The motor is rated for 220v or 230v, your OUTPUT of the VFD MUST match that, If you are able to supply the VFD with 380V then do that. As far as the line supply is concerned it only "sees" the input to the VFD, it will make very little difference what the output is set to as it completely changes the current passing through it (voltage and frequency).

Mine is a watercooled 2.2kw 220V set at 9Amps as that is the info etched on the spindle body

Chris, I don't want to add confusion to this already but there is a lot to motors that is not even covered here. First, how is your power supplied there, Wye or Delta? Things can be different based on the country we are from. Mostly here in the US power is supplied in WYE. If you want a motor with a constant torque, you would by an inverter rated delta motor with a specified torque ratio and use it with the VFD and the VFD being specified as a Vector Type. However, most three phase motors here are a split voltage 230/460 with the Wye motors supplied with 9 wire and the DELTA with 12 wire. These Chinese spindles are supplied with a dedicated wiring for 220V and only three wire connection. Some come with 4 or 5 pin connectors and some come with and without a case ground connection in the connector. Again this is where the confusion can and will start. With little known about how the spindle is wired internally. Now with this all to confuse you, with your VFD you specify the HP or kW of the motor and FLA. The FLA will tell the VFD to never exceed the amperage you tell it. I have never seen a VFD that you supplied a high voltage on the Line side and it supplied a lower Load voltage. (Not saying there isn't one but I don't know how the v/f relationship would work then as they usually both vary) Typically you use a transformer to reduce the voltage before feeding the the Line side of the VFD with required voltage, in this case 220V. On your concern of saving money, I have never drawn the maximum amperage of 9A that my spindle is rated at or even close to it.

I even set my VFD to 8Amp for my 3Kw spindle. I still cut harder than when I was using a 2.2Kw spindle with the lower amp setting.

Thanks guys, Pete I don't know how it works but my VFD, the ABB acs350-03u-15a6-4 is able to set 230v even with 380v input. Also it has vector type speed control, but I am not sure what that means. I did try it, but my spindle didn't run with that.

I'll set it to 12 amps as he's told me to, but I have a suspicion that it will run fine at 15amps. I think they under rate the spindle so that they don't burn out.

Unfortunately for me, my spindle didn't come with a sticker plate, or a manual, so there is nothing to say what it is supposed to run at. I really would love to change the 2 bottom bearings to ceramic, but have no idea what sort they are, and would have to disassemble in order to find out. Bearing pullers on ebay are cheap, and I have a friend with a hydraulic press so it wouldn't be too much of a nightmare I don't think.

Ok, well it runs fine on 230v 10amp, I'll up it to 230v 12 amp and run with it like that.

Regarding mounting of the spindle, was I supposed to drill and CS the 6 holes for mounting from the back of the Z plate and the rest from the front?

Glad you have it working

Rack finished, any boring advice for pinions?
 

Thanks Pete,

Rack is welded, drilled, taped, and mounted. Looking at the pinions, searching the forum about boring them out and not too thrilled about having to get them machined. Has anyone gone and bored them out themselves on a press with good results or should I just bite the bullet and get them bored? They are 10mm now, need to get them to 12.5mm.

The cost of 4 hardened pinions from OZ, with shipping, was 1/4 the cost of buying the same quality pinions, though non-hardened here in NZ.

Will post pics of the rack mounted soon but all went well. That tape is so strong!

Thanks!
Chris

If you drill them on a drill press with 12.5mm drill it might produce a bit larger hole.

try on some scrap metal and see if it is a slip fit. otherwise get them machined

Thanks Danilo, Do you think that if I use .5mm increments it would stay concentric?

Here are what my pinions look like.

http://s9.postimg.org/4yaz97lvf/IMG_2237.jpg http://s9.postimg.org/dhyykpjln/IMG_2238.jpg

It all depends on your desired end product. Remember once you start giving a little in one area the next thing you know you are giving a little in another and it affects everything exponentially. If pretty close to straight, I do not think it would affect your run too much. There is a little leeway in the design. The rack is mounted with double sided tape and the spring allow for a movement when running. Forged angle is not perfect. As long as you have a true vise to your drill press chuck, you could drill it open. Boring on a lathe would be your best option, that is what I would choose.

If you do not have a rigid mill or lathe to ream them out, I would find a small shop locally to do it for you. If you do it your self, only do one at time.

You will need a reamer bit to finish the hole and I would use snub bits (real short) to drill the holes because they are more ridged. Also make sure your table is as close to the quil as possible.

I would farm this out, or at least be ready to order another. I think I recall someone here trying to do this without much luck.

Issue is not about being concentric (which is also an issue) but you could drill a hole a little bit too large and when you put setscrews the pinion could wobble.
so drill on a lathe and ream the hole as metalhead said is the best option

They make adjustable reams. We use them a lot when repairing machinery. That is another option. http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/?nav...rs&hdrsrh=true

I don't remember anyone on this site boring out pinions successfully on a drill press. A few have tried. SurfCNC for one.

Why not drill your pinion on a milling machine with a strong mechine vice & lovely V-blocks. Drill bench are meant for lesser precise jobs.

Thanks for the advice guys. I luckily just had a friend of the family going to school taking a turning class, who has access to a CNC lathe. He just took all 4 pinions and is going to try to get them done tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

On another note, I've mounted all the Drag chain and ended up with some leftover. Just an FYI, I used one section of 2meter, one of 1800mm, took about half meter off the 1800 and added it to the 2 meter for the x axis. Chai has good chain that is 75mm bend radius so it worked out well.

I've just received my 8 channel relay board that operates off 5v logic so I'm going to use that to turn on vacuum, Dust Collector, laser, plus 3 indicator lights, and so forth on my second parallel port off the smooth stepper. I really love all this stuff and how it meshes with Mach3.

I've been interested in seeing how far I could get with running LinuxCNC on a raspberry Pi board. It sound really interesting if not for this project then maybe for another. Also been looking for quadrature encoders for the OM steppers I have but so far haven't found anything below $50.

Cheers,
Chris

I forgot to add, my spindle mounting hole pattern is spaced in 1.5in intervals. So I guess I must drill entirely separate holes as they run into the other ones on the plate. Thank goodness to betsy that I didn't drill into a real guage plate yet.

It Moves!
 

Job Well Done Chris!

Congrats ... Looks great!

Thanks still have a bit to do. Sensors, wiring up the push button boxes, and painting it. But it all works so far. Inspiring!

Full speed
 

Loving this machine! Here are another couple vids showing full speed rapids. Man, im surprised how fast it runs!:D Allie, my helper iis running the machine. Made some progress on estop boxes and routing.

http://vimeo.com/69613423
http://vimeo.com/69617216

http://s04.flagcounter.com/count/zVf...ews_1/flags_1/

That's looking really good, you will soon have that cutting, keep up the good work
Andrew

Thanks Andrew! I'd be cutting today if I had 3 phase in my build garage. Maybe I need a backup spindle and VFD that is single phase just in case.

Your cable chains are too short?

I tried to tighten the swag by shortening them... but they make the run. suppose i could add a few more links. the x one ??

The x one is very unhappy at the end of travel. Only saw that at end of video and didn't go through vid again to check Y. Sag is a totally normal event for drag chains - nothing days we have to get them parallel.

Gerald's eyes are amazing at times. I didn't even pick up on that.

Sag is only on some chains and every manufacturer is different. Most IGUS chains will not sag but some of their cheaper ones will. Your X/B chain should have another 2 to 3 links. That and with a solid no rotation 90° end connecter will help with some of the sag. You should have the half circle with the chain at the each end of travel else you will be flexing your cables at a tighter bend radius than the rest of the chain. That will be where you wires will break first. Another thing that is not that big of an expense is to chain the Y complete to the end where the X/B chain is. It is not needed but gives a much nicer look to the machine. HTH

Thanks, will do it as I have 7 or 8 more links. Does that mean I have to redo the chain holder on the Y axis if I add more to it?

Cheers,
Christ

All depends if it is an open top chain if you mean the end anchor for the chain. If you mean the chain supports, you can add more supports easily and tie together if you wish.