Rick Cox (in ) said:
| I hope to bring and old Rockwell lathe back to life this weekend.
| The lathe is a Rockwell Delta 46-450 1HP 3phase monster with the
| Reeves speed control on it.
| I would really like to restore this lathe, but I want to see it run
| before I spend to much time or money on it.
|
| After some research (love that OWWM) I decided to try the VFD route
| instead of replacing the motor.
| I got a used Toshiba VFD on ebay for $80.00 and a great manual with
| wiring diagrams. I have read that the reeves gear on that lathe
| works pretty well, so I may only use the vfd as an inverter, but I
| really am intrested in the flexibility.
|
| I also learned that the larger Jet, Delta, Performax lathes use the
| VFDs with 3 phase motors. My father has the JET 1642 and I noticed
| that it also has a brake resistor. Would this be a good thing to
| get before I try the VFD, or is it all that necessary?
|
| I saw a "Hint" in the manual that you might want to set the Maximum
| Frequency for an older non VFD designed "General Purpose" motor to
| max out at 80hz. Has anyone done this?
|
|
| To start out, I plan on using the 0-60hz and control the vfd from
| its own control panel, how ever, i would like eventually use a
| remote potentiometer and run stop switch.
|
| If any one has any additional tips I would appreciate it.
|
| If everything goes ok I will have a great heavy lathe,
| If not....I have to get rid of a heavy lathe.....
I don't have any experience with Toshiba VFDs and I'm not a turner;
but I use a Delta (Taiwanese Electronics outfit, not associated with
B&D) VFD-B to provide 3-phase power (from a single phase circuit) and
speed control for a 5 HP Colombo spindle in a CNC router.
I wouldn't hesitate to use the VFD as a power converter or speed
control. My VFD-B is keyboard programmable and one of the groups of
options deals with to stop the spindle. I can either allow it to coast
to a stop or I can provide ramping parameters for a braked stop (right
now I have it set up to do a braked stop so I can do faster tool
changes). Unless you're doing production turning and want to change
workpieces quickly, I don't think braking really makes much sense for
a lathe but YMMV.
The finess of control with a VFD is awesome! I can set my spindle to
run at any speed up to 24K RPM in increments of 0.1 RPM - incredible
overkill since I'd be well-satisfied with 100RPM increments. If the
Toshiba is even "just decent", I'm sure you'll get a lot of mileage
(and enjoyment) from your $80!
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html