Hi Doug:
I have a supershop myself and have done some thinking along the same lines as far as automating it's axis's. Were you planning on making it a strictly metal working unit or do you intend to use it mainly for wood? Smithy has a feature for the supershop which automates the carriage riding on the ways. I think it uses a 1/3 hp motor. It has been my expirience thus far that the main drive is just barely powerful enough to run the tablesaw function, if you keep a sharp 80+ tooth blade on it and slow the speed to the highest in the middle speed band. A little slower than I would prefer. It would make a great candidate for swapping out the main drive motor with a higher HP (21/2-4hp at about 4500 rpm) motor. I am sure there is a treadmill motor with the specs necessary that would also be adaptable and fit in the original motor's space. You probably have more knowledge than I regarding powerfeed motors for the other movement axis, I have next to none, but do have signifigant computer and electronics skills. Let me know more details on what you had in mind from your perspective. Best Regards, Joe.  |