# Pm935 Cord/cable Management



## Alan H. (Dec 19, 2016)

I am looking for ideas on how to manage all the electrical cords and cables on my new mill.   I have the following to contend with:


DRO input cables.
DRO power plug
Light plug (light not yet acquired)
Table power feed - limited switch cable, power cable
more to come?

I have seen examples of an added 110v receptacle box to the mill for 110v power and thereby eliminating multiple plugs leaving the mill to the wall.

In addition, I hate stuff dangling in the air!   So I am looking for ideas on how to organize and hold this stuff down.  Have you found any stick-on wire holders that will last in the oily environment?

Thanks for the help.


----------



## Ironken (Dec 19, 2016)

H&A said:


> I am looking for ideas on how to manage all the electrical cords and cables on my new mill.   I have the following to contend with:
> 
> 
> DRO input cables.
> ...




I used a surface mount receptacle from Home Despot. I used a hole saw to cut a hole behind the box and a strain relief drilled thru below the box. I just tack welded the box to the back cover on my G0695. Now I only have 1 120v cord coming off of the machine. The cord nearest the box is the 240v power cord for the mill.

I have used the stick-on cable holders with success. I clean the surface with iso alcohol and stick. I keep the cable holders out of the oily areas.


----------



## mksj (Dec 19, 2016)

You need to allow enough cable for the the head to swivel/adjust as needed. I added a 4 gang 120V box to the back of my electrical cabinet for the DRO and drives, my lighting is all 12/24VDC LEDs. On my last machine I used an fused/electrical suppression socket strip. DRO cables are attached to the arm along with the electrical power. The DRO cables all have a small loop near the reader and then attach to a strain relief so the their is no strain at the reader unit.


----------



## tmarks11 (Dec 19, 2016)

mksj- can you show a picture of the pendant that you have supported with conduit on the right from side of your mill?  I assume that is for speed/direction/e-stop?

How do you like the location of that now that you have lived with it for awhile?


----------



## mksj (Dec 20, 2016)

Hi Tim,
I left the upper For/Rev switch which sets the direction control, moving it down into the pod would have made it bulkier and there are other VFD controls that pass through it.  The VFD speed dial is on the head and adjusts the VFD from 20-200Hz.  I prefer the other controls lower down, but you do need to retrain your normal reaction to reach up at the machine head for the controls. With some machining I do a lot of start/stop repetitive steps, so I find it much easier having the controls in easy reach (and I am short). I use momentary buttons for the Start/Stop, the third switch allows for auto start once the spindle is moved down and stops when moved up along with auto reverse for threading. The last switch is coolant, I plan on putting on a air/drip type system. The cabling for the pod goes through the support tube, out the bottom and in the base frame channel to the control box. Another alternative might be to mount the pod to the knee, bu t I prefer having it in the same height all the time.  The pod support is a heavy wall steel tube mounted to 1/2" steel plate, still can flex a bit so probably could have used a slightly larger diameter support tube.

I added a picture showing the cabling for the X, Y and from the X limit switches. I need Jbolt to machine me one of those nice control panels for the pod.

Often when I am machining some difficult materials, I keep a finger on the stop button, it has saved my skin once or twice. I feel the  overhead E-Stop is pretty useless if something where to happen, by the time I would get to it.


----------



## Alan H. (Dec 20, 2016)

Mark, did you drill and tap the saddle for those nylon cable loops or were the holes already there?

BTW, I like your stand.  I intend to build something for my mill and I will put up another thread on that topic.


----------



## mksj (Dec 20, 2016)

Hi Alan,
The X axis DRO cable I drilled and tapped the nylon strain relief, the cable for the X feed limit stops I used the existing hole. The drive motor and their limit stop cables are loosely hung so they do not get caught on anything, but I use a few cable guides to prevent them getting caught up on anything. The mill rolling base and control pod support was built by Firestopper (Paco), he does some amazing fabrication work and his work is art. I wouldn't have been able to have upgrade to this new mill without him.


----------



## jbolt (Dec 20, 2016)

mksj said:


> I need Jbolt to machine me one of those nice control panels for the pod.



Absolutely!


----------



## xplodee (Dec 25, 2016)

I just finished tidying up my PM935. X-axis power feed, Z-axis power feed and DRO. 

My machine is a 220v 3-phase step pulley model but I am installing a VFD and control box with Tachulator (tachometer that also reads surface speeds based on inputting your end mill diameter).

I ran 220 and 110 single phase into the column. The 220 is on a fused knife switch at the wall. Inside the column is a relay powered by the 220v line. The relay closes the 110v line so that all 110v accessories turn on/off with the 220v knife switch. 

The 220v runs to a Teco VFD which I will control with my control panel mounted to the head of the mill. The power feeds and DRO are run into and wired within the column of the mill. Very clean. I will take some pics later this week once the control panel is finished and wired to the VFD. 

For whatever its worth this wasnt cheap. Youre looking at about $500-700 for the VFD, cable, relay, terminals, tachulator, buttons, potentiometer, etc. But I wouldnt run a manual machine tool without these improvements.


----------



## xplodee (Dec 27, 2016)

Here are some of my pictures. Will have the panel assembled later this week.




	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr





	

		
			
		

		
	
Untitled by Tim Marks, on Flickr


----------

