Z- and X-axis power feed using windshield wiper motors (PM-30MV)

[@billsmith5166]

Wow. This is well engineered. Very nice work. Thanks for the video, you've given me a lot of ideas.

[@HangarQueen]

Thanks! I'm getting a LOT of use (near constant) out of both the Z- and X-axis power feeds.

[@vernoneasterday9838]

Really cool the simpler the better.

[@ypaulbrown]

You Sir, are very creative and an inspiration, best wishes, Paul in Florida....

[@stevetaylor2445]

A 1/2" bolt normally has a 3/4" head It's fairly clear that your 1/2" drill rod is much larger than he bolt your pulley is fastened to which I suspect is actually 3/8" A 3/8" bolt normally has a 9/16" head Glad you titled the video z and x Axis but I understand it's easy to say y axis early on when referring to the z axis I do like your efforts and it gave me ideas for my Bridgeport clone Kent mill I will be trying to fit a used x Axis power feed to my y axis but it didn't come with the limit switch but your style would do me I believe

[@silverbullet7434]

Nice job well thought out and it looks good too!!.

[@HangarQueen]

Thank you. I use both the Z- and X- power feed constantly, and they continue to work well.

[@supyrow]

Never considered a wiper motor. Good idea!

[@HangarQueen]

Ya, they're pretty powerful geared motors, and cheap. Note that most will have their case grounded, so you'll want to internally disconnect that ground connection so that you can reverse the +/- polarity for reversing direction. Somewhat optional if you're only using one motor, but required if using two (e.g. X and Z)

[@jakubkopec9313]

​@@HangarQueen thank you for explanation. I would probably not even consider grounding as an issue.

[@daniellindholm]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@miguelcastaneda7257]

Well that was informative...think ill try it for my round column mill...yea getting old so cranking that is a bit

[@HangarQueen]

As I mentioned in the video, I had rotator cuff surgery done on my right shoulder a decade ago, and it didn't go well. I simply could not crank the Z-axis up for more than a few seconds without pain, so the very first modification I made to my PM-30 was this simple Z-axis power feed, while removing the useless-to-me crank completely. I use it constantly and it continues to work well.

[@randyshoquist7726]

My lathe has a pretty noisy gear train, so I rarely use power feed at high spindle RPMs. I know some guys use a wiper motor to power the feed rod or lead screw, as the case may be, for quieter power feed . You've got me thinking about it again.

[@HangarQueen]

I implemented James Clough's (@Clough42) Electronic Lead Screw (ELS) on my mini-lathe, driving a servo motor that drives the leadscrew by a belt. It works really well, and makes single-point threading easy and FUN on the lathe.

[@RupsGarage]

Great video. I am replicating what you did on my mill. Do you have a wiring schematic on how you made the limit switches stop the motor but you are still able to make it run back the other way. I am also interested in the wiring for the turbo button. Thank you very much.

[@HangarQueen]

Thanks for the compliment. It continues to work well. The limit switches are normally closed, and are wired in series with the left/right switch poles, breaking the left or right circuit. When you change the switch to the other direction, its limit switch for that other direction is still closed, so the signal to the PWM controller is intact, and the table moves that other direction. The "turbo button" simply bypasses the potentiometer, effectively making it 100% while the button is held down. Make sense? I really ought to do another short follow-up video to show the inside of one of those controller boxes, along with a wiring diagram. I'll put it on my list.

[@jinbee2627]

Given the crane example I'd like to see the effects of a load that's not a perfect straight pull as higher grades are often brittle.

[@HangarQueen]

I'm trying my best to understand your comment as it relates to my video. Crane example? Straight pull? I wonder if you might have intended your comment for another YT video perhaps? If you did intend it for THIS video, can you please explain the comment a little more?

[@raindeergames6104]

You've never seen me crank a cross slide by hand😂😂. I can go to the Olympics of hand cranking. I am going to try a wipermotor like Yours and if it doesn't work I'm going to a nema 32 stepper

[@miscbits6399]

regarding your comment about the axis locks, is there any way of interlocking them to the motor controls so the things can't be powered wilst the lock is engaged?

[@HangarQueen]

Sure, you COULD certainly rig switches to the axis locks in series with the limit switches. But that's quite a bit of extra work and complexity for minimal gain, IMO. I've forgotten my X-axis locks (still locked) once so far, when powering my X-axis power feed. The cog belt slips on the pulleys, making a LOUD NOISE that's impossible to ignore. I quickly turned off the X-axis feed, released the X-axis locks, and back to business. My Z-axis locks are rarely used in practice. But ya, because of my "screwed together" direct drive approach for my Z-axis motor, I do have the risk of it unscrewing if I tried power-feed DOWN while the Z axis was still locked. It hasn't happened ... yet. :-)

[@adhawk5632]

Ive got the same lcd dro, i like it so far, what do you think

[@HangarQueen]

Sorry for delay; have been on vacation. I really like this DRO display. Much better, easier to read, and more capable than my old-style DRO display on my mini lathe.

[@stevenhintz5508]

Do you happen to know what the amp rating on that motor is? Thanks

[@HangarQueen]

Sorry, I don't know, and there's no indication on the motor nor in the product listing. I'll hook up my multimeter to measure amperage under load soon and feed back here when I get an answer. Meanwhile, I can tell you that: -Typically, wiper motors are on a 15A circuit in cars -- but that's mostly to allow for the inrush current briefly. - I'm able to power TWO of them simultaneously (for my Z- and X-axis) from my 10A power supply ... though they will slightly slow down when both are running together. The power supply has a slow-blow 10A fuse so I can't be exceeding it for long anyway. So I'm guessing somewhere between 3-6A per motor, depending on the load. The X-axis motor casing can get quite warm to the touch if I try "pushing it" through a deep cut too fast. If I disengage the X-axis motor clutch and try cranking by hand through that same deep cut, I appreciate how hard the motor was working ... and then back off on the depth or speed of my cut. The Z-axis motor never struggles and stays cool.

[@stevenhintz5508]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking of adding this motor to my lathe for the lead screw but unsure of what size power supply to use for a single motor. Bigger can’t hurt I guess. Nice job on your project

[@HangarQueen]

@@stevenhintz5508 OK, I have some real-world numbers from my X-axis: No load: 4.5A left and 3.2A right. (I've noticed that it moves slightly faster/easier to the right; there seems to be some additional table friction moving to the left; noticeable when manually cranking as well. Need to investigate this.) Surprisingly, the current doesn't change much whether it's running at 10%, 50%, or 100% speed. Then I tried holding the table from moving, giving it "considerable load" (more than I'd want my tool to push through) at 50% speed (the maximum I'd ever use for a moderately deep cut). The peak that I could read on the meter, while struggling as hard as I could to resist X-axis movement in either direction was 8.2A. (Which explains why the motor gets hot under heavy load.) I didn't measure the Z-axis current. And remember that I have my X-axis motor rewired to use the red and green wires, so the motor is consuming more energy (and turning faster) than the approved red-to-black (fast) or green-to-black (slow) connections.

[@HangarQueen]

@@stevenhintz5508 Oh, and if you're going through the effort of powering your lathe lead screw, I'll strongly suggest that you do it with a stepper or servo motor and incorporate James Clough's (@Clough42) Electronic Lead Screw (ELS) -- eliminating the cumbersome change gears. It works fabulously on my MX-210V mini-lathe, and makes single-point thread cutting a joy.

[@stevenhintz5508]

@@HangarQueen I thought about doing that but frankly all the electronics is very intimidating to me. I don’t single point very often but would like to vary my feed rate easily

[@austinreid295]

Yeehoo