Picked up a little mill finally.

[chuckorlando]

No they are not even close to that loud. I can hear them but not very bad at all. I intend to make this my classic car. It will take a while, and done a little at a time. But she will be pretty once again. I'm already removing the paint from the head. It seems like the hardest part. I'm also scanning ebay for parts. She dont look like much now and some guys might shake their head at her, I love it.

My BP had very loud bearings when I first bought it. If you ran it at the highest RPM you had to wear ear protection. I could not take the noise. I ended out changing all of the gears in the upper end including the spindle bearings. I spent around the same as you $1,200. Mine was built in 72.


Hope you have as much luck with your as I have with mine.


Paul

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You gotta do what you gotta do. I used two straps at the front. One I could feed it with. The other would have a foot of slack. Once the slack was gone, I tied the feed one slack and used the tight one for the feed. I now from having rear flats that the trailer sags bad. So it seemed logical to pull both rears and set the back of the trailer bout on the floor. Then used floor jacks to set the height of the trailer to the steel 3x3. Then engine lift it up just enough to pull the blocks and steel and set it down on tubes.

It was easier to unload alone then to load with 3 guys.

Looks like a great find. The fact he pulled the pulley to get it moving, then hit the switch indicates it's 3ph probably 208. Once turning they will run on sgl phase but at less than the rated power of the motor.
I also liked your ingenuity getting it off the trailer and in position.

 

[John120/240]

Chuckorlando's mill has step pulleys for changing speeds. Can he leave the step pulley on the highest speed, then regulate his RPM's with the VFD ?

 

[Charley Davidson]

Chuckorlando's mill has step pulleys for changing speeds. Can he leave the step pulley on the highest speed, then regulate his RPM's with the VFD ?

Not really, too slow and the motor will overheat. I keep mine in the middle and vari the speed but if I need to go too slow or fast I change the pulley.

 

[dave2176]

:greenwithenvy: Little my foot! That thing is awesome!

 

[cathead]

Another option to start your 3 phase motor would be to insert a capacitor to one
of the 3 phase line pairs with a momentary switch in series. When you apply
the 220 to one pair of wires from the motor and hold down the momentary
switch for a few seconds, the motor will spool up and will generate all 3 phases
needed to run your mill. That way you don't have to rope start it. I have been
doing this for years and it works very well. Congratulations on the new mill !

 

[AlanR]

Looks like a great find. The fact he pulled the pulley to get it moving, then hit the switch indicates it's 3ph probably 208. Once turning they will run on sgl phase but at less than the rated power of the motor.

If you run a three phase motor on a single phase at full load you'll eventually burn the motor up. We have had fan motors where a phase drops out while the motor was already running and without an external motor protector to sense this you will see the magic smoke. Ask me how I know.

 

[chuckorlando]

Thanks guys.

It's little compared to some I guess. ahahaha

He was not pull starting the mill it's self. From my understanding it has a phase converter . It does not have capiciters I think he said. That big Gray motor in the pic is what he pull started. It was laying on the ground behind the mill with just a empty pulley on it. Some how it is wired into into that mess of electrical s I got with it. The switches were bolted next to the motor. He pulled the string on the gray motor, hit the black switch in the picks, then walked over to the mill and turned it on.

 

[AlanR]

He was not pull starting the mill it's self. From my understanding it has a phase converter . It does not have capiciters I think he said. That big Gray motor in the pic is what he pull started. It was laying on the ground behind the mill with just a empty pulley on it. Some how it is wired into into that mess of electrical s I got with it. The switches were bolted next to the motor. He pulled the string on the gray motor, hit the black switch in the picks, then walked over to the mill and turned it on.

Maybe the gray motor is an RPC with a failed start field or centrifugal switch on the single phase side.

 

[John Hasler]

Maybe the gray motor is an RPC with a failed start field or centrifugal switch on the single phase side.

Most likely the gray motor is just an unloaded three-phase motor, which is what an RPC is. You can start it with a start capacitor and a relay, a single-phase motor, or a pull rope as seen here. Once spinning it will run on single phase and generate the missing phase. Works better with a run capacitor but gets by without.

 

[Cadillac STS]

The "Big grey motor" he showed you by pulling the cord is probably a "Rotary Phase Converter" Google that before you buy a VFD. That converter is probably a great find as well and worth $500 or so. You can add capacitors to kick the motor to start it, pull it on a cord like the guy did. Some people set up a 120 volt motor on a pulley to that motor for a few seconds to get it going.

What it is doing is taking one phase current and putting out 3 phase current.

Look it up.

If it were me I would use that to wire the whole shop for 3 phase and be able to shop for other high powered tools that use 3 phase. Not one VFD per machine. I'd probably mount a 120 volt starter motor to it to start it running.

You might not realize it but that phase converter is a major score too.

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If you run a three phase motor on a single phase at full load you'll eventually burn the motor up. We have had fan motors where a phase drops out while the motor was already running and without an external motor protector to sense this you will see the magic smoke. Ask me how I know.

That is why you need a VFD or a rotary phase converter. With those they are just fine.