New Okuma LS owner with questions

Hi Guys,

Just bought this lathe.. A 1973 Okuma LS, the 21x60 model. Very happy with it!



Went to look at this machine 2 weeks ago, it was bigger than expected. Still bought it right away since the condition was good, honest seller and the price was right, besides it came with lots of extra's.

Only two problems. First one was it didn´t run, second, how do i get this home. First was a risk but after checking every gear by hand and turning the chuck over by hand I had a good grasp on the condition of the gearbox.
2nd, how to get this beast home. Thought of many options, in the end we arranged a company that is used to handling this kind of equipment. 280 km round trip, loading in small residential garage, unloading, coffee etc all done in 7 hours. Not bad.

At home:



After some troubleshooting the electrics and coming to the conclusion that it was no loose wire but probably some bad micro switches I just byassed the relays and made it run for a test. Everything works good! No strange noises and good oil flow at the top oil sight glass. The one for the feed/thread gearbox showed no oil flow though!
The oil pump is driven from the right idle pulley.




Detail of the Norton box oil distribution. The nozzle coming from the left lets oil flow on a small platter wich has various oil holes in it, presumably above bearings and gears. Oil was coming out of that nozzle when the engine runs.

Soo, some questions. What kind of oils should I buy for the headstok/apron/carriage (Way oil but the viscosity?)and for the Z spindle reservoir? This machine hasn't been used much in the last 10? years and before that I don't know so it is time for fresh oil.

The only documentation that I have is the electrical schematic binder. If it is of any use to someone (it has both EU and USA wiring schematics in it) I can make a good quality scan and share it!

Does anyone have a manual that I could lend/scan/download?

The way scrapers need replacing, i assume these are still available from Okuma? And the phenolic gear for the feeds/threading is missing a tooth or two.

Any info is welcome, i would like to get it running soon


PS: lots of info to be found here as well: Page Title

Good choice! This is one of the very best manual lathes ever build IMHO. For me the only problem is it was never delivered with a mechanical clutch.
I do have an orginal manual but I can't scan. Send me a PM if intrested.

Kees said:

Good choice! This is one of the very best manual lathes ever build IMHO. For me the only problem is it was never delivered with a mechanical clutch.
I do have an orginal manual but I can't scan. Send me a PM if intrested.

Click to expand...

Hi Kees,
Thanks for the offer, pm sent!

I must confess that i knew very little about this model lathe before i found this one for sale. After some research i found out that it is an excellent machine. I like lots of the details. Like the tailtock with the angled wheel, quick action lever and the rollers to make it move easier.

Indeed, i think a good clutch/brake system would have been nicer. Some came with a disc brake but still no clutch. This one doesn't have the brake. Luckily i have a new-ish SEW Eurodrive 10 hp VFD with braking resistor laying around. Maybe nice to retrofit. Not only for a nice brake function but also to save the fuses in my workshop with the soft start!

Today I cleaned the oil filter. A very cleverly designed filter with over pressure bypass (i think). After 15 minutes in solvent in the ultrasonic cleaner it was pretty clean. Added some neodymium magnets to the filter bowl and assembled it again. Now there is a little bit of oil flow at the sight glass for the feed gearbox.

Checked many things and everything looks good. Made a few test cuts and that went well. It is easy to feel that this is a powerful and ridgid machine!

Only thing, this machine has a slight howl/noise at 700 and 1000 rpm, didnt test higher rpms. Sounds cone from the feed gearbox area or the headstock lower part. Normal or hard to tell from this vague discription.

Now a reply with some more pics.



Door too narrow for lathe. Was hard for the forklift haha. 5700 pounds IIRC.


First test cut:



As expected, the machine just plowed through this piece of mystery metal (some kind of steel) with 5 mm depth of cut. No vibrations, no ridges. Only a small problem with the quick change toolpost, after taking a cut it is very hard to release the toolholder. Seems like it jams. Anyone experience with Boni toolholders?

This is the model:



Seems like a good quality toolpost, hopefully i can get it to work as intended with some fixing!


The gearbox:



Gears looks good. Of course I can see some polished wear surfaces but not much. No parts on the bottom of the gearbox, always a good sign.




Part of the accessories. 4 toolholders, rusty Pratt & Burnerd independent 4-jaw (315 mm) with replaceable jaws, about 20 sets of used soft jaws (most of them are scrap), 8 sets of unused soft jaws, 4 sets of hard jaws, original Mk4 centers, some original tools, lots of cutting tools (some good, most used and already threw a bunch of broken ones in the trash), some face plates etc etc.




The ways after a few years without use. Needs cleaning and some careful de-rusting.




The offending microswitches. Or it is a relay in the control cabinet. Needs further investigation. Pretty neat, operated via a cam and a rod, this is in the base of the headstock near the floor.




More electrics. A very tidy control box with star/delta start and forward/reverse contactors.

Thats all for now. maybe next weekend more garage time, if time permits. If anyone has any info about this lathe and the maintenance/repair i'd be very happy to hear from them!

We had the identical tool post on a similar sized VDF. It worked great. Maybe check for rust?

706jim said:

We had the identical tool post on a similar sized VDF. It worked great. Maybe check for rust?

Click to expand...

Hi Jim, Good to hear and yeah I think i'll remove the QCTP and check for rust and/or lack of lubrication. In the picture it looks a bit rusty, luckily thats just dust, i'm sure this nickle plating sure looks nice once cleaned up.

Botje said:

Hi Guys,

Just bought this lathe.. A 1973 Okuma LS, the 21x60 model. Very happy with it!

Does anyone have a manual that I could lend/scan/download?

The way scrapers need replacing, i assume these are still available from Okuma? And the phenolic gear for the feeds/threading is missing a tooth or two.

Any info is welcome, i would like to get it running soon


PS: lots of info to be found here as well: Page Title

Click to expand...

Hi There

I bought the same lathe last year ,all though mine seems to have a few variations to yours. Mine doesn't have the vernier gauges on the cross-slide and carriage controls ... it has imperial acme screws with metric transposing gears (missing) in a much larger housing.

I have a manual which I can photo if your in need. Lathes.co.uk have the parts and operating manual fo the identical Dong Yang Ls model
https://store.lathes.co.uk/print/md405-mo200 ..but not cheap.

Spares are effin horrendously priced from Okuma ...thats if there network carries any now anyway .

but I did find this in Canada.. A rebuild kit .. too dear and too far away from the UK..but it may be reasonably priced for the US. I ended up buying some 8mm stiff felt to remake all my wipers.

Okuma LS lathe rebuild kit


I ran mine for a few months to get a feel for it ... then I completely stripped it for a repaint and refurb.
This is more or less how she sits at the moment while I work on some of her issues .Although originally grey, she will be mainly a nice purply 2-pack green on the body with a grey control box,carriage and saddle. The tailstock will be grey aswell.


Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the reply and the oil grade advice. I sent you the files I managed to secure, including a very nice parts manual the Dutch Okuma agent (Gelderblom Houten) sent me for free, within minutes of sending a mail. Top notch service!




Last weeks have been busy but I did manage to work on the Okuma a bit.

First I fixed the toolpost, it was indeed a matter of giving it a good clean. Rotate the tightening/lock screws/pins in the right position and you can tap out the pins/screws.



Seems to work good now.


Cleaned more and more of the oil system:



Norton box oil distribution. There seems to emerge a whine from that area. After adding some more oil it feels smoother when turning it by hand. Following my motto 'Don't turn it on - take it apart!' I stripped the machine of all electrics so no test run for now.
The motor wiring (not windings) had completely dissolved insulation near the end and one of th leads had already shorted to the base . So I decided to bin all old wiring.
I'm still thinking on the VFD retrofit. The original control cabinet is very bulky and not practical when I place the lathe with its back to a wall (space is limited). But re-using it makes for a much faster retrofit and less $$ spent on a cabinet etc etc. Found/bought a big braking resistor on Ebay so that is covered.



Look inside the headstock where the feed/screwcutting drive is taken directly from the spindle (fwd/reverse mechanism for that drive seen here). All looks well there too.
I was surprised to find grease nipples for the spindle bearings behind some covers. Clever to hide them! I'm not going to mess with them, spindle runs incredibly smooth!

Regarding the spindle, I managed to remove the chuck (heavy, 50 Kg). The chuck is a steel 315mm direct mount Ladner Puteaux. Never heard of them before, seems like a very nicely made unit! Not sure if I have one that is still in production but the one that looks the same has an rpm limit of 2000 rpm so that is nice. I like the ISO removable jaws too. Ordered 6 new 1/2-13 UNC Inbus screws too, the originals were a bit chewed up.



Runout less that a fraction of the 0.01mm reading. Tried with a 0.001mm gauge and i got a bit jumpy reading, maybe some dirt or slight corrosion left. So far so good.

Hi Jan ... thanks for the manuals in *.pdf format .... I have the printed version of the parts manual , but not the user.

Looks like we both have the A1-6 spindle.. they did do a d1-6 version I'm told. I have a backplate that my 3 and 4 jaws mount to. I'm quite envious of you chuck with all its external jaws ...and your toolpost. I have the original as per manual.

Funny you mention dissolved motor cables..mine are the same. I'm changing my motor to a 4kw one and vfd.. the original is above my supply capacity and 4kw is enough for my needs anyway. I'm going to add a brake disc to the motor pulley , controlled by the vfd. I did the same on my Maximat v13 and it works extremely well without taxing the vfd.

I'm going to start my own thread for all my pics ..so I dont contaminate yours .. but I'll put your link at the top aswell.

Is your phenolic 50 tooth ?.

Rob

Hi Rob,

You're welcome, hopefully the German/Dutch pieces of manual can be of help.

Yup, A1-6 spindle. D1 would have been nice for the quick change but oh well. Maybe i'm going to make a plastic bushing that fits inside the chuck and over the tailstock. That way I can 'hang' the chuck on the tailstock/pinole and easily place it on the headstock spindle without bumpung into it when juggling with a 50 kg chuck. With no overhead crane that could be a solution for the time being.

I hope that a good braking resistor or DC-injection will give good enough braking power. Otherwise I will copy your idea, I have a smallish Brembo motorcycle brake caliper and master cylinder laying around that could be the right size. Curious how well the original (Yaskawa) motor will like the VFD, the insulation class of the windings is only 'E'. Maybe i'll keep my eyes open for a cheap 10 hp motor, the local scrapheap used to have high quality scrap (SEW, ATB-motor, ASEA, Siemens etc). Hopefully that's still the case, haven't paid them a visit for some time.
Right now i'm thinking to re-use the original control cabinet for the VFD+resistor etc. Maybe i'll buy an output choke and input filter, the original SEW ones aren't that pricey salvaged/ebay. Might save the motor and reduce complaints from the house.

Nice, I would like to see the progress on your machine too!

The phenolic once had 63 teeth, missing a few hehe. A friend made steel ones and locked them to the shaft with brass pins as overload protection (on another lathe though), that could be an option as well.

Can't wait to get this machine running and finish some parts for my TOS mill that has been apart for 3 years now!

63 tooth ... is your machine fully metric ?. Mine is essentially an imperial machine ..lead screw , feed screws etc ...but with dual geared transposing dials and the dual threading gearbox.

My phenolic is 50 tooth ... I have enough material to cut three , and I was going to offer to send you one when I cut them.



Does you threading gearbox info plate look like mine?.





edit ... Answered my own question ...you have a 6mm pitch leadscrew , which is why the gears are different ..mines a 4tpi.
I have 50-125-63 and a metric leadscrew has 63-113-75.

Rob

MrSleepy said:

63 tooth ... is your machine fully metric ?. Mine is essentially an imperial machine ..lead screw , feed screws etc ...but with dual geared transposing dials and the dual threading gearbox.

edit ... Answered my own question ...you have a 6mm pitch leadscrew , which is why the gears are different ..mines a 4tpi.
I have 50-125-63 and a metric leadscrew has 63-113-75.

Rob

Click to expand...

Exactly! Mine seems to be metric. The (transposing) dials, leadscrew etc. Most bolts/screws are metric although some are imperial. Of course the ones for the A1-6 spindle but also some stuff for the oil filter, some smaller cover plates etc.

Also, thanks for the offer for the gear, looks like it is a different one though!

I've decided to place the VFD in the original control cabinet. To mount the SEW Movitrac in the shallow cabinet I had to make some brackets. Came up with another jigsaw design that was cut by me with the abrasive waterjet machine at work. Very handy to have around..




The joints are TIG-brazed. TIG welding works fine too, just wanted to try something different.






Very happy how they turned out. There are a few extra holes in the bracket to mount the braking resistor on as well. Those rivnuts are awesome as well. Only need to figure out a proper grounding solution for the VFD, with the high frequency signals a proper ground path needs a large surface and no ground loops. I have some big (original SEW) ferrite cores for extra noise suppression. The VFD itself has a built in mains EMI filter.


The rest of the parts for the VFD install were sourced at the same time:



Some days it really pays off to visit the scrapheap!

New switches have been sourced too, Panasonic AZ7 drip proof limit switches.

The plan is to re-use the original on/off switch to keep the look original. Going to fab a new plate to mount the new components on so the old Star/delta starter can be stored away safely and used whenever needed. Still thinking of a way to have easy speed control with the lever on the apron. Maybe the motorized potentiometer function of the VFD is an option. And a way to have coast down and quick braking. First I'll install everything and see how it runs with the VFD, then mess with clever ways to control it. Usually I tend to overthink such things beforehand and find out an easier way after some use.

These slots were covered with some scrap wood when I got the lathe. Another job for the waterjet.. 58 seconds of cutting time for the 2, made from old conveyor belt.




Thats all for now!

Control box components

Hi, Botje,

I have a mid-60's LS with a partly mangled control box. Do you still have any of the old control components, and would you be willing to part with them?

Thanks,

Tim

Botje said:

Exactly! Mine seems to be metric. The (transposing) dials, leadscrew etc. Most bolts/screws are metric although some are imperial. Of course the ones for the A1-6 spindle but also some stuff for the oil filter, some smaller cover plates etc.

Also, thanks for the offer for the gear, looks like it is a different one though!

I've decided to place the VFD in the original control cabinet. To mount the SEW Movitrac in the shallow cabinet I had to make some brackets.


Very happy how they turned out. There are a few extra holes in the bracket to mount the braking resistor on as well. Those rivnuts are awesome as well. Only need to figure out a proper grounding solution for the VFD, with the high frequency signals a proper ground path needs a large surface and no ground loops. I have some big (original SEW) ferrite cores for extra noise suppression. The VFD itself has a built in mains EMI filter.


The rest of the parts for the VFD install were sourced at the same time:


Some days it really pays off to visit the scrapheap!

New switches have been sourced too, Panasonic AZ7 drip proof limit switches.

The plan is to re-use the original on/off switch to keep the look original. Going to fab a new plate to mount the new components on so the old Star/delta starter can be stored away safely and used whenever needed. Still thinking of a way to have easy speed control with the lever on the apron. Maybe the motorized potentiometer function of the VFD is an option. And a way to have coast down and quick braking. First I'll install everything and see how it runs with the VFD, then mess with clever ways to control it. Usually I tend to overthink such things beforehand and find out an easier way after some use.

These slots were covered with some scrap wood when I got the lathe. Another job for the waterjet.. 58 seconds of cutting time for the 2, made from old conveyor belt.


Thats all for now!

Click to expand...

Timbosama said:

Hi, Botje,

I have a mid-60's LS with a partly mangled control box. Do you still have any of the old control components, and would you be willing to part with them?

Thanks,

Tim

Click to expand...

Hi Tim,

I'm thinking about what I can sell/spare. I'll let you know asap!

Last weeks I worked on some parts:



The motor has a cable to connect it, not a normal enclosure with terminal block. The 7 pole cable was too short to reach the cabinet. So this small enclosure with DIN rail functions as terminal block for the delta wiring of the motor.


Started with cabinet layout and selection of components.



I used a new plate to keep the old setup complete, not sure if it is a good idea to keep it. Maybe I should try to re-use the original on/off switch handle but I think that's too much work. I'm going to add a 3-phase fuse, 24 Vdc power supply etc.





And the VFD test is a success! Even at 0.5 Hz it is impossible to stop the motor with a piece of wood jammed to the pulley. Pulse frequency at 8 Khz, at 4 khz it was quite loud. Not sure if this ancient motor likes it but we will see.
I think I won't go below 20 Hz or so. Right now max geared speed of the spindle is 1800 rpm at 50 Hz mains frequency. Maybe I can go up to 2200 rpm like some of these LS lathes were capable of. But I doubt that I need that with a lathe of this size.

Oil sump is cleaned and i'll see when I can attach the V-belts, refill oil etc and have a working lathe again!

Botje said:

Hi Tim,

I'm thinking about what I can sell/spare. I'll let you know asap!

Last weeks I worked on some parts:


The motor has a cable to connect it, not a normal enclosure with terminal block. The 7 pole cable was too short to reach the cabinet. So this small enclosure with DIN rail functions as terminal block for the delta wiring of the motor.


Started with cabinet layout and selection of components.


I used a new plate to keep the old setup complete, not sure if it is a good idea to keep it. Maybe I should try to re-use the original on/off switch handle but I think that's too much work. I'm going to add a 3-phase fuse, 24 Vdc power supply etc.


And the VFD test is a success! Even at 0.5 Hz it is impossible to stop the motor with a piece of wood jammed to the pulley. Pulse frequency at 8 Khz, at 4 khz it was quite loud. Not sure if this ancient motor likes it but we will see.
I think I won't go below 20 Hz or so. Right now max geared speed of the spindle is 1800 rpm at 50 Hz mains frequency. Maybe I can go up to 2200 rpm like some of these LS lathes were capable of. But I doubt that I need that with a lathe of this size.

Oil sump is cleaned and i'll see when I can attach the V-belts, refill oil etc and have a working lathe again!

Click to expand...

Wow. That is nicely done.

I started to set mine up to run using a 20-hp VFD and a sine wave filter, but the bug had taken hold of me forcing me buy a couple of mills and other lovely three-phase equipment. So I ended up getting a rotary phase converter. I have the motor brake on Okuma, so using the VFD was going to require a mildly complicated work around to disengage the brake when the VFD started the motor.

Whatever. Mine is a long boring story of slapped together this-and-that. What you are doing looks really nice.

I'd be happy to look at anything you decide to part with. Thank you, and no hurry.

Did you happen to get a look at how the site glasses are installed in the headstock? Mine are really cloudy, but I can't tell just by external inspection how they're attached, and I don't want to make a mediocre situation worse by trying to fix them incorrectly.

Thanks again,

Tim

Hi Jan

this is the oil I'm using ...






Its on Ebay Shell Tellus 68 Hydraulic Oil Thermally Stable 20 ltr | eBay

I paid £60 for 20L last year ... Its probably a lot cheaper where you are .

Rob.

Timbosama said:

Did you happen to get a look at how the site glasses are installed in the headstock? Mine are really cloudy, but I can't tell just by external inspection how they're attached, and I don't want to make a mediocre situation worse by trying to fix them incorrectly.

Tim

Click to expand...

Hi Jan ... to answer Tims question and incase you wanted to know aswell ..

The oil window glasses on my '71 LS540 are 32mm dia push in ones. At first I thought they would be threaded , but I removed the headstock and saddle windows (which are the same on mine) and confirmed they are pushed in and have a sealant applied.


Thats the saddle one ,front and rear view and the saddle window (the star shape is broken out of this one).

To repair/replace it I ordered some 26mm threaded windows of ebay , and made a plastic 32mm od bushing threaded to accept the new window. The bush was glue into place with JB epoxy.

new ones .. Plastic Housing 26mm Male Threaded Air Compressor Oil Level Liquid Sight Glass | eBay

Rob

I have worked on a few of these and had the same troubles you had getting it started, they have a slow speed start system and that seemed to be the problem at least on one of them that I worked on. We performed an electrical ectomy on them so the customer wouldnt have problems in the future. I see you did the same thing. Everyone that I worked on had oiling problems at the gear box I had to do exactly what you did, clean the crap out of the thing. I never touched the spindle bearing but they do recommend repacking them, I doubt anyone ever did it. You will love this lathe they are as nice a lathe as I have ever run.

MrSleepy said:

Hi Jan ... to answer Tims question and incase you wanted to know aswell ..

The oil window glasses on my '71 LS540 are 32mm dia push in ones. At first I thought they would be threaded , but I removed the headstock and saddle windows (which are the same on mine) and confirmed they are pushed in and have a sealant applied.



To repair/replace it I ordered some 26mm threaded windows of ebay , and made a plastic 32mm od bushing threaded to accept the new window. The bush was glue into place with JB epoxy.


Rob

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Tim

MrSleepy said:

Hi Jan

this is the oil I'm using ...

Its on Ebay Shell Tellus 68 Hydraulic Oil Thermally Stable 20 ltr | eBay

I paid £60 for 20L last year ... Its probably a lot cheaper where you are .

Rob.

Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

Thanks! The prices here are roughly the same, around 80€ for a 20L bin. Still tempted to go for the ISO 68 Shell Omala oil, since it is specially made for gearboxes. The oil that came out of my machine was quite thick, i should have saved some to do a crude viscosity test on. The same ISO 68 stuff should be perfect for my mill as well so the 20L bin will be used completely. The ISO 100 stuff is probably too thick yeah.

Thnx for the tips on the oil windows. How many are there on this machine? I can find two on the head stock, one on the saddle (all 32mm), a smaller one for the oil level of the x-feed lead screw. And then I see small oil level glass listed in the manual for the tail stock as well but i can't find it on the machine. Strange.
I found some 22 and 32 mm sight glasses, to press in: Oil windows, oil window, oil level window, oil level windows, sight glass, sight glasses


Teplast Gmbh, Eiken, Switzerland.


I sure hope the noisy gearbox gets more silent with the correct oil. This thin hydraulic oil seems good for flushing out contaminants but not much more than that. On low rpm it is fine, up to ~500 rpm. 970/1800 rpm is loud. Mostly gears chattering and some noise from the oil pump. Even with the spindle lo/high in neutral. Before I cleaned everything, the few test runs with the old (thick) oil, were luckily less noisy.
The feed/gear transmission makes a high pitched noise as well, not sure what to think of that. Luckily 98% of the bearings used are normal 60xx/62xx/63xx units! I wouldn't be surprised if there is one with a pitted bearing race or something like that.

kpotter said:

I have worked on a few of these and had the same troubles you had getting it started, they have a slow speed start system and that seemed to be the problem at least on one of them that I worked on. We performed an electrical ectomy on them so the customer wouldnt have problems in the future. I see you did the same thing. Everyone that I worked on had oiling problems at the gear box I had to do exactly what you did, clean the crap out of the thing. I never touched the spindle bearing but they do recommend repacking them, I doubt anyone ever did it. You will love this lathe they are as nice a lathe as I have ever run.

Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah the electrics, although built with nice/over sized components failed on mine too. And the oil system needs attention as well. Although if cleaning is the only thing it needs once in a while i'm fine with that
I spent last evening cleaning as many parts of the gearbox as I could, flushing gearbox bearings with brake cleaner, removing sludge from the head stock etc. Not many to be found but still a bit cleaner now.
I do have the correct Kluber/SKF grease for these bearings but I don't want to mix it with the old grease that is in there. Pulling the spindle out of the head stock seems like a lot of work. Right now it runs smooth and silent (the spindle itself) so i wont mess with it.


Here are some pictures of last evenings work.



After some cleaning. Running the motor at 200-300 rpm is slow enough to run the transmission with the cover open. A great way to check if everything gets oil, that was the case luckily and even at low speed the pump gives ample flow.




Only found this slightly worn shift fork. On the left of it you can see that the gear teeth are (almost?) touching the fork. I forced the fork against the gear with the motor running at low speed and it didn't made any noise. Maybe still the cause of the noise at higher speeds?
The gears look good, the difference in surface between the used and unused part is mostly residue that cleans off easily.




Removed another cover. Clean!




Close up. The big gears on the right have no direct oil nozzle on them, at low speeds I didn't see much oil on them. Maybe better at high speed when they get splash from the smaller gears in the back/right of this part of the gearbox?

Timbosama said:

Wow. That is nicely done.

I started to set mine up to run using a 20-hp VFD and a sine wave filter, but the bug had taken hold of me forcing me buy a couple of mills and other lovely three-phase equipment. So I ended up getting a rotary phase converter. I have the motor brake on Okuma, so using the VFD was going to require a mildly complicated work around to disengage the brake when the VFD started the motor.

Whatever. Mine is a long boring story of slapped together this-and-that. What you are doing looks really nice.

I'd be happy to look at anything you decide to part with. Thank you, and no hurry.

Did you happen to get a look at how the site glasses are installed in the headstock? Mine are really cloudy, but I can't tell just by external inspection how they're attached, and I don't want to make a mediocre situation worse by trying to fix them incorrectly.

Thanks again,

Tim

Click to expand...

Yeah I understand. Be careful with collecting these machines. The things you own may end op owning you! That's why I am trying to lose some stuff as well now. Selling off some abandoned projects and general garage cleanup.. And trying now to buy new stuff haha.
Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it! Right now I have some free time on my hands and in between all the other things that are taking my time I try to get this machine up and running in such a way that I have a reliable machine for years to come!
Setting up the VFD to work with the brake can't be that complicated?
Have you used your machine yet?