MINI LATHE UPGRADES #1: BRUSHLESS MOTOR UPGRADE

[@samkaplitz9036]

Wow! What a neat video! I am impressed with all the upgrading.👍

[@myharris]

Thanks for your kind words, Sam! Appreciate you taking the time.

[@johnhall8455]

Nice job, it would be easy to fit an electronic rev counter for accurate readings..

[@myharris]

Hey John, thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. That's an interesting idea, I hadn't got as far as thinking about that. Ebay here I come! Appreciate your input, thanks again

[@joetaylor1089]

Good job! I was thinking of a similar screw set up for the rpms, just like you had done. Although I was thinking more of cut outs around the wheel handle(more like a knob in my mind) for grip instead of an actual spinning handle like you did. I think the bearings are a necessary upgrade for one of these lathes👍 I personally wouldn't have gotten rid of the original carriage feed for the reason of getting consistent OD finishes. Although I can agree the threading could be left out if you don't need it. I have heard some lathes don't have regular feeds, but I think most of them do if you check the manuals? I can't be sure since I haven't got my mini lathe yet and the ones I run at work are full sized. Keep up the good work!

[@myharris]

Hi Joe, really appreciate the feedback. Interesting idea about the speed control - would be great to see how that works out. From looking at other videos covering this on YT, it seems like it's one of those problems that at first glance seems pretty trivial but can actually turn into a bit of head-scratcher! I hear you about consistent finishes but honestly there was so much slop in the carriage feed it would've needed a complete rebuild, plus I'm finding the handwheel gives much finer control over depths and dimensions. And tbh I haven't noticed a fall-off in od finish - if anything it's much improved, although that's almost certainly more to do with the new bearings than with any great skill on my part!! Do stay in touch - would love to hear how you get on with your new lathe when it arrives 👍

[@joetaylor1089]

@@myharris I'll Definitely try to post updates. I have a good deal on a Vevor mini lathe, so I think I'll go that route. I'll only know just how bad it is after it's in the garage🤣. Hoping for it to be at least decently straight and even. I'd like to try and turn a couple things before I dive into rebuilding individual parts and making it parallel and perpendicular where required.

[@GlennNowOnYouTube]

Great job getting everything to fit back on the lathe. I hope my motor change over goes as well. I subscribed to your channel so I can follow along with your bearing upgrade. Just started a series on steel gears and taper roller bearings upgrade on my channel. It's good to see other channels doing Mini Lathe projects. I will be sure to watch all your adventures. Good luck with the bearing upgrade. Thanks for sharing, GlennNow On KZbin

[@myharris]

Hi Glenn, really appreciate your feedback and kind words. I've just subscribed backatcha! Looking forward to mining your back catalogue for ideas and inspiration. I hit a small snag on replacing the bearings as the supplier sent the wrong ones, so looks like it'll be midweek now. I'll definitely watch your taper bearing series - my own attempt at this a while back ended in abject failure so I'm hoping you have some answers! Thanks again, and welcome aboard 👍

[@joetaylor1089]

Dude! It is a small world to see everyone in the same place! Hopefully I'm not a third wheel here🤣

[@GlennNowOnYouTube]

@@joetaylor1089 Hello Joe, No you're not a third wheel. This is what KZbin is all about.

[@joetaylor1089]

@@GlennNowOnKZbin Thanks man👍

[@myharris]

@@joetaylor1089 You guys, get a room 🤣🤣🤣

[@nealepitts3321]

Replaced my motor with similar but mounting was different. I have same issues with the hall effect speed controller. Wish i could replace it with a potentiometer but not too good with electronics. A word of warning though…. I mounted the control box in same position but due to the hall sensor being a magnet, a small piece of swarf found its way in and shorted out making the whole lathe live. Not funny as it was quite a belt it gave me. I have since moved the controller up and away from tye lathe with a plastic handle on now.

[@myharris]

Hey Neale, thanks for stopping by and welcome to the channel. Man, that's a great heads-up about shorting the sensor - very much appreciate you sharing your painfully-acquired experience on this. I did ground the lathe chassis back through the plug (not sure where you're based, but earth tines are fitted as standard to UK plugs) but it's got to be worth seeing if there's a way of restricting crud falling into the control box enclosure too. My knowledge of electronics is vestigial at best, as my video on fitting a Hall effect speed sensor to the SX2P lathe clearly demonstrates! There's always the nagging feeling of potentially making the whole motor unusable if you screw the board up, so the temptation is to work around it. Plus you just kinda want to get the lathe up and running again asap without disappearing down too many rabbit holes en route. One day I'll buy a sacrificial board/motor combo for experimentation, just to see what's possible.

[@phils_arcade]

I've bought a small mini 2nd hand lathe, so will be interesting to see how you get along.

[@myharris]

Hey Phil, welcome to the channel. Looking at the bearings in the next video. I'm finding that this little machine is actually quite usable after some fettling and finessing, they definitely repay a little attention. Thanks for stopping by, appreciate the input 👍

[@phils_arcade]

@@myharrisJust picked up a 2nd hand mobility scooter motor today. Runs at 48V @ 1000Watts running 3000RPM. Looking to push it through a speed controller and a 3:1 gearbox. Bearings are something I'm going to be looking at as well. Need to get the machine cleaned down first as it's in a right mess. Came with a lot of tooling.

[@myharris]

@@phils_arcade That should push a mini lathe all right, that's quite some torque you'll have!! Did it come with a usable controller board too?

[@phils_arcade]

@@myharris Unfortunately not, but it was only £25, so change left over to get one. Been looking around from cheap Chinese ones at £28 to full featured ones on RS Components for hundreds. Also need a 240-48 volt transformer capable of handling the motor and drive board. Wanting to get a full sized metal lathe at some point, and then see what it takes to turn the mini into a small CNC style lathe, but not sure what all would be involved but would be an interesting wee project.

[@myharris]

@@phils_arcade Go for it! Would be fantastic to see some footage on that if you're minded to, there's a real appetite for minilathe mods at the moment. At some point I'll be looking at doing an electronic leadscrew, which isn't a million miles off what you're planning.

[@BillyBob-si2db]

What make and model is that lathe? Thank for your great videos.

[@myharris]

Hey Bob, thanks so much for the kind words. This is a generic 7 x 14 lathe, there is no maker's mark or model number. - it's about as anonymous as it gets! Sourced from everyone's favourite online auction house 😉

[@ronwakula6737]

You're going to want change the pulleys to get a 3 to 1 ratio. That way you will get more torque than you need. I know I did it and it works amazing.

[@myharris]

Yeah, I've been thinking about this. The only hesitation I have is that I'm assuming changing the ratios is going to throw the rev counter out. To be honest, I haven't yet checked whether the one-to-one ratio I have now is reading rpm accurately - for all I know it's been adjusted to suit whatever the pulley ratios were on the original sewing machine the motor came from. Do you have a read-out on yours? It would be really useful to pick your brains on this. Very much appreciate your feedback Ron, this has been on my mind for a while. Thanks for taking the time.

[@johnrussell6620]

@@myharris You can easily take the motor reading and divide by 2, or 3, or 4, in your head as you go.... If you get a funny number that is not easy to divide, you can change the speed dial until you do get an easy number...Good Luck!

[@donniewatson9120]

I've got a lathe endmill combo that I want to do this with. It is one speed on the lathe and the endmill speed requires a belt move on the pullies. The lathe is reversable. I would like to have some speed control electronically.

[@myharris]

What make/model is the combo? It would be interesting to see how this mod could be applied in your case. Thanks for your input 👍

[@donniewatson9120]

@@myharris it's a cheap Central Machinery combo sold by Harbor Freight. I'll have to get the model later. I can't look at it at the moment.

[@myharris]

@@donniewatson9120 Just wondering whether it has seperate motors for the lathe and mill. I don't think I mentioned in the video, but the motor I installed can be reversed too, though I haven't tried that yet

[@donniewatson9120]

@@myharris It does have separate motors.

[@donniewatson9120]

@@myharris The model is a T5980.

[@marcoam2610]

Can the motor run in reverse? How?

[@myharris]

The motor came with instructions on how to reverse rotation. It's a series of keypresses on the keypad under the readout, I can't remember offhand the exact sequence but I'd assume it'll be specified in the paperwork that comes with the specific motor you get. Thanks for stopping by, appreciate you taking the time.

[@haydenc2742]

Do you have a link to the motor?

[@myharris]

This is the one I got: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125617202047