In an effort to finally contribute a bit to this community, I grabbed my camera and tried to take enough pictures to make this all make sense.
The following is based on a 13x40 kit from DRO Pros for 599.99 and installed on a Wilton, which was sold by Jet, but is actually made by Microweilley and still sold by Ganesh Machinery(phew).
I honestly forget where I purchased the VFD(was some while ago), but I wish I could as the people were very helpful. Everyone I spoke to said it wasn't a good idea(some said it wouldn't even work) to use this with a 2 speed motor, but I did it anyway and it hasn't blown up yet. I will add that the motor won't ALWAYS start up on high speed, but all it takes is putting the lever back into neutral and then try again.
FIRST, let me stress that this is NOT a bolt on deal. I doubt any of the kits are, so I won't fault DRO Pros for this. You WILL have to make brackets and mounting pads. Some of this was complicated because my lathe has a taper attatchment, but I surmise I would have been forced to make a bracket regardless.
What you will probably need:
1. Drill press...A mill would have been so much nicer though
2. Band saw
3. Drill
4. Taps and appropriate bits. If you are buying new ones, get the best you can find. I went to Lowe's after my tool supplier was closed and bought a 1/4-20 with a number 9 bit included and was very sorry. It had so much runout that my hole ended up......well you may notice in the pics. The tap was garbage as well.
5. Assorted flat stock.. YMMV. Thick I bought 1x3, 1x1/2, and some 3/8ths plate. I worked with just aluminum because it is easier.
6. Clamps
7. levels and dial indicators
8. Allen drivers
You could probably make other tools work, but this is what I used.
Let me start with the pros:
1. At 600 it is affordable
2. Quality is good
3. Fairly complete, although there is no sheet saying what fasteners SHOULD be there. I am pretty sure I was missing some(more on that later)
4. Their tech support seems excellent.
5. Even UPS would have a hard time destroying it during shipment, as it was well packed.
The cons(really nothing major here, but things you should be aware of)
1. All of the fasteners included are metric, so you can either buy metric taps or new fasteners. 5,6, and 8mm if I remember correctly. You are going to need more fasteners anyway, so I simply switched to 8, 10, 1/4, and 5/16. Triple count what you are SURE you need(take into consideration the new brackets you are going to make ect), write it down, and then ADD 50%!! Trust me on this. The extra fasteners will probably come in handy at some point and having to drive back and forth to get more costs more than had you bought the extra to begin with...
2. The instructions are terrible for install. If you call, they will direct you to their website for ideas.
3. I doubt the kit would bolt on directly to any lathe, so count on spending 50.00 or so for what you need to make it work. It is still very reasonable compared to 10 years ago. This was expected though.
4. The head is yellow, which I don't mind at all, but some might. They have another that is green for the same price, but not the same design.
I have many pics, so this all might take awhile. I didn't take a pic of the kit after I removed it from the package. You can have a look at their website if you really want to see what is included.
Here I am making a template for the scale bracket..
The following is based on a 13x40 kit from DRO Pros for 599.99 and installed on a Wilton, which was sold by Jet, but is actually made by Microweilley and still sold by Ganesh Machinery(phew).
I honestly forget where I purchased the VFD(was some while ago), but I wish I could as the people were very helpful. Everyone I spoke to said it wasn't a good idea(some said it wouldn't even work) to use this with a 2 speed motor, but I did it anyway and it hasn't blown up yet. I will add that the motor won't ALWAYS start up on high speed, but all it takes is putting the lever back into neutral and then try again.
FIRST, let me stress that this is NOT a bolt on deal. I doubt any of the kits are, so I won't fault DRO Pros for this. You WILL have to make brackets and mounting pads. Some of this was complicated because my lathe has a taper attatchment, but I surmise I would have been forced to make a bracket regardless.
What you will probably need:
1. Drill press...A mill would have been so much nicer though
2. Band saw
3. Drill
4. Taps and appropriate bits. If you are buying new ones, get the best you can find. I went to Lowe's after my tool supplier was closed and bought a 1/4-20 with a number 9 bit included and was very sorry. It had so much runout that my hole ended up......well you may notice in the pics. The tap was garbage as well.
5. Assorted flat stock.. YMMV. Thick I bought 1x3, 1x1/2, and some 3/8ths plate. I worked with just aluminum because it is easier.
6. Clamps
7. levels and dial indicators
8. Allen drivers
You could probably make other tools work, but this is what I used.
Let me start with the pros:
1. At 600 it is affordable
2. Quality is good
3. Fairly complete, although there is no sheet saying what fasteners SHOULD be there. I am pretty sure I was missing some(more on that later)
4. Their tech support seems excellent.
5. Even UPS would have a hard time destroying it during shipment, as it was well packed.
The cons(really nothing major here, but things you should be aware of)
1. All of the fasteners included are metric, so you can either buy metric taps or new fasteners. 5,6, and 8mm if I remember correctly. You are going to need more fasteners anyway, so I simply switched to 8, 10, 1/4, and 5/16. Triple count what you are SURE you need(take into consideration the new brackets you are going to make ect), write it down, and then ADD 50%!! Trust me on this. The extra fasteners will probably come in handy at some point and having to drive back and forth to get more costs more than had you bought the extra to begin with...
2. The instructions are terrible for install. If you call, they will direct you to their website for ideas.
3. I doubt the kit would bolt on directly to any lathe, so count on spending 50.00 or so for what you need to make it work. It is still very reasonable compared to 10 years ago. This was expected though.
4. The head is yellow, which I don't mind at all, but some might. They have another that is green for the same price, but not the same design.
I have many pics, so this all might take awhile. I didn't take a pic of the kit after I removed it from the package. You can have a look at their website if you really want to see what is included.
Here I am making a template for the scale bracket..
