VFD vs servo spindle for PM 1236t

[CliveFX]

Hey all, I have a 1236T on order, 3ph. I was buckling in for doing the full VFD conversion, but it occurred to me that Clearpath makes AC servos in the same price range as the VFD conversion would cost me.
Has anyone changed out the motor to a servo drive? I understand I would have to re-do the control logic, I would possibly put a small PLC in there.

 

[Eddyde]

Welcome to HM, and congratulations on your new Lathe!
I suppose it would work but I don't see any advantage, unless you are thinking of eventually converting the lathe to CNC or ELS? And then it would probably require a major rework of the machine to connect the servo directly to the spindle.
VFD does also requires a bit of tinkering to properly wire into the machine, but probably easier than a servo IMHO.

 

[markba633csi]

I don't see the advantage either or cost savings since you can pick up a VFD for less than 100 clams
What else would you need? Nothing, except a bit of time to hook it up and check a few settings
You would want to wire the lathe's controls to the VFD eventually but that can be done later
Initially you would wire the VFD directly to the motor, and run it from the VFD panel

 

[Ischgl99]

I have the 1236T and added a VFD and PLC to it. If you replace the motor that comes with it, you will need to make sure the new one will fit, most NEMA size motors will not. I don't know how big servo motors are, so you would need to do some research on their size and compare to what is in there.

I started with a relay control setup when I got my lathe, but changed to a PLC I already had when I decided to make Mark Jacobs proximity stop for threading. I would have needed to redo the relay setup, it was much easier to just install the PLC instead. The nice part about using a PLC is I can easily add additional functionality. If you search on username @mksj, you will find a ton of information that will help you. He can also build you a new control panel for it if you wanted to go that route.