends on whether yuo call that “living”.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:16 PM
No matter what og says…I say stick with the the Workmate and the Dremel tool…and possibly a belt sander mounted in the Workmate’s mighty Jaws.
And goggles and leather gloves and a face mask to keep away the Porcine Flu.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:24 PM
I thought of Og’s love of the Workmate last night when I watched Rudy Kouhoupt’s grinding video. Rudy lectured about grit, wheels, bond grades and so on, while standing in front of a cheap grinder…clamped in a WORKMATE!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Is there life outside of teh garage?
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Heh. I relate.
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…unfortunately, so does my puir wifie. For example, last night she pops her head in around 11:45P, and sweetly asks “Hon’? What’cha doing?”
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I was really just, um, planning out the next project.
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Honest.
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May 1st, 2009 at 12:43 PM
switching the output of a vfd with a dru. switch not always such a good ideam
May 1st, 2009 at 1:13 PM
make sure you get your e-i-e-i’s ahead of your o’s and everything will be fine in regard to your v-f-d’s and d-r-u’s og…
May 1st, 2009 at 1:21 PM
and instead of hearing “the Ice Cream Truck” it’s the “Rigid Tool Truck” you’re looking out for.
May 1st, 2009 at 1:37 PM
virgil: commenting from phone 26 feet in the air working on a robot while hanging from a safety belt. What’re YOU doing?
May 1st, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Steve,
My friend bought a wood lathe years ago that he could not use because it had a 3 phase motor. I’ll have to see if he still has it. Maybe he could sell it on e-bay. I’m not sure how big it is.
–Brad
May 1st, 2009 at 4:59 PM
^ …you’re a better man than I, Gunga Og.
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Steve,
Og is correct, you should never switch the output of the VFD. It might be possible to use the drum switch to operate the VFD’s control circuit, however.
On my B’Port, I jumpered the drum switch so it can’t be actually switched, and mounted the control box for the VFD on a bracket, right up front. It’s more ‘at hand’ than the drum switch ever was. If your VFD didn’t come with a seperate control box, you might be advised to make something suitable.
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Once you have a lathe and a mill, the laws of nature say you’re supposed to turn out miniature Stirling engines and/or miniature steam engines.
To Virgil above, go take a ride-along on a Snap-On truck, it’s about as close to an adult ice-cream truck as you can imagine. We had grown men waving money at us. I felt like a crack dealer.
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Why would the VFD care if I ran the output through the drum switch? How will it know reverse from forward? Seems to me that it would see the same thing all the time, since one motor input is like another.
May 2nd, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Steve,
The VFD won’t care if you run its output through a drum switch. What it cares about is having the output actually SWITCHED (on or off) while it’s powered up, even if the motor isn’t running.
Check your VFD’s manual and the threads on the PM BBS, you’ll find complete agreement.
May 2nd, 2009 at 7:13 PM
BTW: if you do a search for “grinding lathe tool” on YouTube, you’ll get lotsa hits. There seems to be several videos available, I’m watching this one right now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIOyD9f01o0
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:02 PM
The VFD has an issue with a varying load. The drum switch cuts the load off and restarts it. The VFD sees the reduced load as a call for more current. The fireworks are impressive.
The VFD will have inputs for forward/reverse switches. Use those instead. Most VFD’s will also have an input for a rheostat for speed control. Use a three-hole box and buy AB or Telemechanique switches to get estop, for/rev, and a rheostat. Mount that close to the spindle. Then you can put the VFD anywhere.
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 AM
So it sounds like I won’t have a problem unless I fail to turn off the juice before using the drum switch.
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This VFD has a knob built into it, so I don’t need a rheostat.
May 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 AM
So long as the drum switch contacts are rated for the maximum output of the vfd, no. You’ll have to wait until the caps for the VFD are completely discharged.
Pushbuttons are easier. And they’d allow instant reversal of the spindle.