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QuarkVI
12th February 2017, 12:12 PM
Hi All,

following on from the previous thread announcing the purchase of a VL150 BM plus seperate VFD and motor I have finally gotten around to posting the photos of the stand build. Not quite finished yet but the lathe is now running!

My plan was to make a box for the lathe and motor (similar to the VL150 with motor/stand) that would then go on top of a separate stand to get it to the right height - some crazy thought about making it mobile if need be. In addition I made the box part a bit wider to provide some support to the one end of the extension bed (yet to purchase) and make a enough space in the box for a couple of drawers.

I had a very nice piece of thick solid rimu that I was going to use under the lathe but after mocking up the heights I realised the polybelt isn't long enough for a top thicker than about 16-20mm - instead of changing the belt I choose to change the design.

You will also note that most things are not quite square :U all the wood I used is second/third hand, including half the packing crate, and I also only have hand tools so compromised a bit on effort around making everything perfectly square and just made sure it fitted the next piece. Construction involved construction adhesive and screws with some use of locking woodworking joints. I had no clear plan when I started - that plus the second hand wood is also why I made it up as I went along.
Originally was thinking this would be a prototype for a better final version but it has worked out better than expected so might be a touch more permanent.

So on to the build...

First thing I did was mock up the lathe and motor to check how much clearance space I needed and if the 12 inch timber I had would work for the box part of the build.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2815/32693622662_13cfdc786f_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RP2mZm)


Then built the box part - decided to put a rebate in the edge to hold the top surface the lathe would rest on - mate cut the mitres on his chop saw and I mechaniked it together with some angle brackets before doing the actual bracing with some

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/270/32847096015_57e2ac5e11_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/S3zXgD) https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2743/32693590642_51a91d8b1d_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RP2cth)

I also wanted to leave the base as a frame to assist with the ventilation of especially the VFD (for which I had tracked down a nice 200mmx200mmx150mm stainless box). Front was open for access and the drawers.

Onto fitting the top and checking the motor position

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2258/32466145890_6bcfebbdee_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RsVu53)


and here near the end some more detail of how I mounted the motor

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3776/32806082206_8938a144ab_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RYXKi1)

the board on which the motor sits is attached to the box via two t hinges that have had their long leaves sandwiched in between the two pieces of ply. In the front I have two pieces of all thread going through slots in the mounting board (so that you can move it up and down with fouling on the all thread) that are epoxied into t nuts in the 2x4 - you will also see the piece of wood below the ply - the idea being that I can tighten down the nuts on the mounting board against this to provide more stability and less vibration. It has worked a treat and is much more solid than just the hinges at the back and tension on the belt. Still to make are two wooden "nuts" to mount the metal ones in so that I can loosen/tighten by hand. The piece of wood that provides support under the mount is temporary in this photo - the final one is a bit narrower with a slight slant so I can move it in/out to accommodate the amount of tension I want on the belt.

Also you see some detail of two vertical dividers I added in to stiffen up the whole structure as the plywood top wasn't enough for my liking - have a rough hole behind the motor to assist with ventilation. One thing i have learnt about lathes so far is rigidity and weight make for a much nicer experience.

Then I built the stand for all of this to go on top of

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/517/32032257483_c0ecb472b0_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/QNzGar)

Most important thing I wanted from this was that the front didn't extend beyond the lathe to protect my toes and for a number of the operations I do on the lathe I like getting quite close and resting my hip against the stand. The back legs had to be kicked out to provide a big enough footprint for stability. The cloud shape was serendipitous - Originally the big board was going to be at the back but due to a brain fart I got things wrong and it had to be at the front - which meant I then need to thin it down and hence needed to open it up to get some access to the shelf - originally I drew an oval (two nails and string) and it wasn't quite enough so just tried adding two circles and voila!

Another shot of the stand with about 40kg of lead on it

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2757/32847035875_8a8349bc52_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/S3zDoK)

Looking into the top of the stand - again open for ventilation

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2123/32466122500_a5a02babe3_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RsVn7L)

and now with the lathe on as well

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2064/32693540072_033c878ddc_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RP1Wro)

I had got some black vinyl self adhesive tiles for the top (thought it needed some protection from paint/solvents/water/etc.) and hence dug up some black paint from the back of the shed for the top - nice matte finish that I have now also polished over to give a lovely warm finish.

I had ensure the lathe was level while still working on the box - my plywood was a bit cheap as ex packing crate so needed some flattening - I still had to shim one corner as when I was checking during final tightening I had found a piece of baked on crud under one corner that looked like dirt + blue paint ex factor that I hadn't noticed before. Despite the whole structure not being perfect I put in a lot of effort to ensure the lathe was flat, motor/belt square and the stand solid on the ground - meant quite a bit of work with a hand plane and repeated fitting but is worth it for the accuracy and stability.

The whole thing before wiring up

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2891/32004132204_994b62d4d1_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/QL6xuQ)

Some photos showing details of the wiring.
I had decided I wanted an on/off switch, a pot for speed control and then a toggle switch, with guard, for forward/reverse. This required some changes to the VFD parameters but more on that shortly. Also I have mocked up the switches on a piece of aluminium plate to figure out what size box I need to pick up tomorrow

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2471/32806062386_610bd5f329_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RYXDph) https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/780/32846965745_19edca0454_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/S3zhxB)

what went where

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2599/32004091294_d87066fe6c_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/QL6kku) https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2211/32846935095_2c2de84929_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/S3z8ra) https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2908/32466019120_b202766753_q.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RsUQom)

So some of the VFD parameters I changed

- changed to use external pot for speed
- change to use external power, for/rev
- change spin up time from 5s to 4s
- disabled spin down i.e. it freewheels
- changed max frequency to 80Hz
- changed torque curve to high starting torque

Those with eagle eyes will notice I went with the 3 speed pulley as opposed to the normal 6 speed found on the VL150BM - I had chosen that because the belt is wider on the 3 speed and I was planning on using a VFD. Currently at 60Hz the speeds I get (using a cheap aliexpress tach) are 950, 1550, 2090.

I am very happy with the result - much quieter than my previous lathe and the electronic speed control is a dream.

Still to do

- get a control box sorted
- got 4 latches on their way from aliexpress for attaching the box to the stand
- make the drawers
- make the wooden nuts for the motor mount
- somehow fasten the vfd box in
- figure out what I want to do with a front cover
- decide if I build an extension bed from kwila or spend the money on the real thing
- sort the attachments for lights, knockout bar, centres etc.

Will add photos as I finish it off and of the first project ..

Feel free to ask questions.
Cheers
Robin