All,
I stated in a different thread that I was in the process of adding a powered head lift motor to my PM-45-PDF. I thought it would be better to not hijack the other thread so I started a new one. Here is a link to the original post, and pictures of where I am currently at in the conversion.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...ving-the-head-height-crank-to-the-front/page2
Due to it being over 100 degrees in my area, and that my garage was way too hot to spend as much time as I would have liked working on the project, I did not get the mounting brackets finished last weekend. The temp finally broke, and I was able to get the brackets finished. So here are some pictures of where I am at in the conversion.
All that's left for the mechanical mods is to cut the keyway in the Z axis lead screw, bore out the lovejoy coupling for the lead screw, mount the lovejoy on the lead screw, reinstall the lead screw. Position the motor, and drill the mounting holes on the top of the column.
Yes, the counter sink hole in one of the corners of the mounting plate is a mistake. It was very late and I was tired. Fortunately, I caught it before I finished sinking it. I thought about making a new plate, but decided since it would be facing the column, not visible, and did not affect the strength of the mount to any great extent, I decided against making a new plate.
Next comes the electrical mods. This is probably the most difficult part of the conversion. There are two ways to do the wiring. Since the lift motor is a 120v AC motor, I need to be able to provide 120v to the motor. The mill comes wired 240v AC three wire. That means two hot legs and a ground. I either have to provide a separate 120v AC power cord for the lift motor, or modify the mills wiring to use 240v AC 4 wire. Which is two hot legs, a common, and a ground. Since I do not want to mess with the factory wiring, I will be installing a 8"x6"x4" NEMAa box on the rear of the mill where I will bring in the 240v AC four wire, then break out the two hot legs and a ground to power the mills factory electrics. Then I will tap off 120v AC from the 4 wire to power the lift head. I will also be installing a couple of receptacles in the sides of the NEMA box to provide power to the powered cross feed. I got that idea from another post on this forum.(thanks sanddan!)
I figured out that I can reverse the motor by using a 4PDT center off toggle switch. The switch I purchased is a center off, spring loaded on on. The spring returns the switch to the off position when I release it. I will need to provide 6 wires to the switch. Two of the wires provide the power, the remaining four take care of providing power to the motor and reversing motor direction. I had to order a new NEMA box since I did not have one of suitable size for this project. Hopefully early next week the box will be in and I can install the electrical.
Well, this has been quite a long post. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Mitch
I stated in a different thread that I was in the process of adding a powered head lift motor to my PM-45-PDF. I thought it would be better to not hijack the other thread so I started a new one. Here is a link to the original post, and pictures of where I am currently at in the conversion.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...ving-the-head-height-crank-to-the-front/page2
Due to it being over 100 degrees in my area, and that my garage was way too hot to spend as much time as I would have liked working on the project, I did not get the mounting brackets finished last weekend. The temp finally broke, and I was able to get the brackets finished. So here are some pictures of where I am at in the conversion.
All that's left for the mechanical mods is to cut the keyway in the Z axis lead screw, bore out the lovejoy coupling for the lead screw, mount the lovejoy on the lead screw, reinstall the lead screw. Position the motor, and drill the mounting holes on the top of the column.
Yes, the counter sink hole in one of the corners of the mounting plate is a mistake. It was very late and I was tired. Fortunately, I caught it before I finished sinking it. I thought about making a new plate, but decided since it would be facing the column, not visible, and did not affect the strength of the mount to any great extent, I decided against making a new plate.
Next comes the electrical mods. This is probably the most difficult part of the conversion. There are two ways to do the wiring. Since the lift motor is a 120v AC motor, I need to be able to provide 120v to the motor. The mill comes wired 240v AC three wire. That means two hot legs and a ground. I either have to provide a separate 120v AC power cord for the lift motor, or modify the mills wiring to use 240v AC 4 wire. Which is two hot legs, a common, and a ground. Since I do not want to mess with the factory wiring, I will be installing a 8"x6"x4" NEMAa box on the rear of the mill where I will bring in the 240v AC four wire, then break out the two hot legs and a ground to power the mills factory electrics. Then I will tap off 120v AC from the 4 wire to power the lift head. I will also be installing a couple of receptacles in the sides of the NEMA box to provide power to the powered cross feed. I got that idea from another post on this forum.(thanks sanddan!)
I figured out that I can reverse the motor by using a 4PDT center off toggle switch. The switch I purchased is a center off, spring loaded on on. The spring returns the switch to the off position when I release it. I will need to provide 6 wires to the switch. Two of the wires provide the power, the remaining four take care of providing power to the motor and reversing motor direction. I had to order a new NEMA box since I did not have one of suitable size for this project. Hopefully early next week the box will be in and I can install the electrical.
Well, this has been quite a long post. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Mitch
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