Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Dynamoyion circuit driller/router

carlcnc wrote:

> Hi Guys
> I have a circuit board router with 2 westwind spindles.
> ,granite tables on granite base, it has Heidenhian[sp] linear scales
>on x[36] y[36] and the Zs [8"] unfortunately I found it too late for
>the vacuum pump---darn!
>

GASP! If it is a complete Excellon, supposedly the rebuilders will pay
thousands for the
hulks. Having one of these spindles rebuilt is $6000 and up. The only
vacuum on them is
basically a shop-vac with a better filter to extract the dust.

> Anyone know how to test the spindles to see if they are good??
> appears to be one board for the frequency , I am guessing they are
>220 or 360-380v
>WOuld it be safe to hook em up to a VFD with 230v 400 hz to test?
> and,yes they are air bearings.
>
>

The Westwind spindles need 80 PSI micron-filtered dry air, so you need a
refrigerated dryer,
or a huge supply of dessicant. The air-cooled ones use about 6 CFM of
air, almost all of it for
motor cooling. A VFD will work, mostly, but you need series inductors,
as the inductance
of the motor windings is VERY low. You will be able to get 23,000 RPM
or so at 400 Hz.
My motors run 80 V at 400 Hz. A 230 V VFD would be the right choice. I
don't know if the
windings can stand 480 V. I am using one 1.6 mH choke in series with
each motor lead.
You need a very programmable VFD, as a LOT of parameters need to be
tweaked. You need
to supply about 4 A at 400 Hz, so a 1 Hp VFD is very marginal.

Oh, the spindles I have are DRILL spindles, not router. And, if it has
a centrifugal collet,
don't run it without a 1/8" shank in the collet, or something bad is
supposed to happen.

Jon