Motor drive mount

[Roger]

I've been using this drive for a couple of years for both the High Speed Spindle on the Mill, and also the Internal Grinding Spindle on the Tool & Cutter Grinder. Both use the same motor unit that bolts onto either machine.

However, because it's needed in two places, it's never had a home, and has been living on the floor which is far from satisfactory.

So I've finally got around to making a mount that can be screwed to the wall so that the drive can be quickly released and moved to a similar mount wherever it's needed.

20210523_104220 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

The back plate has a couple of 45 degree locating pieces at the bottom to guide the unit in place and to stop it coming out when the top is retained. The two 4mm holes at the top have a hex pocket behind them that takes two M4 nylock nuts so the screws can be tightened to a set length.

The big oval hole is just to save material.

20210523_091238 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

This double latch piece uses a thin piece of material as the spring. I just modelled the RH side then mirrored it and added a joining piece.

20210523_091319 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

The latches have a chamfer so they snap into position without manually moving the levers. The two levers are pinched between the fingers to release them. That works really well, because when one moves it tends to move the other too.

20210523_104312 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

This first one is a bit tight on the outside of the drive, so I've adjusted that and am just printing out another. If that's ok, I'll print the second one. There isn't much to be gained by printing out two at once. If the print fails for any reason, you just end up losing two prints instead of one. The print time is about 3 hours.

[Roger]

Here's the second one, now that I'm happy with the fit.

20210523_221836 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

[GWR 101]

Nice work Roger, I shall have to get into this 3D printing. Need to finish a couple of current projects first, but I can understand the great potential. Regards Paul

[Roger]

May 23, 2021 22:41:48 GMT GWR 101 said:

Nice work Roger, I shall have to get into this 3D printing. Need to finish a couple of current projects first, but I can understand the great potential. Regards Paul

Hi Paul,
It's incredibly useful, and not that hard to get into. Obviously you can't realise the power of it unless you can create 3D models, but that's not that hard either once you've had a good play with the software.

What's most difficult is getting into the mindset of applying it in places where it doesn't automatically spring to mind. I still find myself thinking about sheet metal, wood or metal solutions where it's actually much easier to print something.

[Roger]

The final piece in this puzzle was what to do about the many cables that come out of the control, and the little reversing switch that has been dangling on a long wire for years.

There aren't any obvious places on the Motor Control box to attach to, but I noticed that the front moulding was clipped onto the side with a couple of good sized snap fit latches on the inside.

20210524_122450 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

So I designed this clip that fits under the drive and picks up the holes on the outside. I couldn't use the full depth all the way along, because the clip they were designed for takes up some of the room. However, those are at 90 degrees to the ones that I need, so I chamfered mine to clear the ones that are already in the slot.

20210524_123824 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

The cable clamp is a separate print, and you can see there's a slot to take an M3 square nut in the body.

20210524_123851 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

I had to shorted the cables to get it to fit, and I was lucky in that it didn't need any changes. It snaps firmly into the holes on the side.

20210524_141748 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

And finally, here it is next to the mill...

20210524_151135 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr

... and here next to the Grinder. Job done!

20210524_151214 by Georgia Montgomery, on Flickr