# Lathe panel is done.  Started my mill VFD control panel. With pics.



## Ken226 (May 18, 2021)

The lathe panel is finished.   Just waiting for a small 120v to 12V power supply to show up in the mail,  to power the tachometer.   It's already wired up,  with 4 connectors in the electronics enclosure to plug into the 12v power supply.













Since that's done, I spent yesterday building up aluminum tig welds on the cast aluminum (welding that stuff sucks) flange on my German made Helmke 100l 3 phase motors flange and machining it to fit on my step pulley PM935ts.

Still waiting on some FAG bearings from Amazon for the motor.  I always start a motor project with new, good bearings. The motors fitted to the mill,  except for boring to pulley to 28mm,  broaching a new keyway, and a 1/2-13 adjustable lever and pivot screw.  Oddly, the stock PM handle and screw are 1/2-12.  I decided to replace the less common 1/2-12 stuff rather than order a 1/2-12 tap.




So, today I got started on the mills new control panel.

I cut down a 9"x4" aluminum project box from Amazon,  and replaced most of the screws with rivets.   Mounted the DRO display to the top of it,  and remounted the DRO arm to the enclosure.   I 3D printed some handles, and a piece to fill the space between the display and project box.   It's all mounted up.   Just waiting for a few more switches from Amazon.

I think I'm going to use the same cobalt cerakote and drag engrave from the lathe panel to label the mill panel.

The mill will use a 3 wire vfd control setup.  A green illuminated 2 position direction switch, greed and red illuminated momentary run and stop switches,   the same illuminated power switch from the lathe, a tach and a 2 way joystick jog.


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## Papa Charlie (May 18, 2021)

@Ken226 
The lathe looks great. But I must admit, I am most taken by the mill. The handles that you printed look very sharp and will help keep the DRO from getting greasy finger prints all over it except for the face cover.

Wish my lathe DRO had those handles and the speed control. But don't see it getting those features.


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## Ken226 (May 18, 2021)

Thanks.

I think for the button / switch arrangement, and labels, I'll go with something like this:





The holes are all 22mm diameter,  except the 30mm power switch and the tach display.   Now that the holes are cut,  I can arrange the  switches that fit the 22mm holes however I want.


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## Ken226 (May 18, 2021)

The drag engraving tool is great for not quite flat surfaces.   I think I went a little too heavy on the cerakote though.







Not perfection, but I can definitely live with it.  

The joystick covers a little of the jog symbols.   I should have measured better.


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## mikey (May 19, 2021)

Great job, Ken! I especially like that drag engraving video ... very professional result, too!


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## Ischgl99 (May 19, 2021)

1/2-12?  Are you sure they are not 9/16-12?  Or being a lathe from Asia, I would think it more likely it is an M14x2 than an English size.

Great job on those panels!


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## Ken226 (May 19, 2021)

mikey said:


> Great job, Ken! I especially like that drag engraving video ... very professional result, too!


Thanks Mikey.  That drag tool is the cats meow.  Well worth the 40$ price.   Before I got that tool,  engraving anything less that dead flat was a pain. 




Ischgl99 said:


> 1/2-12?  Are you sure they are not 9/16-12?  Or being a lathe from Asia, I would think it more likely it is an M14x2 than an English size.
> 
> Great job on those panels!


I'm absolutely certain,  measured the major diameter with a Brown & Sharp caliper, and the pitch with a Starrett gauge.  

When I measured and got 1/2-12, I was like  huh!   I looked for 1/2-12 taps on amazon, and they are cheap and plentiful.  But, that size is too oddball for me.   Decided to replace those parts with 1/2-13.

Both PM and Grizzly use lots of imperial size fasteners on their stuff.   I bought a Grizzly bandsaw a year ago and was surprised to see that all of the nuts/bolts used in the guide rollers were good quality imperial fasteners.   I'm guessing Grizzly either swapped out those parts themselves,  or that they supply them to the factory making their stuff.


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## macardoso (May 19, 2021)

Ken226 said:


> Thanks Mikey.  That drag tool is the cats meow.  Well worth the 40$ price.   Before I got that tool,  engraving anything less that dead flat was a pain.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Where'd you get the drag tool?

Nice work!!


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## Ken226 (May 19, 2021)

macardoso said:


> Where'd you get the drag tool?
> 
> Nice work!!




I purchased it from eBay. 

Unbeknownst to me at the time, mostly because I wasn't paying attention,  the seller was some guy in Czechoslovakia making them in his home shop. 

It's metric diameter, so I've been using it in a drill chuck.  But well hardened, diamond tipped and works good on aluminum.   Lines are too faint on steel.

I may order a couple different brands/styles to try on different materials.   I need one in an imperial diameter, to fit my collets.


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## macardoso (May 19, 2021)

Ken226 said:


> I purchased it from eBay.
> 
> Unbeknownst to me at the time, mostly because I wasn't paying attention,  the seller was some guy in Czechoslovakia making them in his home shop.
> 
> ...


Cool. I've looked at the Tormach one, but $100 was too steep for me to play with. They also have a vinyl cutting tip that looks cool.


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## Ischgl99 (May 19, 2021)

Ken226 said:


> Thanks Mikey.  That drag tool is the cats meow.  Well worth the 40$ price.   Before I got that tool,  engraving anything less that dead flat was a pain.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That’s interesting, I don’t think I have ever come across a 1/2-12 thread on a fastener.  I learned something new today


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## Beckerkumm (May 19, 2021)

1/2-12 is standard Whitworth BSW.  My old English Smart Brown and Robinson and Whitney table saws all use Whitworth fasteners.  india still uses Whitworth but it is pretty rare anywhere else.  The thread angle is 55 rather than 60 degree.  Dave


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## hman (May 19, 2021)

I've sometimes run into 1/2-12 fasteners on Chinese equipment.  Rumor has it that some/many Chinese are superstitious, and 13 is considered an unlucky number.

1/2-12 is not just Whitworth BSW.  There's also a UNS specification:




__





						Unified Screw Threads, Standard Series
					






					www.efunda.com


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## Ken226 (May 19, 2021)

hman said:


> I've sometimes run into 1/2-12 fasteners on Chinese equipment.  Rumor has it that some/many Chinese are superstitious, and 13 is considered an unlucky number.
> 
> 1/2-12 is not just Whitworth BSW.  There's also a UNS specification:
> 
> ...



You guys got me doubting myself.   I went out and re-checked,  thinking maybe it's a m12x2.0.

Nope,  diameter is .494",  12.55mm


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