DC Lathe and Mill drive motors

This topic has 19 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 24 February 2015 at 18:57 by blowlamp.

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22 February 2015 at 17:52 #180809
ray jones 1
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@rayjones1
Many Manufactures of Lathes and Small Mills, such as Warco, Toolco, Amadeal and others use a variety DC motors each with variable electronic speed control… The Motor speed variation is achieved by using Pulse Width Modulators… Do the DC motors and/or brushes need much maintenance? Is this system reliable?? Thank You
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22 February 2015 at 17:52 #12430
ray jones 1
Participant
@rayjones1
22 February 2015 at 17:59 #180810
norman valentine
Participant
@normanvalentine78682
I can't give much history but my home built mill with !/2HP 180v DC motor powered by a cheap Chinese speed controller does everything that I want.
22 February 2015 at 18:06 #180812
Les Jones 1
Participant
@lesjones1
Any motor with brushes will need them checking and replacing from time to time. It would also be worth cleaning out the carbon dust that results from the brushes wearing.

Les.
22 February 2015 at 20:08 #180823
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
The brushless motors have 'sealed for life bearings' and should need no maintenance. As Les says, cleaning out carbon dust from brushed motors from time to time is a good idea. The brushes need to e watched for wear.

Neil
22 February 2015 at 20:15 #180825
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Had an X3 mill since 2007 and never touched the motor, Warco 280 lathe for about 5 yrs and just one brush set changed fairly early on. Both brushed DC motors

J
23 February 2015 at 16:59 #180902
oldvelo
Participant
@oldvelo
Hi Ray

As Les says an occasional check and clean out is all that is required.

In a home workshop they will not be run for an excessive amount of time in a year.

Eric
23 February 2015 at 17:52 #180910
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
I burnt out two mini-lathe brushed motors through prolonged lathe-abuse and a third spare I ought from a 'nice old gent'' turned out to have two blown windings.

That's not to say brushed motors are no good – the brushless motor o my X2 mill is fine – but I tend to run it faster.

The problem is that he mechanical capabilities of a mini-lathe are greater than those of the standard brushed motors, and I like to work the lathe harder than it ought to be, and when this means larger diameters it means brushed motor working hard and slow – which is a recipe for overheating.

I would, however, definitely go brushless in the future, even at significant extra cost.

Neil
23 February 2015 at 18:16 #180916
blowlamp
Participant
@blowlamp
Posted by Neil Wyatt on 23/02/2015 17:52:52:

I burnt out two mini-lathe brushed motors through prolonged lathe-abuse and a third spare I ought from a 'nice old gent'' turned out to have two blown windings.

That's not to say brushed motors are no good – the brushless motor o my X2 mill is fine – but I tend to run it faster.

The problem is that he mechanical capabilities of a mini-lathe are greater than those of the standard brushed motors, and I like to work the lathe harder than it ought to be, and when this means larger diameters it means brushed motor working hard and slow – which is a recipe for overheating.

I would, however, definitely go brushless in the future, even at significant extra cost.

Neil

This is a similar motor & controller to the one I fitted to my Mini-Lathe.

There is phenomenal amount of torque when compared to the original motor fitted to this lathe.

Martin.
24 February 2015 at 03:07 #180976
oldvelo
Participant
@oldvelo
Hi

A computer cooling fan fitted to the end of the motor run from a 12 volt "Plug Pack" power supply will help keep the motor a lot cooler on low speed and high loading.

As Blowlamp suggests a bigger horse power motor will give much better performance over the stock standard motor.

This review may be of interest to anyone.

http://www.mini-lathe.com/mini_lathe/reviews/sieg_sc2/sc2.htm#Update 09/10/09.

Thank's to Frank Hoose and his excellent website.

Eric
24 February 2015 at 06:29 #180978
Danny M2Z
Participant
@dannym2z
Posted by Neil Wyatt on 23/02/2015 17:52:52:

The problem is that he mechanical capabilities of a mini-lathe are greater than those of the standard brushed motors, and I like to work the lathe harder than it ought to be, and when this means larger diameters it means brushed motor working hard and slow – which is a recipe for overheating.

On mine (brushed), lathe stops and the yellow light comes on. I call it the 'stupid light' as invariably I have attempted something stupid. Lol, it is quite an invaluable feature of the mini-lathe.

* Danny M *
24 February 2015 at 08:01 #180980
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
Posted by blowlamp on 23/02/2015 18:16:28:

This is a similar motor & controller to the one I fitted to my Mini-Lathe.

There is phenomenal amount of torque when compared to the original motor fitted to this lathe.

.

That's a useful-looking set, Martin

Thanks for the link.

MichaelG.
24 February 2015 at 08:50 #180981
blowlamp
Participant
@blowlamp
Posted by Michael Gilligan on 24/02/2015 08:01:21:

Posted by blowlamp on 23/02/2015 18:16:28:

This is a similar motor & controller to the one I fitted to my Mini-Lathe.

There is a phenomenal amount of torque when compared to the original motor fitted to this lathe.

.

That's a useful-looking set, Martin

Thanks for the link.

MichaelG.

They're great, they are BLDC motors and very similar in capability to those fitted to Hi-Torque Mini-Lathes.

Good price too!

Martin.
24 February 2015 at 11:50 #180998
Michael Cox 1
Participant
@michaelcox1
Posted by oldvelo on 24/02/2015 03:07:50

A computer cooling fan fitted to the end of the motor run from a 12 volt "Plug Pack" power supply will help keep the motor a lot cooler on low speed and high loading.

I have done this. It certainly help when turning at low speed, details are here:

http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/lathe-motor-cooling.html

Mike
24 February 2015 at 14:55 #181021
JES
Participant
@jes
The Motor and controller that "blowlamp" mentioned in his post. Would it be suitable for a ML 7?

I ask as I am thinking of going for a variable speed drive for my venerated machine, any comments would be appreciated

JES
24 February 2015 at 15:12 #181022
Les Jones 1
Participant
@lesjones1
Hi JES,
Note that the motor is rated at up to 4500 RPM I imagine the 3/4 HP rating will be at this speed. I also imagine it would give constant torque below this speed so that if you used the same drive ratio as you would on a 1400 RPM motor when its was running at 1400 RPM it would only produce about 1/4 HP You would need to check with the supplier on the motor characteristics. If you change the drive ratio to allow it to be used up to its maximum speed then I think it would work well.

Les.
24 February 2015 at 15:30 #181025
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
As Les says, it may be a bit small to run an ML7 satisfactorily, I'd be inclined to use a 1400 rpm three-phasemotor and a VFD, especially as this solution has given very may people excellent results.

Martin's suggestion is very tempting for smaller high-speed machines though.

Neil
24 February 2015 at 15:35 #181027
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
It's worth noting that the same supplier also has a 1HP version available.

MichaelG.
24 February 2015 at 15:38 #181028
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
Posted by Les Jones 1 on 24/02/2015 15:12:40:

If you change the drive ratio to allow it to be used up to its maximum speed then I think it would work well.

.

That could be very easily configured using Poly-V

… definitely a tempting possibility.

MichaelG.
24 February 2015 at 18:57 #181046
blowlamp
Participant
@blowlamp
Anyone interested in the conversion should take a shufti in my album. There are five pictures in there that give an idea about how it all got rearranged.

Martin.
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