My Dad sold his shop that he has had since 1987. He gave me a Wells-Index 745 on the way out. I looked into changing the 1hp 3 phase motor to 110V, but that would have cost way too much money. So I bought a phase a matic PAM300-HD converter and installed this in my garage this weekend. First we had to install a 220V single phase outlet and then wire up the converter. Here are the pics... Here is the panel, we added a 30amp breaker and ran the 220 line off of that We notched out above the panel to run the lines out Around the back wall of the garage via PVC conduit To the side opposite of the panel, here is the elegant pine mounting panel! Phase converter pluged into 220V outlet The mill pluged into the 3 phase outlet Here is the mill in my garage, this is an older pic...I made a mobile base so that I can move this thing around on...it helps a little, but man that machine weighs a ton! I have a South Bend Heavy 10 that is about 75% complete following my restoration, I also just picked up a Delta wood/metal bandsaw. The first project with all these machines is to make a front wheel cart for this guy...we rescued him from a hoarder FU&K, mom was this old Beagle, dad was a pitt, there was another pitt in the house, all three dogs were not fixed and the house was disgusting. She is 7 weeks old, great dog. She was born with 5 siblings...two died at birth, two were already adopted, she and her brother were left when we got her... Were fostering her, so if your interested and not a total wack job and are not a selfish turd...let me know if your interested! We took her to a specialist in Columbus, Ohio...she has no humerus bilateral, as well as no radius bilateral, her ulnas articulate with her scapulas and thats it...great dog though
Cute pup. Those static converters lose 1/3 of the hp, not sure if thats a concern for you. I also heard they aren't good for the motors but maybe thats myth. I have multiple machines running on a rotary phase converter. The more machines you have running the smoother they all are. I bought just the panel and had a motor laying around so mine was quite economical. Another great solution for smaller hp motors like yours is a vfd. I have a teco fm50 on my 1 hp powermatic drill press. Converts single to three phase and has a digital speed control, brake, soft start all for $100. Great solution for a single machine that you want speed control on
I have a old school phase convertor that powered my grandfathers machine shop for many years. Basically its a 5 HP 3 phase motor that uses a small 110 volt motor to spool it up single phase is put in.The belt from the drive motor is removed and the 3 phase motor becomes a 3 phase generator. Definately old school but works great. Blue Skies and Cool Rides Dave
i also use the teco fm50. easy to program, work well. you do lose quite a bit of power when you use the speed control for ultra slow speeds. if i go below 50% i just change belts...
I've used probably that same phase-o-matic and it worked fine, though I was probably only using it for an hour a week, so not too heavy, on my Nichols. It wouldn't surprise me if you do loose a bit of power with it, though. +3 on the VFD. Being able to have more than a handful of speeds on my Bridgeport is a must. Having a home garage shop, you gotta work with what you got, I suppose. Great Beagle-Pit. Take the two cutest puppies and make one even cuter! I adopted an Am-Bulldog last summer and he's a doll. One of the nicest breeds, I think. I hope you find a good home for her.
I picked up a 2hp Supermax Bridgeport clone a while back and bought a 3hp rotary phase converter. Never had a lick of trouble, and I've worked it hard on occasion... seems to do fine on the 3 phases with 90deg phase separation, instead of the true 120deg. May lose 10-15% torque... This one's been re-wound to be self starting on single phase, it's just a bit noisy at idle, but quiets down under load.