PM 3520b remote station

[Josh Bowman]

For years I felt the lathes control station should be near the operator. Using Steve S's instructions I have always had a remote on-off switch. But I also wanted the speed control to be remote as well. I've always used a magnet on the old on-off switch and felt chasing it around was not only a bother but a little dangerous. I feel the on off switch should be in one place, near the escape route. So I drilled a hole in the side of the lathe and with a piece of T-track screwed to the back of a Radio Shack 5"x2.5"x2" (270-1803) project box and a T-bolt through the lathe skirt, I tighten it down with a knob. The box can be removed if desired. Next I wired in with, 18 gauge, 7 conductos thermostat wire to a 5 Kohm Potentiometer (Amazon, RV24YN 20S/B502), then found a nice heavy duty SPST toggle switch with dust boot (Radio Shack 275-0025) and a SPDT toggle for the forward and reverse (Radio Shack 275-0603). Wiring this was pretty straight forward......kind of. I decided I wanted to keep the Red emergency switch active on the head stock and that made for a little more thinking and careful work.
If I did it again, I'd try harder to get some stranded 7 conductor wire, which is more flexible. Lastly I'd looked at the wire colors in the head stock BEFORE I soldered the wires to the remote box, that way I would have joined almost all colors like for like. Also if I had done this, I could have gotten by with 5 conductor cable, since the PM control panel uses some jumpers to leap frog power from the E-switch to the F-R switch and Pot.
The voltages in the head stock are low voltage (around 25 volts) that are used to control the VFD, that's why you can use 16 to 22 gauge to control a 2 HP 220 volt motor. Don't take this on unless your comfortable with wiring stuff up. If you do make a remote of your own, carefully write down the color and position of each of the wires in the head stock so you can go back to stock if you want. I did not cut any wires and found I could use crimp connectors to connect to the PM"s Delta VFD.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Josh - I always enjoy seeing how others modify their equipment to suit their needs! Obviously - you know what you are doing! Nice work and I hope it makes things safer for you while at the lathe!