10-07-2013, 06:50 PM
Hi,
Good luck Dennis; whatever you decide it's going to hurt your pocket.
Many thanks David for the mention; yes I've recently converted my Clarke lathe it now being fitted with a countershaft and variable speed Servo motor costing around £200 in total.
http://golbornevintageradio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=2861&page=14
I've also bought a VFD (variable frequency drive) through eBay at around £75 for my woodturning Jubilee lathe and converted to 3 phase motor; I've had the lathe running but I want to fit a clutch because I don't like to stress any motor with constant start/stop cycles this is very important with a cap start single phase motor; I had a 1.5hp single phase motor expire in a cloud of smoke whilst cutting cast iron gears but I was cutting a tooth each minute.
Lawrence liked his Transwave converter and I can appreciate this because the Transwave worked well in Lawrence's situation. I disliked my 7.5hp Transwave so much I sold both my Colchester and huge Dominion lathes as the transwave wound up the key in my back. I found my Transwave converter to be very poor at starting under load so much so that I returned mine to Transwave to have it checked and serviced but it was declared in good order?
My Transwave was for 3 phase motors but you say your motors are single phase Dennis. A Transwave converter is expensive and you would still need to change the motors to 3 phase?
On Practical Machinist forum most members are simply going the VFD route with 3 phase motors which is straightforward enough; swap the motor and hook up the VFD and the machine is running. The problem with a VFD is it needs to be kept clean away from dust so it's possible to remotely mount the VFD and run a couple of controls to the machine; start/stop and pot for speed control. I haven't reached this stage yet because I hope to also fit a clutch to the Jubilee.
Regarding the Clarke I burnt out the control board and DC motor by expecting the lathe to cut metal not scratch metal; a new control board would have cost around £130 then a new motor would have also been required; I had no intention of bringing the lathe back to original spec knowing I would be constantly blowing it up so I decided to upgrade to a larger motor and found an industrial sewing machine Servo motor suited my needs perfectly.
As David kindly states it works a treat but once I start to use the lathe in anger I won't be soft with it and if I find the motor overheats (thermal protected) I can now change the pulley sizes to allow the motor to run at a higher speed providing better cooling alternatively I could also mount a fan to provide additional cooling. When I worked at Brook Motors we sold many FVU's (forced vent units) these were fans mounted into an extend fan cover and the cover was a direct replacement only needing the fan wiring up; we also supplied many motors already fitted with the FVU and these ensured the motor ran cool at low revs when coupled to a speed controller.
Trying to modify an existing drive can be interesting but time consuming with costs involved.
It all depends how far you want to go Dennis and how much money and time you want to put in.
My first choice would be to install 3 phase with a second choice being the VFD. I installed my own 3 phase for at the time under £120 and it will easily cope with 10HP.
http://unique3phase.com/
Had I been aware Doug's unique3phase instructions were available I would still have my big lathes. Doug's Unique3phase transformer method is just brilliant; once the transformer is wound and each machines motor phase balanced to the transformer it is then just like having normal 3 phase laid in. My 3 phase has now been in use a few years and gets regular use; it provides full power full time unlike a Transwave converter.
Kind regards, Col.
Good luck Dennis; whatever you decide it's going to hurt your pocket.
Many thanks David for the mention; yes I've recently converted my Clarke lathe it now being fitted with a countershaft and variable speed Servo motor costing around £200 in total.
http://golbornevintageradio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=2861&page=14
I've also bought a VFD (variable frequency drive) through eBay at around £75 for my woodturning Jubilee lathe and converted to 3 phase motor; I've had the lathe running but I want to fit a clutch because I don't like to stress any motor with constant start/stop cycles this is very important with a cap start single phase motor; I had a 1.5hp single phase motor expire in a cloud of smoke whilst cutting cast iron gears but I was cutting a tooth each minute.
Lawrence liked his Transwave converter and I can appreciate this because the Transwave worked well in Lawrence's situation. I disliked my 7.5hp Transwave so much I sold both my Colchester and huge Dominion lathes as the transwave wound up the key in my back. I found my Transwave converter to be very poor at starting under load so much so that I returned mine to Transwave to have it checked and serviced but it was declared in good order?
My Transwave was for 3 phase motors but you say your motors are single phase Dennis. A Transwave converter is expensive and you would still need to change the motors to 3 phase?
On Practical Machinist forum most members are simply going the VFD route with 3 phase motors which is straightforward enough; swap the motor and hook up the VFD and the machine is running. The problem with a VFD is it needs to be kept clean away from dust so it's possible to remotely mount the VFD and run a couple of controls to the machine; start/stop and pot for speed control. I haven't reached this stage yet because I hope to also fit a clutch to the Jubilee.
Regarding the Clarke I burnt out the control board and DC motor by expecting the lathe to cut metal not scratch metal; a new control board would have cost around £130 then a new motor would have also been required; I had no intention of bringing the lathe back to original spec knowing I would be constantly blowing it up so I decided to upgrade to a larger motor and found an industrial sewing machine Servo motor suited my needs perfectly.
As David kindly states it works a treat but once I start to use the lathe in anger I won't be soft with it and if I find the motor overheats (thermal protected) I can now change the pulley sizes to allow the motor to run at a higher speed providing better cooling alternatively I could also mount a fan to provide additional cooling. When I worked at Brook Motors we sold many FVU's (forced vent units) these were fans mounted into an extend fan cover and the cover was a direct replacement only needing the fan wiring up; we also supplied many motors already fitted with the FVU and these ensured the motor ran cool at low revs when coupled to a speed controller.
Trying to modify an existing drive can be interesting but time consuming with costs involved.
It all depends how far you want to go Dennis and how much money and time you want to put in.
My first choice would be to install 3 phase with a second choice being the VFD. I installed my own 3 phase for at the time under £120 and it will easily cope with 10HP.
http://unique3phase.com/
Had I been aware Doug's unique3phase instructions were available I would still have my big lathes. Doug's Unique3phase transformer method is just brilliant; once the transformer is wound and each machines motor phase balanced to the transformer it is then just like having normal 3 phase laid in. My 3 phase has now been in use a few years and gets regular use; it provides full power full time unlike a Transwave converter.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
