Progress Report - Phase Converter, Plus

[Sonny]

Before having the converter positioned and wired, I had to remove a wood ra ck and its lumber. Got the converter "cabinet" built, electrician wired it Tuesday, and I installed some filters .... 3 Pics, scroll right

.... and since I was building stuff, I decided to remodel the shop doorway. ... from the main shop area into the shop's garage (jointers/planer/bandsaw area).

I had been wanting to move that doorway ever since the building became a sh op. The air compressor protrudes into the doorway about a foot, so I move d the doorway over a foot or so. Note the work bench and overhead shelves left of the doorway. Before -

eam eam

In order to move the doorway, I had to move that work bench and shelves to the other side of the log support post. I reinstalled only half of the she lves.

Got the framing, facings and door installed.

There's enough room behind the door for the frig to fit. The frig present ly protrudes into the double doorway that leads out the back of the shop. Now I have a decent place for the frig, rather than in that doorway.

It took about 3-4 weeks to do this remodeling, didn't work every day, thoug h. It's been too hot out there, lately.

Also spent some time working on the rocker. It's glued up except for the a rm rests. During glue up, something misaligned, so the armrests don't fit properly. I'll have to make new arm rests. Otherwise, after placing appr opriate weight on the rocker, its balance and rocking action is really nice and smooth.

The converter motor runs really quiet, I was surprised. The jointer motor runs really quiet, was even more surprised. When hand spinning the motor /jointer head, I couldn't detect any bearing issues. I had wondered if, wh en fired up, there would be evidence of some bearing or other issues. I n or the electrician could detect any anomaly. The jointer motor runs very smooth and quiet, quieter than the Powermatic 8" jointer motor. I'm a hap py camper, jointer-wise and shop remodel-wise.

Sonny

[dpb]

Kept _tryin'_ ta' tell ya'... :)

None of that hurts anything, but seems way overboard to me...what's going to happen to a TEFC motor w/ a little airborne dust around?

[Sonny]

Yeah. in person, the scene looks secure, despite the over kill. I had a se nse of extra security. Looking at the pics I got a different perspective. The excessive filtering may restrict air flow for that type of motor, tho ugh the restriction may not be much or matter much.

I think I'll remove the two side filters and replace with window screen. If, in use, there appears to be excess dust settling on the motor, then I'l l reinstall the filters.... or any that warrant installing.

The electrician had advised adding filters, as per an installation he did f or a marble/stone cutting company. That company's motor's bearings were a ffected by stone dust. Maybe it wasn't a TEFC motor.

My next task is to move the jointer into position, closer to the converter, closer to that wall. The jointer is still partially disassembled.... blad es and infeed table are presently removed.

Sonny

Sonny

[dpb]

An air hose blast once in a (great) while should do it.

But, I can see in a stone-cutting facility that's probably a nearly continuous operation being markedly different than the woodshop. Plus, the stone dust itself would likely tend to be finer and is more abrasive.

Now we get to the interesting part -- I was going to ask about how it worked when you got power. I mistook the comment regarding noise from it as was up 'n running...

Enjoy!!! :)

I pulled knives out of the little Model 13 planer last night -- after the exercise of running all the reclaimed soffit and fascia from the house through while doing the 10" baseboard from the dining room and some other pieces Dad had taken down during the remodel to put back into the dining room when get done with the floor resanding/finishing, it had gotten where was leaving a high crown...worn the center of knives down observable nearly 32nd...but managed the whole exercise w/o actually chipping one!

Need replacement set while send these out to be reground -- they're getting narrow but think can do "one more time". Having trouble finding the actual replacements with the veritable plethora of the lunchbox planers the old iron is pretty much gone. May have to buy solid knives and have the adjusting notches in the ends ground into them.

[Sonny]

When bought and still on the trailer, I was to take it to the local commerc ial shop to test the motor, to make sure it ran. I didn't do that, so I ha d no idea if the motor worked or not. The "up and running" was the testing when the electrician installed the converter. That's why I didn't have th e knives installed, just to see if/how the motor and head spun.

What brand planer? Rockwell?

What size of blades? I suppose 1/8 X 1 (1.25?) X 13. Might

1/8 X 1.25 X 12" blades work with your planer? When I bought the Northfie ld there was a set of four 12" blades installed. They're in good shape, ye t had them touch-up sharpened. Easy to mail to you! /

Sonny

[dpb]

Thanks for the offer...it's an old Delta Model 13 with 13-1/8 x 1/8 x 1 and the height adjusting notch on the ends. I can find the solid knives w/o the notch; just have to get the notches ground in precisely enough.

I hadn't used it in for several years since got the PM Model 180 running again (which is what I needed the 3P converter for) but decided for the rough work was doing ruining a set of old, almost used up 13" knives is a whole lot less painful than the almost new 18" in it, so brought it back out of mothballs...which is why didn't have a backup set on hand, either.

Now that have the paint and shellac/varnish knocked off, can run one final skim pass thru the PM to do final cleanup.

Do appreciate the offer, but don't believe I've really any use for 12" altho guess could cut them down for the 8" jointer (but you could make use of them that way, too, of course).

[Jack]

I bought most of my stationary tools used in 1975 from a friends father. He bought the tools new around 1954-ish. None of the tools (TS, BS, DP, Jointer, jig saw, lathe) had TEFC motors. They all still run perfectly, despite all the dust. The TS quit when I first got it as it was packed with saw dust to the point the starter wouldn't engage. I ripped it apart and cleaned it up, works perfect. I then placed an old nylon stocking over the motor vent openings to keep out the large chunks of saw dust. Has been working fine ever since. Never had any problems with other motors. My dust collector, Planer, shaper, disk sander and belt sander all have TEFC motors and of course no dust problems there either.

I'm not recommending non TEFC motor housings in a wood shop BUT, 65 or so years in a wood shop, with 6 major wood tools means you should have zero worries with a TEFC motor in your shop, w/o the need for elaborate filters. I'd worry more about heat build up, but even that in your situation is probably moot.

[Sonny]

.... Never had any problems

Yeah, sometimes I need a smack between the eyes reminding me to use common sense about some things, though the electrician is probably right about the scenario he experienced. Now, what to do with filters that were free in the first place? I had thought to use them, since I had them. No real inv estment in the cabinet-build supplies, either.

Thanks Guys.

Sonny

[dpb]

In roughly same time frame, I've also had only one motor that failed to start owing to dust collected in the starter contacts area--that was on the little Delta shaper back in late '70s while was building the kitchen cabinets for Dad. Blew it out and back in business in half an hour (had to take it off and take to the barn to get to the compressor or it would have only been 10 minutes or less). It's still running now and while reminds me I probably should, don't believe I've done it again since and just been using it fairly regularly in last several weeks.

So, it just isn't a real issue for anything other than a 40-hr week heavy-use commercial shop, I agree.

That said, TEFC is better, obviously, and overkill never really hurts unless do actually start spending real money needlessly.

I just took pictures yesterday of the converter/control station back in the back of the barn...I'll try to get them posted relatively shortly. Not a pristine environment, for sure! :)