Grinder motor died. In a quandary which direction to go, VFD or?

Looks right. I'm not sure what speed your old motor was. The one you got is the 1800rpm. If you find you want more speed, I believe the kbac has a doubling feature. Some people prefer to use 1800rpm and then double the speed. Gives you more torque on the low end.
 
You are good to go.

You don't have to change a thing if you upgrade your shop to 220VAC. The only thing that will change is that you'll get the full 1.5HP from your motor once the VFD has the full 220VAC coming into it.
 
Hey, you could use the 2hp motor with that VFD on 110 vac, but it would only product around 1.5 hp. Then later when you get the 220 vac power source you would have the 2hp motor already. BUT - the 1.5 hp motor you've got will provide plenty of power.
 
John Wilson said:
You are good to go.

You don't have to change a thing if you upgrade your shop to 220VAC. The only thing that will change is that you'll get the full 1.5HP from your motor once the VFD has the full 220VAC coming into it.
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OK...that's what I thought. Thanks for your help
 
Everyone who has contributed here has been very helpful. I'll update this when I get the VFD and motor in next week and let you guys know how it goes.

Thanks!
 
KenH said:
Here's the link to several different 3 ph IronHorse motors: https://goo.gl/GcqUPa The 1.5 hp is $147 or $181 shipped, depending on 1800 or 3600 rpm choice. "IF" you decide to get 220 vac in shop and run a $62 Chinese VFD until it goes bad, do remember to put filters over air inlet or VFD in box. Most likely it will last several years that way, or the NEMA 1 VFD drives I've got have.

I'll have to check out that Forged in Fire episode last night. I usually watch the recorded version so I can fast forward thru commercials.

Good luck - oh, and no contest, VFD only for a 2X72 grinder. I used a 3 pulley setup for a couple of years thinking that was all that was needed, then went to VFD - boy, you'll never regret the extra cost.
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Ken, is da-man when it comes to the VFD.
Who would have ever thunk Ken is a deep into knowledge a man of the world. If you hadn't have meant him he comes across as real nice common man. However in reality he is,...... super-hero-smiley.png

Ken the FIF issue the dude is in his home shop and some of what happened may have been edited out. I thought I saw him spill a dunk bucket but, the next scene shows him rooting around in a bunch of wire connections and their is a small fire going on.

My personal thoughts are the fire was his doings. The quick shot of the box showed what appeared to be shoddy connections and their was definitely grinding residue in his box!!
 
MikeL said:
Don’t forget to update us on how well your wife took the news of the purchase. ;)
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What do you mean, he gonna do like all the rest of us and tell his wife he got for $75.00 off of Craigslist!! Then say the prayer we all say!!! thBEY6K46V.jpg

Dear Lord, when I die please don't let my wife sell my tools for what she thinks I have in them!!!
 
MikeL said:
Don’t forget to update us on how well your wife took the news of the purchase. ;)
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We only talked price in general terms :D

She knows, I think. Like most of my purchases involving guns and knives she has absolutely no interest in what I'm doing.
 
C Craft said:
What do you mean, he gonna do like all the rest of us and tell his wife he got for $75.00 off of Craigslist!! Then say the prayer we all say!!! View attachment 67751

Dear Lord, when I die please don't let my wife sell my tools for what she thinks I have in them!!!
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I would never tell her I got it off of Craigslist.

It came from e-bay :rolleyes:

And if she had any idea how much all the tools I have are worth, I'd be living in the shed.
 
Cliff Craft sure does a GREAT job with his posts bringing a smile to everybody with his icons - Keep up the good work.

Yep, when I watched that episode of the VFD going bad, it was a fully open housing with no filters in place and mounted right where it'd catch lots of dust. I wondered myself how a shorted VFD could cause a fire - most likely it wasn't dust but wiring at the cause of failure. Wiring failure would happen to a NEMA 4 drive as well as NEMA 1.

I sure was surprised when the tang broke in middle during testing - had to be a big crack right there.
 
Update:

I received the motor and the KBAC-27 on Monday. I worked on it most of yesterday but didn't have time to work on it today. I should be ready to fire things up tomorrow (I hope) I've taken the opportunity to do some rearranging in my shop as well. So tomorrow is a bit iffy. If not it will most likely be Saturday.

I'll post some more photos either tomorrow or Saturday.

I'm anxious to get it up and running and make some more knives.

Here's some photos

Unpacking the VFD. I'm impressed with how solid the unit is. First class.
KBAC-27.jpg
Iron-horse motor specs.jpg

The motor plate called these three INS for Insulate I presume? I haven't heard the term used this way before. Presumably it means to tie off the wires that aren't being used? That's the only real question I have about this setup. But to me it makes sense.INS.jpg


I've done some more work since this photo. I've setup a wooden frame to hang the VFD from and there is still some re-arranging to do.
Grinder-setup.jpg

I'm getting genuinely excited to get this going !
 
Yep, you got it. You tie off the YEL, BLK, and GRY and insulate the connection.

If your motor turns the wrong direction when you put it FORWARD then swap any two wires on the VFD output to the motor. That's a lot easier than going back into the peckerhead on the motor.
 
John Wilson said:
Yep, you got it. You tie off the YEL, BLK, and GRY and insulate the connection.

If your motor turns the wrong direction when you put it FORWARD then swap any two wires on the VFD output to the motor. That's a lot easier than going back into the peckerhead on the motor.
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Thanks John. That's what I thought, but glad for the verification.

I appreciate your help.
 
Being able to slow the grinder down for the finer belts is a very real advantage. Even for sanding the edges of the sheaths, being able to slow the 60 grit bet keeps the leather from burning
 
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