Need Help With Decision on New Lathe and VFD

[BB 777]

I just went with Home Depot - by-the-metre 4 woire to the motor. Since it's less than a metre, it's fine. If I want to limit ERI, I'll put a ferrite bead on the VFD side of the output.

You are much more savvy than I am. What is a ferrite bead?

 

[Dabbler]

Have you had a power supply with a 'lump' on the wire? it is a ferrite doughnut that absorbs energy in the RF range. You can cut one from an old laptop power supply and use it for this. The energy profile isn't perfect, but it will help - a lot. Hey I had a typing fart. it isn't ERI, it's EMI - electro magnetic interference. oops!

The 'shielded' recommendation is a 'litigation-proofing' measure, because the VFD emits moderate energy in the RF spectrum (one of the settings is to set the frequency - I set mine in the 144KHz range, an IF band that is never allocated, so interference with anything is unlikely) We also operate our non-licenced cave radios in that band to avoid issues.

 

[Lucky Liverider]

Here’s what I’ve done so far:
1. Confirmed most everything with mksj
2. Contacted Jason @Eisen to ship my lathe - should be shipped soon
3. Ordered almost all of the electrical parts - just a few small items remaining
4. Located a company to make me a new control panel faceplate similar to attached

BB, so the Eisen 1440 has landed, the well crated will plywood all around. Started my VFD enclosure this weekend and got it about completed with a few minor items. Hats off to mksj for the parts list...

 

[BB 777]

BB, so the Eisen 1440 has landed, the well crated will plywood all around. Started my VFD enclosure this weekend and got it about completed with a few minor items. Hats off to mksj for the parts list...

You are ahead of me by a fair bit. I’m still waiting to hear that my lathe has shipped...I guess it’s all ready and just awaiting crating. 99% of my electrical stuff has arrived. Just waiting for the led tachometer and a Hammond box to mount it in. Wish I lived in the U.S. It’s so much easier to buy things and shipping to Canada is very expensive and slow.

Bellmachinerylimited.com has sales videos of a bunch of lathes, including this one (just a different branding name). It sounds very smooth and quiet...you’ll have to post a video of yours when it’s running.

I’m still undecided about a quick change tool post. There is a company (Create Tool) that sells Multifix 40 position tool posts and holders that are not quite as good as the originals but a whole lot cheaper. The also have a reputation for being very nice to deal with. What are you going with?

 

[BB 777]

At long last, I just finished a 12 hour trek to and from the border to pick up my lathe. Then it was another hurdle to get it off the trailer and into my garage. It was my first experience towing a trailer and securing such a heavy, top heavy load. A bit nerve wracking but it was a success. One thing I was expecting was a more solid crate with solid sides and top, but it was just made of wood slats and was a bit rickety. Some pictures are attached.

 

[B2]

I’ve reviewed Mark’s (mksj) documents re: VFD conversion components and wiring and I have done up a diagram showing as much detail as I could fit in. My goal was to make sure that I understood the components and and how they are wired together. Details such as how the contactors are wired to each other and exactly how wires are connected to switches have been left out. Otherwise everything is in the attached PDF file. There were a few places where I wasn’t sure, so I just took my best guess. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’m hoping that I can get some feedback re: where I might have misunderstood Mark’s information.

Hi BB,

Thanks for your post. Can you also post your VISO file so that we can add or subtract from it for our own situations. I run an older version of Visio, Visio 10, but maybe I can open your file.
Thanks.