1440 lathe upgrades

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firestopper

firestopper

10 Year
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Threads
35
Messages
945
Location
Tucson, Az
Pulled the trigger on two new lathe chucks. The first upgrade is a 8" Bison 4 jaw scroll chuck with independent jaw fine adjustment. A back plate register was machined to match the chuck's register. One hour in the freezer (back plate) and she went together nicely.
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A precision ground arbor was used to check TIR. Very pleased with .0002"
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The second upgrade is a 5C scroll (with true-set) chuck and a 65PC collet set.
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Same arbor was used to indicate the chuck. The last photo shows it in motion (40 RPM) with less than .0002 TRI. About a needles width of indicator. Gonna need to buy a .0001 indicator hehe
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The lathe is also getting a new control system with auto shut off (hall sensor), braking,torque curve adjustment, variable speed control with RPM speed indicator momentary reversing switch etc. This will come in handy for single point threading without having to disengage the 1/2 nut for the entire threading operation.
 
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5C collets
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The other upgrade is lighting. I machined some little 25* mounting brackets to secure the LED 24VDC strip.
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25* angle worked out just rite for my stature.
 
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Some progress the backing plate and risers for the wall mounted enclosure. The enclosure has a clear door panel to easy viewing of the VFD readouts. The more complicated electronics will not be seen as its located behind the lathe enclosure. The new 5C scroll chuck made short work of the 2" riser spacers.
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The back plates where made from .125 scrap aluminum with a poor surface finish (deep gouges and rust stains). You can compare the before and after here. With the clear cover on the power supply enclosure, engine turning was an option for a clean look.
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Another shot of the added lighting.
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My tired eyes like it.
 
Thanks Sarge, probably look to add something like that on the mills. Price is rite for sure.
 
I took mine apart , modified a cheap HF indicator stand magnetic base (read , decent magnet-cheap) and mounted the lamp on that for the lathe . Most times it just sits on carriage opposite the tool fixture , works better than expected and I'm half blind now . Also got a second one mounted on the side of the Crapsman drill press - beats that stupid internal lamp that does nothing but shadow the drill point .

Your shop and work is awesome , kudos ...

Sarge
 
Thanks Sarge, been following your post/replys for some time now (on all topics). I appreciate the the fact that we seem to be on the same wave length on various topics.

Shop is far from done but in full swing on scheduled jobs. Working on my own stuff ends up on the back burner, so when I have a beak in jobs, I hit my own projects hard (I wish I could add fast to the last statement) and long hours. I wanted to share the upgrades for anyone interested in doing the same. A lot of time researching components for the best bang.

Lighting is a must as my eyes have aged, hell, I can't weld without donning a pair of cheaters. I once had 20/10 but that went away in my early 40'S.
 
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This will replace the front switch plate as I'll be adding more features. The iron worker punched these hols in less than a minute. beats boring on mill with out the clean up Haha.
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Got a Hougen set similar to the Blair I use for drilling electrical cabinets. Like that they have a small step preventing the saw from going too deep, especially in an energized cabinet. I have a common size that needs sharpening, I used it a ton when I wired the shop. The 10 ga. perlins dulled it after 15-20 overhead holes. Nice when using a drill press or mill though. I also run Annular cutters on the mill and lathe, save a ton of time when you need a large diameter with out step drilling.

Example of a large 1-13/16" hole to bore out a 2" thick section on the lathe. Final bore was .120" over, two boring passes, and it was over. Short work when you have more than one. If memory serves, it took about 1.5 minutes to cut through and plenty of oil. PRM 280
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Hougen makes those Blair cutters/kits - same company under different sales routes . Annular cutters is the only way to go for nearly perfect holes - ask any iron worker . I've been trying to score a decent mag drill for years but they just don't come up used very often , nothing beats them when it comes to doing fab work .
That 1440 is turning out sweet - excellent work on the upgrades .
Sarge
 
Hey Sarge,

I was able to score a Mag drill last year on eBay of a fair price. It came from a pawn shop in Louisiana with positive but low feedback. I emailed the guy and felt good bidding on the unit. It was dusty but appeared to have little use. It was missing one handle when it arrived, but came with original hard case, manual and warrantee card. The bonus came when I was cleaning out the hard case and herd some rattling. Found two new annular cutters with pins still in their sleeves (1/2",7/8"Jancy brand). The whole thing shipped ran me $425.00. I already had a decent collection of annular cutters that I had been buying/using over the years so its worked out well. I did have to buy some guide pins for the larger sized cutters. The brass handle was turned and threaded on the lathe to bring the drill up to 100%. I have only used it a few times but a real joy when drilling heavy I-beam above ground level.
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Sometimes even a blind squirrel find an acorn. heehee
A preview of the schematics for the lathes new system.
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Picked up this machine light and converted to LED. The Philips MRX16 bulb puts out 600 lumens at 8.5W and should last 22.8 years. The modification was simple and the whole thing worked out well. .065 filler rod made a nice retainer clip to secure the bulb in place.
The bulb cost $11.00 at HD and generates very little heat compared to the halogen bulb.
A-L101A IP65 Waterproof 70W Halogen Work Light w/ 32" Arm 24V Machine work light

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Hoping to have the new control system installed and VFD programmed by the end of the week.
 
Got bunch more done on the lathe. It should be running by Monday unless Murphy dictates otherwise.

The new task light (LED conversion 12VDC) mounted and tested, New switches and cabling installed, new control board installed on the machine, and wall mounted enclosure assembled and mounted.
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The new switches /controls from left, speed pot, pilot light, E-stop, coolant , and larger black momentary button is Hall sensor by-pass. Between the by-pass and coolant is a small toggle. One position will stop the chuck in under 1 second and position two will brake in 3 seconds.
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New control board in place. The larger components are in the wall mounted enclosure.
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This was my solution to avoid drilling strain relief holes into the cast.
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Cabling from the wall enclosure will enter from the back side. VFD power, 24VDC power supply, speed control, tachometer, and Hall sensor, flood coolant power, etc.
 
The wall mounted enclosure houses the larger components such as the VFD, brake resistor, Fuse block, 24VDC power supply, breakers for the coolant pump, and cooling fan for the entire enclosure as well as a lever disconnect that shuts down entire system.
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Now we see why effort was put into the backing/riser plates finish. I opted for a clear cover to monitor the VFD readouts.
Yesterday was 10 hour day but, a s*** ton got done. Probably still have another 6-8 hours left to complete prior to programming the VFD.
A USB on the VFD will provide access for lap top connection for "auto-tunning".
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The modified carriage stop has the Hall sensor which will shut down the chuck in 1 second (VFD braking). Very handy when single point threading or boring a blind hole. The second top wire is a fail safe micro switch incase the Hall sensor fails.
 
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Uh , dang...that's all about 4 levels above my pay grade , lol .
Would it have been easier or cheaper to buy a lathe all set up for this from the start , or no ?
My old Enco is all manual , sloppy but still running ok - mostly just used to resize shafts and make parts for fab work , nothing seriously intricate or to high tolerances . I do need to tear it down , fix the carriage drive gear (way sloppy) and the pins on the cross slide , plus the nose bearing oil seal . Oh , and fix that stupid stop switch that cuts the main power ....takes about 10 tries to get it to latch .

Sarge
 
Weber Sarge said:
Uh , dang...that's all about 4 levels above my pay grade , lol .
Would it have been easier or cheaper to buy a lathe all set up for this from the start , or no ?
My old Enco is all manual , sloppy but still running ok - mostly just used to resize shafts and make parts for fab work , nothing seriously intricate or to high tolerances . I do need to tear it down , fix the carriage drive gear (way sloppy) and the pins on the cross slide , plus the nose bearing oil seal . Oh , and fix that stupid stop switch that cuts the main power ....takes about 10 tries to get it to latch .

Sarge
Click to expand...

Sarge,

Some of the control upgrades can be found on a much more expensive machine,but the addition of the Hall sensor would probable be a retro fit. The lathe is a 2001 and at the time was 5K with taper attachment which required some creative rework on the back splash to make it work. The machine holds excellent tolerances and I have been the only operator since new.

I am very fortunate to have a retired MD friend who also dabbles in electronics, that said, he designed/built the system leaving the adaptation to me. His schematics are the easiest to follow I have yet to encounter. He's educated me a great deal in the system so I can trouble shoot any future issues. The total cost for the entire control system is around $1800. that includes shielded cabling and very good quality components. I have used the lathe to turn/thread precision barrels to racing type builds. Most of the time its used for fabrication jobs that require lathe work like you mentioned. I believe ENCO also offers this same lathe some time back. Like a lot of Asian machines, the older the better so perhaps worth your time and effort to bring your machine up to par.
As always, I appreciate your feedback.
Paco
 
Opened up the hole for the larger two speed switch using a rotary file/die grinder. Installed new switch using adapter plate since the four mounting screw holes would end up too close to the hole's edge.
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Opened up the end cover spindle bore in prep for Spyder build once I get the machine running. The Spyder will also facilitate the magnets used for the tachometer .
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Got the tachometer bracket made and installed as well as the Hall sensor plate that mount to the carnage.
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Wiring to new system is complete on machine, just need to make the VFD pin connections and program .
 
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