Tom Senior help/advice

[Piero FranchiParticipant @pierofranchi37209]

Hi Guys

Just bought my first mill a few days ago,

its a horizontal tom senior M1,

I am very happy with it and its condition.

I would like to ask you guys for a little help/advice please.

there are a few things I need to do before I get her back up and running.

First off, there is the small problem of the fact that she has a 3 phase motor.

I really dont want to swap the motor out, as all I have read about electric motors seems to suggest 3 phase give smother running, better tourc etc etc.

I was intending on going the phase inverter rout. I quite like the mitsubishi one, just for peace of mind and quality.

I was NOT going to use it as a speed controler, but I was going to set the Hz to match the motor and change speed to good old fashion way.

my thinking is there is a lot of energy stored in a motor running at speed, even though the cutting head is running slow,

if I use the inverter to slow the motor down, obviosly the motor is also running slow, there is no guts behind it ?????

whats your thoughts on my way of thinking ??????

second qusetion/help

My Tom senior did not come with a knucklehead. I would LOVE a S type head, but wont hold my breath for one,

I am in need of a vertical head, were can I find one????

Flea bay has non at the mo, and doing a items sold search on the bay of fleas also shows very very few ever being sold.

a knuckle head or S type head would sure change this lovely mill for me.

last question for now guys,

as I have broken down the mill to move it, (and its still stored like this) is it worth me looking into a packing slab or sorts to go under the main upright ????

many thanks

[Piero FranchiParticipant @pierofranchi37209]

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Hi Piero

You may be able to use your existing motor with a VFD supplied from a domestic 220-240v power source, the motor plate will state which working voltage can be used, if it's 220/380 3 phase you will be able to use it from a single phase domestic power supply. Mitsibushi VFD's are a good product.

Emgee

[Chris GunnParticipant @chrisgunn36534]

Piero, I had a Tom Senior with a knuckle head, but found the knuckle head with a collet chuck in it restricted the height of the work a lot. Whatever job I wanted to tackle held in a vice I struggled with. I would be on the look out for an S type head which is much better, otherwise a nice little machine.

Chris Gunn

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

I have a Centec 2B mill that came with 3ph motors running from a rotary converter, which was rather noisy and cumbersome. I changed the motors to delta and added Mitsubishi VFDs. I mostly leave the gears in the mid range and vary speed with the VFDs. Almost instant reverse is a bonus. I even do tapping under power by slowing the spindle right down and reversing every few revs to break the swarf. Haven't broken any taps yet (touch wood and cross fingers).

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

VFD at fixed frequency is OK, probably best to use belt speed change for horizontal milling.

If you can find a knuckle head, it will probably cost more than you paid for the mill. I would buy a modern self powered head with a quill and fit that, they are available as an attachment to mount on a lathe. Speak to Warco or Chester.

Dave

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

I just noticed a self powered vertical head for sale on the HomeWorkshop site.

Dave

[Piero FranchiParticipant @pierofranchi37209]

I agree the knuckle head will limit the working hight.
So I was interested in a packing block.

I can’t see a second hand knuckle head being that expensive.

The S type head maybe.

I have seem the tom senior fitted with a bridgeport head. Very nice to.

But I genuinely can’t take on any new projects. Hence I would rather buy an original knuckle head and a packing plate for the base of the colum

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

If you have VFD and belt drive, why not enjoy the best of both worlds?

Neil

[Alan Waddington 2Participant @alanwaddington2]

If it's the original Tom Senior 3 phase motor, chances are it will be wired 440v star, you will need to disassemble the motor, dig out the star point and convert to delta to run it from a VFD, or swap the motor for a delta wired one.

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Posted by Piero Franchi on 10/03/2016 14:32:57:
I can't see a second hand knuckle head being that expensive.
I have seem the tom senior fitted with a bridgeport head. Very nice to.

Dealer prices on S/H knuckle heads are around £500, you might be lucky!

Bridgeport M head, you would need to make an adaptor, they tend to rattle and they are fairly scarce.

Dave

[Piero FranchiParticipant @pierofranchi37209]

can any one help me up load photos.

Last time I tried, I ended up posting the link to photobucket,

I would like the photos them self to appear on the forum, not a link.

how would I do this plz

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