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Anayak "Exacto" Vertical Mill Rebuild, Part 21:



I draped the cable loosely across the top of the ram, leaving plenty of extra so
the head can be tilted, nodded or extended, without strain on the connection.
I then routed it through a small electrical box that had been mounted on the side
of the mill, which originally had a simple outlet, probably for a work light.



Since I wasn't using the outlet portion of the box, I fabbed up a simple cover out of thin plate...



And used it to cap off the box. That provides a convenient 'port' to run the wire into the
base casting, so that it can be then run into the built-in electrical cabinet.



Next up, I whipped up a small 20-amp 220V pigtail, and using another strain relief,
attached it to the base casting through an existing hole, to provide input power.



Rather than drill more holes in the casting, I whipped up a simple chunk of flatbar
to hold the VFD in position. The layout in the box will probably still be changed
around a bit, so I didn't want to drill holes I wouldn't be using.



At the moment, the machine is now live and usable, but having to reach around
to the side of the mill to turn the head on and off is a bit inconvenient.



Fortunately, I had a leftover switch housing, and was able to find an ideal FWD-OFF-REV rotary
switch on eBay, which together are almost identical to the switch on my other mill.



I not only wanted to duplicate the switch action between both machines- that is, so turning the
same switch the same direction has the same action, for safety- but also to duplicate the
position on the mill. To that end, I whipped up this sturdy aluminum bracket.



The bracket bolts onto the side of the head, using some longer bolts between
the top plate and the belt housing casting.



The switch then bolts on, winding up in a nearly-identical location,
and within an inch of the same height from the floor, as the switch
on the Grizzly mill, so that I'm always reaching for the same switch,
in the same place, turned the same direction, on either mill.






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quickest, safest, or even the correct ones. It's up to you to know how to use your own machines and tools.
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