Another Pm1340gt Build

[zmotorsports]

Great looking stand. Nice job. I too had gotten Dan's plans a few months back but will be waiting to build the stand until I am in my new shop next year.

Great work.

Mike.

 

[bss1]

Thanks guys. Now that the stand is pretty much done I'm working on the VFD, then the DRO install.

Stand by Dan, soon to be powered by MKSJ!

 

[bss1]

Progress has been slow. I have completed the VFD enclosure and installation of the new MKSJ electrical system. The DRO was installed this weekend. All that is left is some minor clean up on the DRO and the installation of the Tach. I have not yet connected the lathe with the power as the VFD and enclosure are mounted on the wall in the final resting place for the machine. I currently have the machine in an open area that allows me more room to maneuver until all of the installation of accessories are complete.

The DRO is a DRO Pros EL 400 with mag scales. I mounted my cross slide scale different than most. Mark gave my the idea for the installation, but I am not sure I executed his idea exactly as he had in mind, but it's done now! Dan also has a similar but slightly different installation on his machine with glass scales.

The scale was mounted face down with the reader pointing up. The bracket the mount is attached to is a piece of 3/16" by 1.5" aluminum angle. the 1.5" width allowed enough room for a 5/16" opening to access the cross slide lock. The reader is mounted to a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate that I milled down to about 3/8" thick for the appropriate placement of the read head.

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Part of this design was born from a comment that Dan made about wanting some protection from a potential bump from the Tailstock. The edge of the aluminum angle is about 1/8" proud of the scale, so it should be protected from an eventual bump from the tailstock. Initially, I was not going to install a cover, but I ended up finding a beat up piece of stainless sheet metal I had in the scrap bin that I used to fabricate a cover. It has a few deep scratches that wouldn't buff out but it will be functional nonetheless. It is secured to the top of the aluminum angle with some thumb screws I had left over from another project. The cover slides over revealing the slot for the cross slide access.

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I am not sure what to do with the routing of the cables to the reader yet. Should they just be taken under the splash guard and up to the display head? If so do they just drag back and forth across the back of the cabinet?

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I mounted the arm for the display to the back splash where the light is supposed to go. I will relocate the light to the middle similar to what Mark and others have done. I hope this location is not too close to the chuck.
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I am wondering if the display should be plugged into the wall or if it could be wired into one leg of the incoming power inside of the electrical box on the back of the lathe? That way it would power up with the machine.

Thanks to Dan and Mark for the continued patience and support.

Brad

 

[JimFouch]

I am wondering if the display should be plugged into the wall or if it could be wired into one leg of the incoming power inside of the electrical box on the back of the lathe? That way it would power up with the machine.

Brad

If you have 240 single phase going into the lathe, you may want to check on the voltage input requirements for your DRO. Mine (A different model than yours) is 120/240. I decided to run mine in 110 of one side of the 240 coming into the lathe, but that was before I noticed the DRO would take 240.

Many devices with step-down transformers these days detect the incoming voltage and will run on 110/240. usually, the companies just ship them with the cords for the countries they will be sold in.

 

[JimFouch]

Brad

Brad,

Does your quick handle for locking the saddle interfere with your compound when it's rotated? I put one like this on mine and it stuck up just a bit too far and caused me issues. Yours looks a bit lower.

If you could share the source/part number.

 

[sanddan]

Great job Brad. I have to change my DRO display mount over to one like yours. It's on the list.

I wired my DRO into a 110 leg on the original transformer in the electrical box. Currently everything powers up on one switch which is convenient for me.

My cables lay in the chip tray in one loop long enough for the carriage travel. The excess cable attaches to the back splash.

 

[mksj]

Nicely done, the scale is mounted as I had envisioned, you went the extra mile in milling a full length bracket and a nice idea on the sliding cover. The EL400 is universal power, so would be fine pull AC 240 power from the lathe control box. DRO should be be ok where it is located. I did add a splash shield to my lathe, had oil spraying all over before that. When mounting the light in the center of the splash shield, the back splash metal can flex quite a bit, so you should build a bracket that is bigger than the stock L to decrease the flex. I believe the newer lights are LED, if not I wide switch out the bulb. Always takes longer than you think to install the DRO and workout the details, very slick.

 

[bss1]

Thanks for the complements guys. Jim, the handle for the saddle lock does get slightly tangled with the compound. I'm out of town and don't have access to the part number right now but I don't think it will matter since it seems to have the same problem as yours. This one is die cast zink so I may take a little off the end with the belt grinder. If someone has one that works better, I would be interested in the part number as well.

 

[bss1]

Mark,

On the light, I did move it to the middle and made a backer plate out of a scrap of 1/4" aluminum plate. It is an LED version. The backer plate is about 7" wide by 4" tall. I used the large bulkhead washers on the front side facing the lathe. The light still has a little bounce to it so I may need to make a larger backing plate.

Once I moved the light, I think I might like a shorter arm. It seems a little awkward in this position and may conflict with a shelf when I move the lathe to a permanent location. Anyone try to shorten the arms? Looking at it, It doesn't really seem feasible.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[tmarks11]

I am wondering if the display should be plugged into the wall or if it could be wired into one leg of the incoming power inside of the electrical box on the back of the lathe?

I am not sure if the PM1340GT has a 220-110-24V transformer in it, but my lathe does. It uses 110V for control power for all the front panel switches, and 24V for the light. It would be easy to wire the transformer to provide power for the DRO if it could not accept 220V.

btw, if you are going to power a 110V pro by "wiring it into 1 leg of the incoming power", then you need to have a neutral power lead coming into your machine (which no lathe will be set up as by default; they are set up as two hot and ground). While ground + hot = 110V, this is a severe violation of code, and a really, really bad idea, since it results in current flow in uninsulated ground leads.

Beautiful job on the DRO installation. Does it save any z-axis room by installing the scale upside down instead of on its side? That is the DRO I am going to install on my lathe once I get done with the 15 or so projects I have partly finished.

I have a slightly different handle on my lathe, and my compound clears it. It takes about 2" of clearance above the compound. I really like these handles (mcmaster sells them). My compound looks like it is a bit wider than yours, which might help.