Graziano Sag 12 - VFD or RPC?

I have been wanting a lathe for years and told my boss about it. He said that our sister company had a lathe that is not used anymore so I could buy it for $1 on the condition that I got it out of their shop.

I came home with a 2000lb Graziano Sag 12 as my first lathe. Sorta jumping in head first here.

My home shop does not have 3ph so the route to take is either a VFD or Rotary Phase Converter. I've read a ton on both sources of 3ph and used to install ABB VFDs at an old job.

My question is are there pros/cons to one source over the other specifically for the Graziano? I assume that going RPC, I would still use the clutches and speed switch the change speeds (and they can be somewhat finicky). Or the VFD would be used for speed control?

Since I paid almost nothing for the lathe, I don't mind spending up to $1000 for a RPC.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Picture when it was moved in:

It's always the simpler and best route to get acquainted with 3phase converters. It's one thing you need to spend on that can be reused for multiple machines and all the machine will behave as it was designed. Or in the state you got it

I am one who tried avoiding the converters and that just created more complexity. Go rotary phase converter and never look back.

Good luck

Jacques

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Starting at around 3:10 for comments about using VFD on SAG 12.

Graziano Tour - YouTube

i know this is an older thread and this is my first post, I have a Graziano Sag 12 I just purchased that is a 440 volt three phase machine. I have a 220 3 phase rotary transformer. The motor is a 220/440 with a 6 wire output. I can reconfigure that but what else to I need to convert to make this machine work?

You have to rewire the transformer to get 220 volts on the primary
It is probably dual voltage input If not put in another transformer Then look at the coolant pump if it is 440 220 and change that too Otherwise buy another pump
Check the worklight and DRO too for proper voltage if you have these
Peter

Peter from Holland said:

You have to rewire the transformer to get 220 volts on the primary
It is probably dual voltage input If not put in another transformer Then look at the coolant pump if it is 440 220 and change that too Otherwise buy another pump
Check the worklight and DRO too for proper voltage if you have these
Peter

Click to expand...

Peter thanks for the input the coolant pump is like the motor 220/440 so I just need to rewire it for 220. It did not have a worklight or DRO. I have a 110V Newall DRO for it. I will let you know what I find on the transformer.

Peter, Thanks for the help everything went well it was an easy change since it was a dual voltage machine. I changed the motor, pump and transformer over to the 220 V position and all works well. Now it is just adjusting and setting up machine and get to turning. Thanks again. Now this winter I need to change the transmission and restore my other Sag12.