Tree Journeyman 425 mill retrofit

[slodat]

Thank you all so much! I'm going to get the X and Y axis setup tonight.

[slodat]

I’m not sure how the wires were crossed in my previous video.. I got it. I actually had it. I just didn’t know it. Machine homes, including ZRI marker pulse. Just took the first cut. Used Intercon to write the simple program. I have some learning to do. It went well!

[martyscncgarage]

Congratulations! It sounds good. Great feeling no?
Control panel turned out nice too!
Make sure you post in the Success Stories forum!
Marty

[slodat]

Marty, thank you so much for your help, and your patience. I finally understand the axis moving around. It's becoming intuitive. This is going to be a great machine. I have the spindle running on the HY drive. I have a Hitachi P1 drive on the way. That feels like the last (or one of) missing piece for now.

All of the auxiliaries are working - spindle cooling fan, Fog Buster, drawbar, lube pump, all limits, control panel buttons, wireless MPG. Next up is getting the touch probe and tool touchoff working.

[martyscncgarage]

You did very well...

[slodat]

Received the Hitachi SJ-P1 drive for the spindle. This is a very nice drive. And, they are rated for single phase supply to very high HP levels. I bought the P1-00800-LFUF 15kW model rated for 31a output continuous when powered from single phase. Drive comes with bracket for wall or through wall mounting which places the heat sink and fans outside the enclosure. This is how the original drive was mounted when it was new. I had to open up the hole a little.







The spindle motor has an encoder and Hitachi has an encoder interface option for the P1 drive. I think I’m going to give closed loop sensor vector a try and see what that’s like. I’ll also have a chance to run the thermistor wire to the drive when I run the encoder wire and replace the motor main leads with modern VFD cable.

I’m adding a few relays when they get here. I want the spindle fan to run for a few minutes after the spindle stops, so I ordered an off delay timer. And, I need to replicate the spindle FWD and REV outputs to drive the spindle fan contactor.

The machine is getting close. I’ll get the probe receptacle and spindle load meter wired and I’ll be pretty much done with the conversion. Very happy with the machine thus far.

Short video of the spindle and drive doing their thing.

[martyscncgarage]

Sounds like a solid machine.
Is the spindle motor belted at 1:1 with the spindle via a timing belt?
Does the Hitachi provide for an external encoder port? Thinking rigid tapping but the motor has to be belted to the spindle at 1:1

How much was the Hitachi drive assembly and where did you purchase it from?

Marty

[slodat]

Sounds like a solid machine.
Is the spindle motor belted at 1:1 with the spindle via a timing belt?
Does the Hitachi provide for an external encoder port? Thinking rigid tapping but the motor has to be belted to the spindle at 1:1

How much was the Hitachi drive assembly and where did you purchase it from?

Marty

The motor is not 1:1 with the spindle. The Hitachi encoder interface does have an encoder output port. I would like to get rigid tapping going. I'll sort out a spindle encoder here soon. I bought the drive from Drives Warehouse. I got it a couple days after I ordered. Very happy with DW and Hitachi. A Hitachi engineer replied to a couple questions I had. They are very responsive.

[tblough]

Since the motor is not belted 1:1, you will need a separate encoder on the spindle for rigid tapping and feed per rev feedrates. From your other thread, I'm not sure if adding the encoder option to the VFD gains you anything. Sure, you'll get a little more stable spindle RPM, but it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Since the drive is not 1:1 with the spindle, I don't think the VFD orient ability you gain with encoder feedback will work for a spindle orient. Even if you can orient the motor, the spindle will never be in the same place.

[slodat]

I may have pressed the buy now button a bit early. Ultimately I wanted to see how the closed loop vector stuff works. I understand about the spindle orientation piece now that you mention it. I guess this one falls in the category of doing it to learn.

I will be sorting out a spindle encoder in the next little while.