Really nice job on the control box.
Can you show some close ups of how you mounted it?
Where and how did you mount the sensor for the tachometer?
Thank you!
It's mounted using a piece of aluminum angle bracket from lowes and some steel cylinders I machined on my lathe. Bolted into the original M6 tapped holes where the stock forward/reverse drum switch mounts.
I've thought a lot about where to mount the tach and have decided to mount it below the quill so that it will pull direct from the bottom of the spindle. This way I don't have to worry about hitting it while tightening the draw bar. It's important that the tach be grabbing the actual RPM and not pulling off of a pulley.
I am going to re-wire the internals to make use of some DIN mounted parts and to add internal power supplies. The VFD I bought did not come with a 12v rail like I thought it would so I have to add that to my system, also PM's DRO system uses a huge 5v power supply which I will remove and replace with a DIN mounted unit. All of this equipment is mounted within the milling machine's column.
For those buying new machines or considering how to outfit theirs: I would NEVER buy a manually operated mill without a VFD and tachometer. The benefits are endless. It is as necessary as a DRO in my opinion. It is also considerably cheaper than adding a DRO. Figure $500 all in including all the buttons, enclosures and wiring.
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr