G0773 Lathe / Mill Combo

Buttoned up the back. Next time it has to come off, undoing only 4 wires + a ground allow it to separate as a complete subassembly. I hope it isn't 3 weeks before my next update. For now, it's off to work & ordering up more wire & lugs.

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I have loved using 6061 in 1/8" plate for making flat panels. Once I saw that it wouldn't bend to my desired shape, I ordered up a sheet of 3003 in 1/16" sheet. I knew I wanted the edges to be rounded, so, though this is a shapeable aluminum, I had my work cut out for me. I began with a piece of paper to see what a corner cut line might look like.

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I can't even get it to turn out right in paper. So, I've ordered up some quarter round aluminum extrusions. This should postpone my foray into how to hammer out a Ferrari GTO body. More importantly, this should get me my lathe running much sooner.

Back to waiting on parts, but staying busy with prep work. Only the front panel & wiring remains. All the wiring in every other part is complete & buttoned up. I rounded out the 2 bottom corners & retired the gear cover safety switch. I will keep the chuck cover safety switch in use. That's the 2 wires sticking up out of the power / motor bus. The Emergency Stop will now kill the Lathe (as it always did) & the Aux too once wiring is complete.

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SB-1 switches sometimes called for a factory jumper. I decided to make some out of brass. Factory jumpers are in the background.

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Clickspring makes shaping brass look easy. Well, I am doing 4 at once. I'm also working up the schematic of the as finished changes. Keeping busy & having fun getting there!

In other news, Grizzly has dropped the G0773 from their 2019 catalog. Their latest combo is based on the 4003 series. It uses 240V single phase & the mill no longer has the left / right column tilt debacle (feature). My mill portion will get upgrades at some point - but that is a story for another time.
 
Wiring Diagram complete. 1st drawing is before & 2nd is how I will wire it with better everything - except for the switch for the chuck guard & the kill switch.

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Finally starting on the front panel. Too much overtime to move along as quickly as I'd like. Still have trimming & fabrication to go - but any progress is good!

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Well, with these big ol switches, I needed more mounting space. A little jigsaw, a little Dremel & some big files!

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Could have just made it all fit, but prefer making it as professional as we had in the old days! & yes, I am slow on account of my tools are slow but steady! Hey, helps me regain my strength in measured steps.

Lots of filing & shaping left - but getting there & as always, just glad for progress at this point in the game!
 
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Trying to come up with a commercial grade finish is tough. Just hoping to start wiring by morning.


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Front panel & mounting complete. Parts installed. Factory pic then a few of my finished upgraded panel. I really hope to always have a lathe & mill to help with every one of my future projects.

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My favorite part about this site is how we all take the label "Hobby" as a good thing! I don't have the time constraint weighing on me. No constant compromise between finish the job & quality. Plus, this only gets to happen when all else is done for the day.

When we left off 3 weeks ago, the front panel fit as designed & it was time to just finish connecting the wiring. Well, it didn't go that easily. After adding just a few wires to the front panel, I decided to check fitment to the lathe. No Go. I had to cut an additional 1/2" out of the lower lip.

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Now the loom is complete with my 1st ever old school wax string wrap (think pre zip ties).

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The safety switch (for the chuck cover) wiring is too short. It turned out to be 16 gauge, so an upgrade had to happen. Having never found a replacement that I thought ideal, it was time to see what could be done with what I have.

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Just like all the ones I've found on line, there is a NO & a NC contact. Stock is the lower of the 2 in the pic. I've converted the top one to 2 NC contacts, removed a ribbing on the perimeter center & am making brass jumpers. This will bump the amp rating to 24 & the wiring will be 12 gauge. Slow but steady & making progress. It's a pleasure to do this work without a time clock! I also need to grind out the right corner in the last pic. The wiring loom needs a place to bend onto it's final approach at the terminal block on the chassis (behind the paper towel). It's designed to just pull the front cover away & flip it upside down to rest on top for disconnection & servicing. Cool thing is when you design this much fortitude into a product & also plan ahead for servicing: The need for servicing goes away!!!!!!!!!!!
 
She's alive! Well, now I need a new start cap. Yep, had to spin it up by hand. The good news is that with all my modifications, I had the motor back out in less than 30 minutes!
 
Start cap I went with was too long for the housing. Modified that & now it's a tight fit poking out of the housing. I should've taken a picture of that. Then, I had the motor mounted & removed 3 times in a single day & still could not get this lathe to power up on it's own. So, I took the motor to the motor shop & turned my attention to other projects. A month later I went & got my motor back. It was never touched or worked on. The centripical start contact has since been filed & polished. So, it's mounted & as long as I help the spin up when starting & only use the E Stop for quitting: All is well & more chips are happening as of today! This has been so important to me in part because I'm using this lathe to build parts for other machines that I'm restoring.
 
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