This weekend I finally finished the restoration on a Powermatic 6 inch belt and 12 inch disc sander. It is a Powermatic 30B, and was running a 220V 3 phase motor.
I bought the machine about a year ago. It was a basket case when I got it. I was told the history of the machine was that it was pulled out of a high school vocational shop and stored outside. The guy I bought it from rescued the machine and pulled it apart to restore it. Fortunately for me he quickly decided he didn't have the time and sold it to me. I was still involved in a full restore on a little Delta Homecraft bandsaw so I didn't get to the sander right away. The machine was further disassembled, some new parts were introduced, all rust was removed, and it was primed and painted.
I've had a disc/belt sander before. I've had issues with burning the wood when trying to sand. So I was glad to see this was a 3 phase machine because it allowed me to make it variable speed and convert it to 12OV input with a VFD. This is the first 3 phase I've worked with. It only took 2 calls to the VFD help line to get it up and running. When you look at the pictures, note the lump on the side of the machine. That is the box I made for the VFD since there was no room inside the cabinet to put it. That entire bottom case is filled with a blower and filters for the on board dust collection system with filters and a shaker foot peg.
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Now I need to decide if I'm going to keep the machine or sell it.
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Originally Posted by Ben Martin
