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Again... only mount the power unit on
the MultiMachine if the machine needs
to be movable. Vibration makes
machining a smooth surface difficult.
A mechanically isolated motor and
speed reducer is the best way to reduce
vibration.
There are almost unlimited ways to
power the machine but no matter how
you plan to power your machine, you
will probably need a mounting plate
like this one that I made from scrap. It
is securely bolted to the side of the block. Make it as long and wide as possible and use 1/4" plate
if possible. I used 3/16" and it tended to flex under load.
On the plate I used, the bottom holes were marked with transfer screws and the top holes were
"guestimated" because I did not have the right size transfer screws. Big mistake! Do it right the
first time! If the tapped hole is not level with the others then use a short piece of allthread, a nut
half screwed on and then the transfer screw screwed into the rest of the nut. Unless you are very
experienced at such things don't try to estimate the hole location.
I welded on 2 pieces of bed rail to use to mount the motor and pulleys. His was a bad choice.
There is too much flexibility in the kind of steel used for bed rails. I should have used heavier
angle iron rails mounted farther apart.
Carefully lay everything out first. Don't forget that belts can be changed by unbolting rails and
pillow blocks so mount the angle iron rails close to the plate edges. Any "twisting" of the mounts
will cause belt slippage when the motor brings the heavy chuck up to speed. A 2, 3 or 5 hp motor
accelerating a 40 lb chuck from a dead stop is going to put serious force on the pulleys and
mounts.
The notch on the bottom right of the plate is
there for clearance for the clamp bolts on the
vertical slide.
Here the plate is shown bolted to the side of the
block.
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