way back nearly a year ago when i had finally decided the grizzly 10x22 was almost exactly the perfect size lathe to suit my needs i found myself in another quandary , grizzly offered the lathe in two models .
the g0602 with a somewhat limited speed range do to using a step pulley arrangement .
and a variable speed model the g0752 that i was unsure of due to not knowing the quality of the components used in the variable speed drive .
i ended up going with the g0602 simply because i could afford it . i was also somewhat sure i could convert it to 3 phase and a vfd for roughly the same money as the difference in price .
$1250.00 for the g0602 and $1695.00 for the g0752 .
fast forward 10 months or so and i now have most of the conversion finished . and have learned i made the right choice . not because its going to be cheaper by a few bucks for me .
but because i now have something you do not get with the g0752 ... step pulley's .... that is right step pulley's .
i think most people who do this conversion do it with the mind to have the wonderful variable speed option
and no longer have to deal with changing the belt .
i think that is the wrong attitude , having the step pulley's with the vfd is a huge advantage i failed to see until
last night when i flipped the switch and turned it on .
the first thing i did was to put the belt on the speed i used the most ... 750 rpm and played with the speed control .
i giggled a little when i found i could go from about 5 rpm clear up to who knows what speed with just a turn of the dial .. woo hoo i thought this is great .
then i thought ... gee it cant be to good to run the motor at 5 hertz or at 100 hertz to get that nothing to everything speed range , and i wonder how much power it loses when turning that slow .
then it dawned on me ... hmm if i leave the belt on that pulley it will cover 99% of the work i do without slowing the motor down so far i have to worry about over heating it ,.. or over speeding it so much i need to worry about the bearings or frying the motor .
but because i have the step pulley's i can use them to keep the motor running fast enough to keep cool when i want super slow , and not have to worry about over speeding it to run at my lathes intended 2400 rpm top speed
over all its a win win giving me a much more versatile speed range
once i get things finished up i'll post some pics , i still need to dig up a box for the controller , and buy a braking resistor and a remote potentiometer along with hook up the forward reverse switch and an on button , at the moment i just have it wired in roughly to test .. err play with it is more truthful
a tach is also on my list once funds permit
the g0602 with a somewhat limited speed range do to using a step pulley arrangement .
and a variable speed model the g0752 that i was unsure of due to not knowing the quality of the components used in the variable speed drive .
i ended up going with the g0602 simply because i could afford it . i was also somewhat sure i could convert it to 3 phase and a vfd for roughly the same money as the difference in price .
$1250.00 for the g0602 and $1695.00 for the g0752 .
fast forward 10 months or so and i now have most of the conversion finished . and have learned i made the right choice . not because its going to be cheaper by a few bucks for me .
but because i now have something you do not get with the g0752 ... step pulley's .... that is right step pulley's .
i think most people who do this conversion do it with the mind to have the wonderful variable speed option
and no longer have to deal with changing the belt .
i think that is the wrong attitude , having the step pulley's with the vfd is a huge advantage i failed to see until
last night when i flipped the switch and turned it on .
the first thing i did was to put the belt on the speed i used the most ... 750 rpm and played with the speed control .
i giggled a little when i found i could go from about 5 rpm clear up to who knows what speed with just a turn of the dial .. woo hoo i thought this is great .
then i thought ... gee it cant be to good to run the motor at 5 hertz or at 100 hertz to get that nothing to everything speed range , and i wonder how much power it loses when turning that slow .
then it dawned on me ... hmm if i leave the belt on that pulley it will cover 99% of the work i do without slowing the motor down so far i have to worry about over heating it ,.. or over speeding it so much i need to worry about the bearings or frying the motor .
but because i have the step pulley's i can use them to keep the motor running fast enough to keep cool when i want super slow , and not have to worry about over speeding it to run at my lathes intended 2400 rpm top speed
over all its a win win giving me a much more versatile speed range
once i get things finished up i'll post some pics , i still need to dig up a box for the controller , and buy a braking resistor and a remote potentiometer along with hook up the forward reverse switch and an on button , at the moment i just have it wired in roughly to test .. err play with it is more truthful
a tach is also on my list once funds permit