Electronic Lead Screw with VFD?

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NGiovas

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I am in the process of shopping for a lathe and mill. I am seriously considering getting a 3 phase motor and using a VFD to convert single-phase power for both. I am also very interested in building an electronic lead screw for the lathe. I am wondering if there is an issue wiring the ELS to work with the VFD? I would like to take advantage of all of the standard functions like variable speed, forward, reverse, etc, while also being able to electronically control the lathe for cutting threads. I am planning to use the clough42 ELS kit as a starting point.

Sorry if this is a basic question, but the information I have read so far is either focused on one topic or the other.
 
I built my own ELS, based on a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller and a touch panel display. Wrote my own software. Designed my own PCB. It runs on a Grizzly G0752Z which is a 10x22 lathe with a VFD without any issues. My ELS Took about six months to complete.

Right hand or Left hand threads, 25 Imperial (4-100 TPI)/ 24 Metric threads (0.2 - 6mm), imperial and metric feeds. Love it. Can't imagine going back to manually changing gears.
 
The thing to remember is that even though a VFD can be used on more than one motor, it usually requires two different parameter sets if the motors have different specs, and it's a bad idea to try to run both motors at the same time from one VFD. Also keep in mind that a VFD should be connected directly to the motor in use with no switching in between. Disconnecting the motor under power can damage the VFD output stage.
Most people buy a dedicated VFD for each motor or they use a RPC instead.
ELS systems usually have a dedicated ac to dc switching power supply AFAIK
 
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My spindle is controlled by the factory VFD.

My lead screw is controlled by the ELS controller via a stepper motor. The stepper motor has a separate power supply. The stepper motor is slaved to the the spindle position via a rotary encoder. It does not matter what the spindle speed is, the stepper will follow it at the correct ratio, as if it were geared. Effectively, my ELS is independent of the VFD.

As Mark said, different motors require different parameters. Running multiple motors of a single VFD might be possible, but it is better to run one motor per VFD. If you are powering a lot of equipment with 3 phase, then it may make sense to go with a RPC.
 
Shouldn't be a problem, it'll be two separate systems unless you want to get really fancy.

Welcome aboard:)

John
 
As others have note the VFD and ELS are seperate systems, and don't really affect each other. I'm pretty sure James (Clough42) has a VFD on his lathe....
 
Some ELS systems have an output to change the VFD sped for facing operations. The Clough42 version does not have this. Rocketronics does on teh 'pro' version, but that is many more $$$
 
Thanks for all of the replies. This information is very helpful. My post wasn't very clear, but I was planning to have a separate VFD for each machine. My bigger concern was if the ELS would be required to control the VFD and if they would be compatible, but it sounds like both items are stand-alone.
 
NGiovas said:
I am in the process of shopping for a lathe and mill. I am seriously considering getting a 3 phase motor and using a VFD to convert single-phase power for both. I am also very interested in building an electronic lead screw for the lathe. I am wondering if there is an issue wiring the ELS to work with the VFD? I would like to take advantage of all of the standard functions like variable speed, forward, reverse, etc, while also being able to electronically control the lathe for cutting threads. I am planning to use the clough42 ELS kit as a starting point.

Sorry if this is a basic question, but the information I have read so far is either focused on one topic or the other.
Click to expand...
I think it would work, since you have all the schematics.What using about DC motors to drive the equipment .

A lot of inroads have been made ,an in some cases could run directly off solar power . More an more equipment is being made for domestic operations .It looks almost like we are off the grid. An Genrac offers batteries etc

The lead screw device is great.Connected to a computer I imagine one could take control by photographing the part then duplicating,etc it's endless .
My two cents......
 
NGiovas said:
Thanks for all of the replies. This information is very helpful. My post wasn't very clear, but I was planning to have a separate VFD for each machine. My bigger concern was if the ELS would be required to control the VFD and if they would be compatible, but it sounds like both items are stand-alone.
Click to expand...
Typically a VFD, or even the DC motor controllers such as KBCC-125R/225R, support control using 0-10vdc. As Dabbler said, the Rocketronics ELS4 Pro supports that. One thing that does is keep a constant SFM as the part gets smaller in diameter. I don't recall seeing it on any of the other ELS implementations.

I have an ELS 4 Pro on my 1022 lathe, a truly wonderful device. Sometime in the next month(s) I will hook it up to my KBCC125R treadmill motor controller.
Gerrit
 
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