1939 Delta 1460 goes digital!

[Mike Heaney]

I posted some questions a little while ago related to some updates to my lathe- I thought I should share with the group a little more detail. My lathe is a 1939 vintage Delta 1460- on a home made (by the original owner) welded stand. I picked it up about 18 months ago at an auction of tools after the original owner had finally retired from woodworking. At that time, the lathe looked pretty solid, and came with a good number of the extras- some older Buck Brothers tools, a few face plates, the cross slide etc. The belt cover had been dropped, cracked and welded at some point- not pretty, but functional. The motor looked to be original, and was spring tensioned on a rather interesting pivot mechanism welded and pinned to the underside of the stand. Since then, I cleaned the lathe up a bit, added some better cutting tools, Nova chucks, picked up a better belt cover and some other toolrests on craigslist, ebay and on the creek. I replaced the bearings in the headstock and that was about it- happily turning away and learning a bit every time. 3 days before Christmas, just as I was turning some presents, the bearings on the old motor gave out. This provided the incentive I needed for a bit more of an upgrade- as I wanted a bit more speed control than the four belt positions allowed (900 rpm is a bit fast for unbalanced bowl blanks!), plus the idea of a reverse for sanding sounded good. So, I bit the bullet and after a deal of research, purchased a VFD controller and a 1hp 3 phase motor designed specifically to run at low speeds. I got both from Automation Direct. With the addition of some shielded cabling from Ace Hardware and a few other bits and bobs I was ready to go. I decided to mount this motor solidly to the stand- the holes did not line up for the pivot mount anyway. I also decided to replace a rather nasty plywood shelf with some solid wood, and add a shelf directly between the lathe and the stand- both of these were stained with some walnut stain I had around and given 3 coats of spar varnish. The lathe stand itself was given a few coats of a bright red enamel that I had left over from my last sailboat. So, hear it is- as you can see, I have not yet decided exactly where to mount the remote control, so for now it sits attached to a dowel that is held in the vice on the bench next to the lathe. I also added an adjustable belt- not sure how this will fair where I run in reverse, but I shouldn’t be doing that for long periods so hopefully it will be fine. I now have forward and reverse and variable speed from 0 to 5400 rpm. In the pictures the display is showing lathe spindle rpm- yes it is going slowly, but that is because I am tumbling some wooden buttons I just made from our solstice tree! Happy to answer any questions from what I learned here- whether it be about old lathes, or new electronics! And for those of you worried about the old motor, please don’t- I do plan to strip it down and get it back in all its glory too!

[Eric Holmquist]

My company buys motors and controls from them and they have worked great for us. We sometimes run the motors at all sorts of odd speeds for days on end with no problems.

[Dick Strauss]

It's always great to see old iron reborn for another life of service!

[Robert McGowen]

Looks like you know what you are doing! Great job

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, I did that to my cheapo chinese lathe a few years ago and it works great and has not given me any trouble ever, it is a great retrofit! I just found a Hitachi VFD in an e-bay store that had a starting price of $50 or make an offer. It is for a 2hp motor and I offered him $43 and free shipping, so now I have to do another VS changeover on something!

Keep on tinkering,

Jeff

[Dale Winburn]

Mike,

Looks like you have the same set-up I have, Automation Direct VFD Controller with an inverter duty 1 HP 3 phase motor. When I purchased my system I was told that the VFD Controller is not dust proof and should be mounted in a dust free environment. I have my mounted in a home made 16" X 16" X 8" metal cabinet, it need to be large enough to dissipate heat.

My system works great, I still have the four step pulleys so I have a wide range of power and speed.

Regards,
Dale

[Will Winder]

Nice upgrade Mike, the red paint and mirror finish on those shelves look great too. Motor bearings aren't that hard to replace if you want to save the motor.

I've been wanting to do something similar to my 50's Duro lathe for a long time. Last August I pulled a 1.5HP DC motor out of a treadmill, I managed to get it running but it has been waiting on a shelf until I get around to making an interface for it.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice job on the lathe. Real classy looking!

[jared herbert]

Looks like a nice deal. I have what appears to be the identical lathe, I got it a year ago, it came with a bunch of machinery that I bought from an individual but was originally a school lathe. Mine does have the cast Iron delta legs, etc. I want to do the same thing, add the variable speed, etc. So the real question is how much did it cost for the motor and control. I do have an extra 3 phase motor. Will the controller work with any 3 phase motor? thanks Jared

[Mike Heaney]

Thanks for the comments. A couple of notes for Jared and Dale-

Dale
i am aware of the potential dust issue with the controller. I looked at standard NEMA cabinets of the size needed to give the suggested clearances and was put off by the fact that the price was more than that of the controller. The board I have it mounted to at present mounts onto the back of the lathe stand and is under the upper shelf. I'm going to run like that for a little while and see if it is out of the way enough. I hav epractically no sheet metal experience, but I am prepared to try anything- if you have any instructions on building your enclosure, it would be really appreciated.

Jared.
you will save a pile if you already have a suitable size three phase motor. The controller price will be dependent upon the size of your motor, as they are matched up to particular horsepower. They also vary a bit depending if you have 110v or 230v incoming power. I think you are looking at about $150 and up for the 3/4 hp and above range. Although there are better deals on the bay if you want to take your chances there. My controller came with a removable control pad which I like because I can move it around (or move my big dowel that it is presently attached to around!). I had to pay an extra $20 or so for the cabling to support this. My motor was also a bit on the pricey side at about $260 for a 1hp 3 phase. This is because it was brand new, and because it is spec'd as inverter duty, which means it should be happy running at slow speeds for long periods of time without overheating or frying itself. Probably overkill for my purpose, but I hope it will be a good long term investment.

Thanks for all the other comments, and do let me know if you have any other questions

Regards

Mike

[Steve Harder]

I'll just jump in to comment on motor cost. When I converted my Nova to VFD I didn't purchase the inverter duty motor - and 3 yrs use tells me that was an OK decision for the normal turning I do. But the inverter rated might be a better choice if you were planning to run at very low rpms for purposes of rotating a piece with finish waiting to dry. As a price comparison, my 2hp 3ph cost $160 with shipping.

Mike - I'm sure you are enjoying the VFD. I've been very happy with my GS from automation direct. But chips can be an issue in the cooling fan. One day I noticed no fan noise from the VFD - a single chip had lodged in the fan - I then moved the VFD to enclosure above the lathe in ceiling rafter - so keep an ear out for the fan.