Originally Posted by phil burman Exactly Bob.
If you want or need much above 2,000 rpm then a geared head is not going to make it. Look at a high end BP type, 60 to 4,000 + rpm. They have VFD with belts to change ranges. But then a BP doesn’t have a column in the way to restrict the design of the pulley system. You can easily get high-end speed with a compact pulley arrangement but for low speed pulleys need diameter in order to handle the additional torque, assuming you want to use all the available horsepower. Square column mills don’t have the space. That’s why there are no square column belt drives out there, at least not without a variable speed motor. The next significant step in the evolution of the square column bed mill is going to be a drive system that gives both high and low speed capability. This might be a hybrid using a VFD with pulley drive for high end speed and gear drive for low speed torque.
Regards
Phil |
True 2 speed RF-45's do 3k out of the box. But the gear box is noisy for me and I am fighting high running temps when running full speed for over an hour. I got the mill for the square column not the gear box. I wish it was belt drive and my look into converting it in the future.
Thomas