Setup and Continuing Saga of the Charter Oak 12Z

Thats awesome. Is David doing it for you? He does beautiful work. The craftsmanship is 2nd to none.

Yes, getting the kit from David. He told me yesterday that he is working on two kits and that one of them is mine. Glad to hear about his workmanship. Looking forward to hearing that it's done. :))
 
He doesn't live to far away from me, and I bought mine from him as well.

Ill see if I can slip out to the garage later and snap a few pictures of it.
 
And then we have chrome wheels! Well, more like chrome handwheels but hey, bling is bling. :D

DSCN4283.JPG

Did I mention yet again how I hate CI? What a mess...

DSCN4281.JPG

They don't really add to the functionality of the mill other than they are a slightly larger diameter than the stock ones, but they sure feel better to my hands. Guess that's all that really matters.

DSCN4283.JPG DSCN4281.JPG
 
Its possible darkzero is no longer the king of clean, very nice Bill love the upgrade! Agree with you on CI and I always seem to be tasting it for hours afterwards.
 
Speaking of the belt drive kit, have you given any thought to controls you would mount on the front of the head like a e-stop button or remote pot for the VFD, FVD on/off that sort of thing? I may go browse Grainger this evening to see what they have.
 
Yes, I have been thinking about some of this particularly the remote speed/frequency pot. I've found the three terminals for the 1k pot in the manual and the switch that activates that port. I would like to mount this on/next to the FWD/REV switch on the left side of the head.

It's only 10v through a 1k pot, but I'm wondering if a precision wire-wound might give a little better control i.e., more linear resistance change over it's physical range. The one on the remote is rather temperamental and I am wanting better resolution and control when the belt drives goes on and we are using more of the frequency range of the VFD.
 
Last edited:
Bill I'm not sure I'd want a wire wound pot that close to that big 3 phase motor. A 1k pot rated that low will be super easy to source, in fact I have some stainless PEC 1k pots in my amp parts bin that would work fine. They are not IP rated, they would need to be well shielded from oil or coolant. I did a quick search on Grainger, not happening they are $200 - $280 for an industrial pot. My PEC pots which are stainless cost like $10. I will search for some IP rated pots that don't cost an arm and a leg. Either way I can have Front Panel Express machine the dial indicator scale on the panel, I'll throw a larger knob on the pot and it will look quite industrial.

Question: Have you tested the Danfoss pot to see if OFF is 1000 ohms or OFF is 0 ohms (or some low value)? Some pots don't actually reduce all the way to 0 ohms. Maybe I'll get my electronics gear out and test mine. They could be keying off voltage vs ohms I suppose.

I may rig up one of my PEC pots to test, they have 270 degrees of rotation. Hmmm that's only 90 degrees more than the stock pot but may be okay. Otherwise a multi-turn pot may be needed or a second fine adjust pot. Hmmm a 10 speed switch with a fine adjustment pot between speeds. A lathe like low speed Jog button. A Tap button at a particular speed. A spindle e-stop. I could have all kinds of fun with this mod! :rofl:

Edit: McMaster has some far more economical pots than Grainger.
 
Last edited:
Its possible darkzero is no longer the king of clean, very nice Bill love the upgrade! Agree with you on CI and I always seem to be tasting it for hours afterwards.

Wait what!?? NOW WAY! You guys are cheating, I have white & you guys have black!

:*****slap2: :talktogod: :fingerwag: :nervous: :roflmao:
 
Bill if you get a chance one day can you post a close up pic of your replacement right hand mill handle? I'm wondering how you integrated with that three jaw like dial. I suppose you could chuck that in a lathe or mill and machine that off. I'm just curious no hurry.
 
Back
Top