Powering a 1HP BLDC Lathe in a Van

AlanB said:
Some projects are interesting to think about but not practical to implement.
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I would be willing to trade the issues that I had at the Airbnb in Ohio for a new set of problems. My choice of entertainment seemed to be limited to books and a laptop. This is fine for a bit, but there has to be a way to be able to work with my hands.

We also had breaks and a 1 hour lunch every day at school. After weeks & months, that adds up to a lot of time.

Books and YouTube could solve this problem.

Maybe a Sherline is small enough to use in a motel room.
 
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I worked on the road for three years. Didn’t have any way to take hobby stuff with me. I ended up working 6 12’s simply because there was nothing else to do and the schedule demanded it.
Evenings were spent doing paperwork as I was the PM, super for a crew of 10-12 and on the tools.

When Sunday rolled around it was laundry and grocery day.

My niece’s husband stayed with us while he did his classroom work for his plumbing ticket and we barely saw him as there was so much homework.

Isn’t there homework at night?


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DavidR8 said:
I worked on the road for three years. Didn’t have any way to take hobby stuff with me. I ended up working 6 12’s simply because there was nothing else to do and the schedule demanded it.
Evenings were spent doing paperwork as I was the PM, super for a crew of 10-12 and on the tools.

When Sunday rolled around it was laundry and grocery day.

My niece’s husband stayed with us while he did his classroom work for his plumbing ticket and we barely saw him as there was so much homework.

Isn’t there homework at night?


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1 school had zero homework, another had a HUGE amount, and the one that I am going to now (42 weeks) has very little homework.

I see that a Sherline really sips power:

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I liked the idea of converting the lathe to DC! You can then run it off 12v batteries, or the engine.

Also, there are sealed batteries that are approved for being inside the passenger compartment. They are more expensive (called AGM gel batteries I think), but don't outgas.
 
Maximum power consumption of a Sherline is on the order of 1.75A X 110V = 192W. At normal operating conditions, it looks to be 60W. With a DRO and lighting, it looks like the power requirement is quite low here.
 
I had two Optima batteries (in parallel) in the cab of my truck for years. The Optimas never let me down.

Maybe with the Sherline in tandem with charging things in a motel room could negate the need for a generator.

This could make for almost silent work in the mobile lathe vehicle.
 
erikmannie said:
I had two Optima batteries (in parallel) in the cab of my truck for years. The Optimas never let me down.

Maybe with the Sherline in tandem with charging things in a motel room could negate the need for a generator.

This could make for almost silent work in the mobile lathe vehicle.
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Optima! Thats the famous AGM brand I couldn't think of! You could also stick to the 2nd alternator idea and just charge them as you drive! No idea how long you're on the road between evenings, but that might work. Also, a 120v->12v battery charger could work if you have a spot with power.
 
The motels are about a 10 minute drive from the school.

Considering that I can charge at the motel and the school, it is only a matter of selecting a power source at this point. The Sherline being such a power sipper is going to make everything so much easier.

If it is the case that an Optima doesn’t offgas, I would prefer those over a generator for noise and air quality considerations.
 
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