Thread: Waldown 1962 Drill Press Restoration WIP

It has been a week since I updated this thread. On Saturday the electrician came to my house to look at the motor, the vfd & my house.

In short the electrician says that connecting the vfd to the motor would be easy. However, there are problems:

PROBLEMS

1. The motor I was thinking of using has star winding. However it will not be simple to convert it from star to delta, as there are no two wires internal in the motor, it would mean a complete rewinding of the motor. So converting the motor will not be cheap and not worth doing, and therefore useless.
2. A new 20 watt circuit would need to be run from the electric switchboard up the wall into the roof and into the workshop. While we might get away with simple swap a standard 10AMP to a 15AMP GPO, there is a risk that extra load could trip the circuit. The problem is that I do not own this house - I rent. The landlord will never agree to allow me to make changes to the house electrics. Secondly I do not want to spend $500 on someone else house. I might move out in a month, then what. Since the current state of my personal affairs may lead to me to moving without much notice. However I would need to add a 20 watt circuit to the workshop in the future as I want to add a dust extractor and thicknesses/jointer combo.

CHOICES

1. Sell the two 3 phase motors that I have and sell the VFD and use the money to buy a single phase motor. This is what the electrician recommend, it would be cheaper.
2. Sell the motors and replace it with a three phase motor wired in delta. Then swap a standard 10AMP to a 15AMP GPO and take my chances. Then at a latter date I could always add a 20 watt circuit.

The motor you have can be converted to delta for less than $100 by a motor rewinder. It does not have to be rewound. The motor and VFD will run perfectly well off a standard 10A outlet. It will draw less power than a single phase motor of the same power rating.

Option 3. Do the motor delta conversion yourself with the aid of utube or a experienced forum member.


Can you post details of the VFD you got and some photos.

I have found details of three motor rewinders in my local area. I will call them today to get quotes, if its less the $100 then I will let them do that part for me.

If you are saying with some confidence that the motor & vcd will work fine on a standard domestic circuit, then this will greatly reduce cost.

When it comes to electrical maters, I leave it to professionals as it is safer for me.

I contacted 3 local motor rewinders. The say that it would be about $80-$90 plus GST to bring out the star connection from the motor winding. However they say there is a good chance that there is no wires to pull out and that the motor would then have to be rewound. Which would cost between $300 to $400. I.E. not worth doing.

Sorry if I sound pessimistic, however the challenges of the electrics & the motor have gotten my down.

If I take a bunch of photos of the inside of the motor could people tell me if they can see the star connection? Because if I take it to them and it turns out that it cannot be easily converted from star to delta then I would still have to pay them $80-$90 plus GST bucks for their time.

DSEL74 it would be great if I could get a local woody to help me but who would volunteer, I would be happy to compensate someone if they are willing to help.

Post some photos and we'll have a look

I had help from a forum member do my grinder with me, but I did have to drive a few hours each way to meet up with them.

Im not confident I remember enough to be able to do it and help.

There are a number of guy very capable who may offer to help if you put up a post in the metalworking section asking for assistance & offering some renumeration for their time. I doubt it will cost you anything, most of the guys are very generous like that.

Post photos & specs of your vfd & take the end off your motor and take some shots of the windings. It will be a starting point and you should get some informed responses.

I have posted this in the metalworking forum, here.

Quick Operation Guide of PI9000 Inverter .pdf

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Just came back from the Powder Coaters he will do two coat powder coating for $400 cash. He will also fill a hole in sheet metal hood enclosure for me. I am not over concerned with matching the Waldown colour. So I am leaning toward Dulux Blue Ridge 88480 SatinDURALLOY® OR Dulux Deep Ocean 5125S Satin 89606 MattDURALLOY®. He says the difference between the two is marginal and in the finishes item hard to tell apart. Out of interest he says I have done such a good job with the clean up that sand blasting will not be needed. However I will go over the cast sections with a flap wheel to smooth out the surface so that I will achieve the best possible finish.

The Blue Ridge is much bluer in the printed dulux catalogue, the online show the colours as being much greyer.





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Hi,

You have a nice drill. The restoration is looking good. I have a radial Waldown I hope to restore 1 day. The VSD is a great idea.

It is hard to tell from the pics if it is easy to connect in delta. I would have thought with the low cost of 3 phase motors, it would be better to get another one. I would expect to buy a used 3 phase 1.5 to 3hp motor for under $150.

There is a young guy (electrician) in Tullamarine called RMS - Industrial. He specialises in motors, motor control and VSD's. I have purchased a couple of used motors from him, he is great and I will get VSD's from him too. He's very helpful and very reasonably priced. He sells a bit on ebay too. I think I got a 10hp 3 phase alloy motor for my dc for $180. It is $600 aporox new.

Just a note, a 0.75kw 3 phase motor will draw a full load current of 1.8amps. You will not need a 20amp outlet. A 10amp will be plenty. Not many electricians have experience with motors.

Keeps the pics coming.

Andrew.

I have made progress with the VFD and my motor. Thanks allot to NCArcher who helped me via email. The process was relatively simple thanks to plain & simple instruction from NCArcher.

End the end the motor worked fine without need to make any changes. There was no need to add a 20 amp circuit to the house.

All I needed to do was purchase some 400 volt rated round lugs and forked lugs and good crimper. It took about 20 minutes and the VFD started up then I simple pressed run and the motor started up. The next step is to program the VFD. Here are some photos.

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Andrew thanks for the info regarding the electrician.

Congratulations, good to see it all worked out in the end.

Originally Posted by DSEL74

Congratulations, good to see it all worked out in the end.

It was far simpler then all the technobabble made it sound.

To Do List

• Polish small items
• Clean up casting surface in preparation for the powder coating.
• Restore the Jacobs Chuck. Will purchase new one in time, but at $450 a pop it will have to wait.
• Fill table holes - Liquid metal has been suggested but it looks messy and its only epoxy. I think I will drill out the holes so they are clean then weld in steel rod.
• Surface Grind table top and foot. To many dings. This would require finding a local mob to do this for me.
• Powder Coating.
• Buy and fit replacement spindle & bearings.
• Oil, Grease & Assemble.
• Drink of a bottle Islay Whiskey.

Costing (So Far)

• $390 Drill Press
• $200 Variable Frequency Drive
• $040 Poly Strip Discs & wire brush wheel from http://www.smithandarrow.com.au
• $040 Sisal Mop, Calico Loose Flap Wheel & compounds from http://www.polish-up.com.au
• $300 New Spindle & Bearings from http://brobo.com.au
• $002.5 3 Phase 4 core cable
• $012 Round Electrical lugs
• $012 Forked Electrical lugs
• $040 Crimping Tool
• $011.51 Josco 60mm 60 Grit Coarse Sanding Flap Wheel
• $011.51 Josco 60mm 120 Grit Fine Sanding Flap Wheel
• $400 Powder Coating