Renovating a Hardinge HLV-H

**BillTodd** · 01-04-2009

Sounds like an interesting project. After 40 years of battling customers to define requirements for a few zillion projects, I'm moved to curiosity over why one would need the capability to switch from low to high or high to low quickly while it is running -at least on a manual lathe - but as long as you're having fun...

It has more to do with keeping the speed control lever as a go/stop device, than the need to switch speed.

I like the clunky lever. It reminds me of a time before 'Health and Safety', before every thing had to have an E-Stop button. A time when Window-cleaners were allowed to use ladders (you may be surprised to learn that EU/UK law now forbids them to use ladders!!!!!) A time when, when things 'go wrong' it was not always someone else's fault.

I will have my lever - even if it takes 100k LOCs (of machine code) :)

**aafradio** · 01-04-2009

Well, that's sorta what I assumed, but my knee-flex reaction training always kicks in...heh, heh... :D

I always liked the lever action too, but one day a workpiece that was enduring a nasty interrupted cut because of its odd shape didn't think it was restrained well enough and escaped just past my ear at about the speed of sound.

Ever since then I tend to stand over to the right of the potential workpiece ejecta path, which is why the VFD control is there on my lathe in the photo above.... How many LOCs to guard against that?:confused:

I'm just teasin' you, Bill. When I was younger I spent a lot of time designing stuff like that for the shop simply because it was fun to do. "Because it's there" is a perfectly good rationale for doing it at times. And I agree with your observation about personnel safety regulations in Western countries. I suspect that the end result will be working uniforms that look like the Michelin Man and padded rooms to prevent us from hurting ourselves if we stumble into a wall. Wait! That sounds like an insane asylum!

**BillTodd** · 07-04-2009

Just fitted the rewired control panel. :)

The control logic is just a bird's nest ATM while I test it, but it seems to work as advertised.

The photo shows the bird-nest logic and temporary 24v PSU (bottom right) I'll knock up a PCB for the two relays and PSU. I'll add a low voltage (50vac) transformer to power the work light and use (half) to power the logic.

All I have to do now is convert the speed adjust motor to 240v...