Picked up a Mill. Now to power it

[Gman45acp]

Got this Maxport 1992 Taiwan mill
Was in basement and has seen little use. For course it’s 3 phase. It is a step pulley head. So go rotary phase converter or VFD. Think VFD as will be able to vary RPM without changing belt. They look king of complicated to set up and don’t know if this 70 year old will be able to figure it out. What has been your experience if you have gone this route
Got the mill, Taiwan Kurt copy vice 5.5 inch, set of collets, two chucks One small one larger, 14 inch rotary table , need to sell that to big for my needs, and a couple of fly cutters. Need to add z glass scale I have an extra electronic box to add
thanks

 

[ttabbal]

Looks nice!

There are 3 common options. Static and rotary converters, and VFDs. Converters are nice as you don't have to mess with switches or other electrical controls. VFD lets you vary speed easily, but there is more wiring. The mill probably uses a simple control setup with a reversing switch and not much else. Probably the easiest setup for VFD. You can even just use the controls on the VFD itself so you just have power in and out.

Static converters cause some power loss, rotary can drive many machines. So that can be a win for them.

 

[BladesIIB]

Looks like a great find. Congrats! The VFD learning curve is steep but worth it in the end in my opinion. I went that route on a lathe last year and glad I did. Lots of support on this forum if you choose the VFD route.

 

[jwmelvin]

I like your mill. I recently got a 1980 Millport, made in Taiwan. It also has a 3-phase motor (2hp, 1700 & 3400 rpm) on a step-pulley head. The prior owner had used a static phase converter. I decided that a VFD is right approach for me, and went with a GS20 series from Automation Direct. It seems like a moderately priced, richly featured, well-supported sweet spot. I got a 3hp drive; I suspect that wasn’t too important but it wasn’t a lot more expensive than the 2hp drive.

When I got the mill, it was fairly filthy, so I disassembled it completely, including the head. It’s now back together and the VFD is running the motor, but without any external controls yet. I do have the motor speed selector connected to the VFD, to select the appropriate parameters for high and low speed operation. It needs a braking resistor, to run in high speed especially, where it’s getting some over-current faults, but I have a resistor arriving tomorrow.

 

[rabler]

I have both VFDs on two machines, and rotary phase converter for two others. My general rule of thumb is that a VFD is a win for 3HP or less. Above that and the RPCs are more attractive from a cost perspective.

 

[westerner]

Lots of support on this forum if you choose the VFD route.

I decided that a VFD is right approach for me, and went with a GS20 series from Automation Direct. It seems like a moderately priced, richly featured, well-supported sweet spot.

Yup. I did exactly this on my 1 hp Millright. My 58 year old mechanic brain made sense of the programming with a little help from my friends.
Dead quiet, fits in the box where the previous hardware was, and is trouble free. Less than $200.

 

[Aukai]

My 8" RT is difficult to lug around, 14" would be a gut buster....

 

[mksj]

On a belt drive single machine, a VFD is probably the easiest and the variable speed will come in very handy. Installing a VFD on a mill is very straight forward. WIre the VFD to single phase power, wire the VFD motor outputs directly to the motor, replace the current direction switch with a simple FOR-OFF-REV switch with two contact blocks (used to switch the VFD low voltage direction inputs), add a speed pot or use the one on the VFD. QED. It will also be quite a bit less expensive then a RPC unless you put together something yourself. Mount the VFD away from any chips, some people will mount them in the base.

The Teco L510 is a basic VFD, manual is very readable, has a warranty and also tech support. Otherwise you can ask questions in this forum and get your questions addressed.

L510-203-H1-U

VFD, 3HP, 230V, SINGLE PHASE, IP20,

www.wolfautomation.com

ASW320

SELECTOR SWITCH, Ø22MM, 3-POSITION, 2NO,

www.wolfautomation.com

or

Potentiometer: 5k ohm, 22mm, black (PN# ECX2300-5K) | AutomationDirect

ECX2300-5K - Potentiometer, 5k ohm, 22mm, black. Legend plate ECX2640 purchased separately.

www.automationdirect.com

Legend Plate: "0 to 100 scale" (PN# ECX2640) | AutomationDirect

ECX2640 - Legend plate, plastic, black field, black background, white engraved text, legend plate marking

www.automationdirect.com

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/pushbuttons_-z-_switches_-z-_indicators/22mm_metal/selector_switches_illuminated_-a-_non-illuminated/non-illuminated/gcx1320-22

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/pushbuttons_-z-_switches_-z-_indicators/22mm_plastic/22mm_pushbutton_accessories/legend_plates/ecx1670-b19

 

[jwmelvin]

Here’s the GS20 if you’re interested: https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...quency_drives_(vfd)/general_purpose/gs21-22p0

 

[Gman45acp]

On a belt drive single machine, a VFD is probably the easiest and the variable speed will come in very handy. Installing a VFD on a mill is very straight forward. WIre the VFD to single phase power, wire the VFD motor outputs directly to the motor, replace the current direction switch with a simple FOR-OFF-REV switch with two contact blocks (used to switch the VFD low voltage direction inputs), add a speed pot or use the one on the VFD. QED. It will also be quite a bit less expensive then a RPC unless you put together something yourself. Mount the VFD away from any chips, some people will mount them in the base.

The Teco L510 is a basic VFD, manual is very readable, has a warranty and also tech support. Otherwise you can ask questions in this forum and get your questions addressed.

L510-203-H1-U

VFD, 3HP, 230V, SINGLE PHASE, IP20,

www.wolfautomation.com

ASW320

SELECTOR SWITCH, Ø22MM, 3-POSITION, 2NO,

www.wolfautomation.com

or

Potentiometer: 5k ohm, 22mm, black (PN# ECX2300-5K) | AutomationDirect

ECX2300-5K - Potentiometer, 5k ohm, 22mm, black. Legend plate ECX2640 purchased separately.

www.automationdirect.com

Legend Plate: "0 to 100 scale" (PN# ECX2640) | AutomationDirect

ECX2640 - Legend plate, plastic, black field, black background, white engraved text, legend plate marking

www.automationdirect.com

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/pushbuttons_-z-_switches_-z-_indicators/22mm_metal/selector_switches_illuminated_-a-_non-illuminated/non-illuminated/gcx1320-22

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/pushbuttons_-z-_switches_-z-_indicators/22mm_plastic/22mm_pushbutton_accessories/legend_plates/ecx1670-b19

The mill has a forward reserve switch that the previous owner remarked to Hi Low. The person I bought it from did a estate buy out and said he sold a vfd with a lathe. He said there was no rotary phase conversion in all the stuff he got. So this mill probably was ran on a vfd.