I'm the new owner of a nicely kept Cincinatti Toolmaster 1-B milling machine, and, soon, after completing "round two" of moving big stuff, a nice old Leblond 14 inch lathe that was originally lineshaft-driven, but at some point had a motor drive fitted.
I only have single phase power, so I will need to put in place some means of feeding both with three phase.
I already have on hand a couple of very sizeable 3-ph industrial motors, and a magnetic start switch, so the path of least financial resistance would be to wire up an idler-motor-type rotary converter.
From what I understand, idler-motor RPCs supply less than ideally balanced phases and voltages, in ways that are not entirely great for the powered equipment.
The less initially frugal path would be to get a VFD that is adequate to run either machine (I don't need to run more than one at a time) but from what I have been reading, VFDs have their own downsides, especially for older motors, in the way of electrical 'artifacts' introduced by the high speed switching/ synthesized waveforms, and that can take their own toll on motor insulation and bearings, especially on older motors that were not built with VFDs in mind. I do seem to find that putting a reactor between the VFD and driven load may mollify some of those wear and tear factors from a VFD (not sure if that is partial or full remediation of those wear and tear factors), and it seems like the reactors can be found surprisingly cheaply on ebay, etc.
Either way, while my budget is very finite, I don't want to cut corners in a way that would zorch the motor in either the Toolmaster or the Leblond, or I could quickly find myself with headaches and costs that cripple my ability to begin to use and learn about this equipment.
Thanks in advance for any experience and wisdom that you can share...
I only have single phase power, so I will need to put in place some means of feeding both with three phase.
I already have on hand a couple of very sizeable 3-ph industrial motors, and a magnetic start switch, so the path of least financial resistance would be to wire up an idler-motor-type rotary converter.
From what I understand, idler-motor RPCs supply less than ideally balanced phases and voltages, in ways that are not entirely great for the powered equipment.
The less initially frugal path would be to get a VFD that is adequate to run either machine (I don't need to run more than one at a time) but from what I have been reading, VFDs have their own downsides, especially for older motors, in the way of electrical 'artifacts' introduced by the high speed switching/ synthesized waveforms, and that can take their own toll on motor insulation and bearings, especially on older motors that were not built with VFDs in mind. I do seem to find that putting a reactor between the VFD and driven load may mollify some of those wear and tear factors from a VFD (not sure if that is partial or full remediation of those wear and tear factors), and it seems like the reactors can be found surprisingly cheaply on ebay, etc.
Either way, while my budget is very finite, I don't want to cut corners in a way that would zorch the motor in either the Toolmaster or the Leblond, or I could quickly find myself with headaches and costs that cripple my ability to begin to use and learn about this equipment.
Thanks in advance for any experience and wisdom that you can share...