# New project, redneck power feed



## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

So I i’ve been working on the redneck power feed for the mill. I had a couple of limit switches but I see that they are normally open. I was going to use them for limit switches to shut the power feed off at both ends of the travel. Is there a way to wire them in or do I have to use a normally closed. This is how I am wiring this up.


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## David_R8 (Dec 6, 2020)

Following along as parts for my power feed just arrived. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Alexander (Dec 6, 2020)

The easiest way to convert those is with a relay. to simplify the wiring I would recommend buying some different limit switches. search for Omron limit switches.


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## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

There were many different approaches to doing this. Most of them involved doing a direct drive. I found with the motor that I had that direct drive was too fast and not enough torque so I devised a system to gear it down to approximately half. On the top photo you will notice that the pivot point is rotated upward disengaging the gears. The gears I’m running are at 15 tooth on the drive and 31 tooth on the driven. The motor is just from princess auto. My plan was to Mount the limit switches something like the last picture where you could have an arm that comes down and hits them to shut the power feed off.


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## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

Also the control panel coming along


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## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Following along as parts for my power feed just arrived.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


What do You have in mind for yours David?


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## Johnwa (Dec 6, 2020)

@thriller007 did your motors come with a gear.  I have a couple of PA motors that look similar but don’t have a gear on the output.


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## YYCHM (Dec 6, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Following along as parts for my power feed just arrived.



Are you building one from scratch?


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## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> @thriller007 did your motors come with a gear.  I have a couple of PA motors that look similar but don’t have a gear on the output.


No my motors did not come with a gear on the end of them. They come with a screw that was more of a acme thread. I turn that down and then press fit on my own gear that originally came on a cx605


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## YYCHM (Dec 6, 2020)

You still have that 605?


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## Janger (Dec 6, 2020)

What PWM did you get?


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## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> You still have that 605?


It’s in my buddies garage now. But he would have no use for the gears since it has the belt drive.


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## thriller007 (Dec 6, 2020)

Janger said:


> What PWM did you get?


It was this one. Not sure if it’s any good on not. 
https://www.amazon.ca/DC6-60V-Contr...controller&qid=1607294473&sprefix=pwm&sr=8-14


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## YYCHM (Dec 6, 2020)

Now you have me looking at power feeds again


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## David_R8 (Dec 6, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Are you building one from scratch?



Yup, I’ve got the motor and controller. Just waiting on the power supply. 


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## Dusty (Dec 6, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Now you have me looking at power feeds again



Hi Craig, somewhere I read a brief article as to re-using vehicle window motors for power feeds. Wasn't much information in the way of specifics or drawings so I can't explain the setup other than they didn't use window units with plastic gearing. Unfortunately the article didn't mention anything on the power supply. This idea could very well be worth exploring saving you from laying out a ton of coin.


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## David_R8 (Dec 6, 2020)

I figure I’ll be in for about $200 when I’m done. 


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## David_R8 (Dec 7, 2020)

thriller007 said:


> What do You have in mind for yours David?


Something less than the uber slick version Stefan Gotteswinter built





And more like the one by Phil Vanderlay


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## Dusty (Dec 7, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Yup, I’ve got the motor and controller. Just waiting on the power supply.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Hi David, perhaps you would expand on the motor and controller components, what to look for, where you found then etc. Also include info on the power supply. You know all the background music so to speak. Enjoyed the videos!

Best of the Holiday Season to all where ever you be so play safe!


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## David_R8 (Dec 7, 2020)

Thanks @Dusty, 
Best of the season to you and yours as well! 

This is the motor I bought:
https://makermotor.com/pn01007-1003...ear-motor-12v-low-speed-100-rpm-gearmotor-dc/
This controller:
https://makermotor.com/pwm12v10a-12v-dc-pwm-speed-controller-reverse-polarity-protected-10a/
This power supply:
https://www.banggood.com/AC110V-or-...p-1457072.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN


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## PeterT (Dec 7, 2020)

Not that I don't appreciate a good homebrew retrofit but aren't the parts approaching an off the shelf powerfeed with 120AC wall plug-in, limit switch hardware etc? I think think they are even cheaper on Ali but I haven't looked, plus shipping etc.
Or maybe a space constraint on your mill?


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## David_R8 (Dec 7, 2020)

For a benchtop mill this is a style of power that is typically used.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Best-price-...871573?hash=item23a6f41d95:g:9asAAOSwLnlWniCx


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## PeterT (Dec 7, 2020)

That's exactly what I had on my RF-45 mill, David. (Find my post on better way to mount it, that cast aluminum iron clamp is bad news).
Maybe my memory is foggy but I thought they were cheaper yet.


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## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Maybe my memory is foggy but I thought they were cheaper yet.



The BP Knee mill style units can be had for less than $200 CDN.  The bench mill Horizontal units are going for just over $300 CDN.


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## PeterT (Dec 7, 2020)

Ya I'm mixed up then, sorry about that. I remember paying around $350 for my horizontal, but for some reason the bigger motor, higher torque verticals cost less. Must be about the accessories or something. I also seem to recall its the same 150 unit on end but different gear/adapter.


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## thriller007 (Dec 7, 2020)

Alexander said:


> The easiest way to convert those is with a relay. to simplify the wiring I would recommend buying some different limit switches. search for Omron limit switches.


 OK so it’s my bad for not looking at these limit switches correctly. Of course they do have a normally open or normally closed circuit. They are rated for a half amp at 125 V DC.  The maximum I’m running through with the power supply I’m using is 19 V and the maximum amp draw that I can get is .2 Amps when trying to hold the table stopped and running the motor.  So if volts x amps  equals watts then 19v x .2a is 3.8 watts. What the micro switch is  rated for is 125v x .5a is 62.5 watts. So from what I can see they should work with plenty of room. But I’m not that smart when it comes to this electrical stuff so hopefully somebody can either confirm or deny my theory here. I also measured using a cheap clamp on meter clamping over just the one motor lead. 


Thank you in advance.


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## Johnwa (Dec 7, 2020)

Watts have no meaning for a switch.  Current rating is how much they can carry without burning out regardless of the voltage.  The voltage rating is the voltage they can safely interrupt.  This is closely related to how far apart the open contacts are.
The amps may be de rated at higher voltage to take into account a higher temperature arc.


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## Dusty (Dec 7, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Thanks @Dusty,
> Best of the season to you and yours as well!
> 
> This is the motor I bought:
> ...



Could you expand on where you purchased the motor and controller, where are they meaning sales location???


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## David_R8 (Dec 7, 2020)

Dusty said:


> Could you expand on where you purchased the motor and controller, where are they meaning sales location???


I purchased both from the Makermotor site. I kept running into the same motor and controller on eBay and Amazon so I just went direct to their store.


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## thriller007 (Dec 7, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> Watts have no meaning for a switch.  Current rating is how much they can carry without burning out regardless of the voltage.  The voltage rating is the voltage they can safely interrupt.  This is closely related to how far apart the open contacts are.
> The amps may be de rated at higher voltage to take into account a higher temperature arc.


Ok thanks. either way I am pulling less than the .5 amps at 125vdc as I am only pulling .2 amps with 19vdc.

On another topic I measured and am getting 14 in./min. at 100% speed and if I’m down at 20% speed I am getting about 2.5 in./min. it seems to work pretty good. I have about $60 into it plus some spare parts I had kicking around. Power feeds are great


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