Hey Alex,
you are right. I always want to spot on the VFD being rather a device that produces EMI dirt than being endangered of catching some.
I understand the EMI noise part and ordered the double shielded wire ( VFD Cable 10ft 16/4 DS Flexion For Spindle .8Kw 1.5Kw) for the spindle to VFD.
I am concerned about the power in to my VFD as it currently only has two wires connecting to L and N. I would like to use a different cord with 3 wires. I do not know where to connect the 3rd wire to the VFD?
I see the metal box housing and will start to think about how I can incorporate this into my plans and if I might have something I can repurpose.
I see this build is complex and may need other components to get my water pump and vac to work together with the 1F. It is hard for me to tell what products I may need so I am just taking it slow and piecing together everything as I learn what I need.
Finding a list of what you need and what will work is most daunting at the moment.
Thanks for the help and support!!
Taking it slow, Cheers
Hey Jay,
Yes, concern is justified since you have no protection as long as the ground wire from your spindle has no contact to your house grounding.
You connect it at the same point where the earth (yellow/green) wire from the spindle is connected: Somewhere at the VFD metal housing (as long as you have no metal plate). All earth wires have to be brought together in one point which ideally is the metal plate on the back of the VFD metal housing. See also the drawing here:
It shows three wires from mains wall outlet (2+PE) (upper left), metal plate with VFD and EMI filter, and shielded four wires from VFD to spindle (lower right), all with how PE and shields have to be connected.
By the way, here is an example of (nearly 
) finished VFD control cabinet:
Also I wanted to say that of course you can buy a Control Cabinet with VFD wired ready-to-use at some spindle manufacturers, e.g. here:
1 Like
Hey Jay,
The right attitude in my opinion 
Learning this can be fun.
See e.g. here
Descriptions of this are spread around in the forum.
Thanks!! The pictures of the products help as I don’t know I need it yet…lol
I am making progress, added a monitor and mouse. Mouse while I wait on a game controller.
I can see I have wires and controllers stacking up on the edge of my table. A cabinet or metal box could be very handy. I understand and have access to ferrite rings. Most of the copiers I work on do have most all the controller pcb’s in a metal box on the back of the machine…so this does make sense to me.
So mechanically speaking I may need a metal box/cabinet, EMC filter, 5-6 relay switches, and…I know I am missing some stuff…
If there are common products users here like for this stuff and any specs about the mechanics known to work with the 1F…
I found Clough42’s YouTube channel very informative. The first two videos of his ATC spindle build - see below links - show and discuss his VFD enclosure. You may find them helpful as he refers to many of the points highlighted by @Aiph5u.
2 Likes
I have everything but the controller in an old computer case. The list includes the VFD, power supplies, solid state switches, etc. If you look at your VFD it looks like the control panel snaps into place. HY makes a remote kit (very cheap) that’s just a ribbon cable and a trim piece that the control panel snaps into. I made a control panel with switches for the dust collector, water pump for the spindle, power for the VFD, the display for the VFD, a pair of USB ports, and the water flow gauge. It mounts to the side of the display. I still need to get a joypad and keyboard holder.
1 Like
This sounds amazing Dr- Al!!
I just finished watching Michel Satoer’s control panel video and wow, way more control than I ever imagined.
I am currently looking for a metal cabinet box. I have an old PC and lots of old copy machines for parts.
I am putting a parts list together as I find out what specific pcs I may need. If anyone wants to share the components in there build, please do.
Thanks, this is lots of fun!!
Hey Alex,
you are too modest to show how it looks like? I always like the pictures of your setup:
1 Like
So I was checking out my options that I have around…Found a couple metal box’s that might work, maybe?
Wow that looks like a clean set up Dr-A, nice work!!
Hey Jay,
here in the upper left is a nice ferrite core!
Thanks, I have lots of ferrite cores))
I have access to some relays and electrical components off of power supplies and PCB’s too.
I am on a search for what components will work, like switches and relays plus a EMC filter.
How deep is the enclosure?
I like the added mini panel. may I ask what the various switches control? I am still deciding what to include in mine once it is built.
Hey Tom,
@Dr-Al described above:
Thank you for highlighting that! Lesson learned (-:
That’s the old monitor. I upgraded to a 21" Asus that now sits above the control panel.
Hey Alex,
did you try out rotating by 90° (=portrait orientation) in the meantime? @mb0978 Mike’s really good instructions can easily be adapted from 180° to 90° rotation
I didn’t rotate it. I wanted the 15" monitor but couldn’t find one. The 21" is kind of too large IMO. I might try to rotate it but I would want to switch the screen resolution at the same time. I just have had too many projects I’ve been trying to do. I’m currently working on making a cheval mirror where both the oval mirror frame and possibly some other parts will be cut on the 1F.
1 Like
Hey Alex,
In case you want somewhen I can help you with setting resolution too
This sounds very interesting.