[BobWarfield]

Bill, I'll be real curious to see whether the VFD changes works out.

It sounds like you're used to babysitting the machine and watching it like a hawk. From that I will assume you can hear the spindle bog down just before the endmill is broken. I guess the hard thing to know is whether it bogged down just from the cut, or because aluminum started welding onto the flutes.

If it is a VFD setting, hallelujah. I hope so, because that's easy to fix.

I would think you'd have seen some definite bogging down behavior using twist drills. If anything, they seem to eat more HP, especially a big one. Seen any of that?

If the bogging was due to aluminum starting to weld on, we're not done diagnosing the issue yet.

The number one issue I've seen breaking endmills in aluminum is chips building up. You have to be just about paranoid about not letting that happen. A 4 flute is real sensitive, and as mentioned, can't really be used in a slot. They do fine if there is a lot of open space around them though, even in aluminum.

The other thing is I've gotten to where I prefer a straight air blast with no mist for aluminum. Seems like the mist can very often make the chips into a sticky mass that is harder to clear.

Lastly, cast tooling plate is way gummier than 6061. I've helped folks get past mill breakage where they actually had to speed up the feed to get past it. Going too slow was making smaller chips that were sticking together more. Faster feed made bigger chips that the air blast cleared out more successfully. YMMV.

Best,

BW

[Davewool]

Hi I am new to this forum I am not sure that the motor is the problem I think your rpm is far to slow for the .25 cutter you are using. if you work out the rpm for aluminum with my calculations it should be about 4000 rpm also you should be using flood coolant the prefer d coolant for aluminum is kerosene it can be a bit messy but it works a treat

[Cruiser]

running vfd 4 pole on a two pole motor may well be the torque issue. But, I found out that my leeson was sent to me wired for 440 and I run it not knowing and had torque issues. You might check that out too while your at it.
As for HiJacking thread !
Its productive, instructive, and interesting !
So, It isn't HiJacking is it !
Why Oh Why does it take so long for hindsite to kick in, never fails that it is after the fact allways !
And why does the learning curve have such an impact on the wallet !

[sdfoiler]

I was the one who purchased Cruiser's Leeson motor. When I put it on my mill I was thinking it didn't have enough power but wasn't quite sure. So I started looking at the wiring diagrams and there were two options - low voltage and high voltage. To me that meant 110 or 220. But after doing a little research, I found that really meant 220 or 440. I followed the instructions on the cover plate and wired it for the low voltage setting (220) and it was night and day for the amount of power.

I could only handle a very slow feed rate and very shallow depth of cut before the re-wire... now it does whatever I ask it to.

So yes, definitely check that before changing anything! I'll post a pic of the final wiring diagram when I get home to the mill.

[Cruiser]

Sdfoiler,
I'm glad you are happy with the motor, But, I feel quite the 1D10T now for not checking that out myself .................

[bill south]

Hey Cruiser! That makes two Idiots!!! My motor was wired for HV also. Changed that, reprogrammed the VFD, now 3500 rpm and chips the size of small volkswagens. It works. Thanks millions to Cruiser, SD foiler, the "Bob", all who helped me out. Man, I'm going out and clean and polish my machine.
Have a good day.
Bill

[mactec54]

Hi Cruiser

If you go back to the early post I told you there was something not right with your motor, I did not ever think, that you would of had it wired wrong, these are always the first things you do/check, when doing a new install

[BobWarfield]

Don't feel bad guys--I've seen posts about the same problem over on the PM board. One fellow there said that would get you 1/4 the torque. Take 1/4 and run it at a speed range that's too low or too high with a non-vector VFD and you may as well get out and push.

The good news is now you got it working right!

Cheers,

BW

[Cruiser]

Bill, I always appreciate being able to share my iddiousy's and Glad to be of help !

Mactec, I have been thinking of that every since It was brought to my attention, BUT, the bells and whistles were not within my audible range at the time, NOW, with HINDSITE ! I hear them loud and clear ! It just never crossed my mind (rather narrow gap at times) that it could be wired 440 internally !
What can I say !
You were right !

[mikej65]

Guys, don't feel bad about the 220/440 wiring mistake. I bought a cnc lathe a couple of months ago. It still had the lockout/tagout info which listed the power as 220/3ph. Also, the stepdown transformer for the control was wired for 220. I double checked the motor wiring and it was wired for 440. The motor appears original, so I think the mistake was made by the cnc converter.

[Cruiser]

OK, now we got that problem figured out. and all we need now is a catchy one liner for when someone has a similar problem. Any good idea's ?