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New Mill :) oops it 3 phase... advice please

Hi all, Ive managed to finally by a mill, . only a couple of oops moments: Oops number 1: I was looking a 42" sized brigeports or similar, and Ive ended up with a TOS FNK25, but it was cheaper than Ive seen any Bridgeports go for, so thats ok.(Im pretty sure it will fit in the garage, though getting it through the door might be 'interesting') The main oops is its 3 phase... Id rather not spend more on a method of running it than I did on the mill, so I think just some capacitors are in order. Ive not done this before (I chickened out on my harrison and bought a Newton Tesla Drive, in that case the lathe was free, so I could sort of justify it...) so hints tips etc would be nice. What size caps do I need, is there a nice 'rule of thumb', and will the capacitance vary with load? Am I likely to have problems with the motor running it on a 'static convertor'? I dont think Ill be doing production style metal hogging (at least not yet), but I dont want to have to 'baby' it (one reason I bought a big un). I do have a spare 1hp 3ph motor (from the harrison) would it be a good idea to add this into the mix somewhere?

cheers

Dave (who has until thursday morning to move ALL the heavy machinery and stuff he already has around so theres floor space for the new arrival!)

Reply to
dave sanderson
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Dave

I have a home made 3 phase converter that is surplus to requirements - availble for a small fee. It previously ran my 2.5HP Elliott horizontal mill before being replaced by a more robust Transwave SMA that I bought for the new lathe.

A previous mill was run with a capacitor and relay start mechanism built from the book "Electric Montors in the Home Workshop". Still works a treat in it's own home and only cost £20. The downside is that it requires a full rewire of the mill where the converter option is a plug-and-play route.

Charles

Reply to
Charles Ping

Dave

My bridgy runs a 2-speed motor just fine on a static converter from transwave, just have to flick the switch to bring in more capacitors to start it on the higher speed.

The motor is only 2Hp - I suspect the TOS may be more - and I bought the 4Hp/3kw converter on the recommendation of Power Capacitors.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Neill

'noon,

would have replied eariler but google groups seems bust (I know, ought to get a proper news account...). I think the spindle motor is 3.5Kw, but other places seem to think it

2.5Kw, on that basis I think your convertor might be a little smal Charles? Its 2 speed, unless there are a lot of belts - 16 speeds. suspect theres a suds pump too. Ill know more tommorow when I get it and report back. There doesnt seem to be a lot of info on these on the net, are the really uncommon?

on a slightly different note was this:

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bargin or what? It has to be worth more than that as just plai scrap!

Dave (Nearly finished moving things, only 1 car to go!

-- small.plane

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Reply to
small.planes

Oooh I quite like those. Stumbled across a site with some information on it about these a while ago. They look like a nice rigid, extremely versatile piece of kit, capable of all sorts of things.

Here's a link to the site mentioned, with some photos of the Abene in various operating modes.

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Peter

Reply to
Peter Neill

Aaahhh

0.99 p final bid. Shall we upset the colonials ?
Reply to
John Stevenson

Dave

I agree that it's probably too small - it didn't like my 3HP lathe but the gearing on that was heavier that a turret mill.

2 speed means that a cheap capacitor & relay approach might not work. 2 speed motor wiring can be very confusing. I remotored my Bridgeport with a modern metric framed 1.5HP flange mounting motor. Fitted beautifully inside the original "pancake" motor base plate. You might consider that sort of approach if you get stuck.

Charles

Reply to
Charles Ping

But of course, it would seem rude not too Would you like to set the bait or shall I ?

Peter

Reply to
Peter Neill

I see malbenbut has already beaten us to it on the PM forum.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Neill

Why should we be upset?

I hope Gundy53 give it a good home.

Wes

Reply to
Wes

just thought Id post a photo

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Ive not quite figured out how Im going to turn it round so I can use it tho....

think I need a bigger garage....

Dave

Reply to
dave sanderson

Dead easy! Crowbar to lift a corner, put a 1/2" or 3/4" bar under it as a roller, and spin it. Once you have it balanced on the roller it's suprising how easy it is to move heavy weights.

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

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