auto cariage

[Wayniac]

my mill is all electric i have 110 and 220 what is the best way to do a carrige forward and back 

[Larry]

A 3/4 HP 3 phase gear motor powered by a VFD.  The VFD gives you forward/reverse along with variable speed.  I would check your local salvage yards for the gear motor.

[mike_belben]

That or..

a used dayton or other brand 90vdc variable controller and motor.  Control will plug into 110vac and have a forward neutral reverse switch and a variable speed dial.  

This controller will run the motor.  They are as slow as gear reduction motors and are the right speed for augers,  conveyor belts and so forth.   I suggest a sprocket on the motor that walks a stationary chain  fixed to the mill bed, using a pair of idlers to maintain a half wrap on the drive sprocket.  

Pretty affordable, simple, commonly available and no need for any sort of stepper or servo control.  Just flip the switch and dont let it crash.  

[ladylake]

 If you have hydraulics on your mill I'd use a hyd motor and chain, I have 15000 hours on my mill and have spent under $150 on the head drive system.   Steve

[moodnacreek]

So this must be a band saw with a traveling head that I know nothing about. However if it was me I would use the 220v to run a hyd. power unit, 2 or 3 hp. From there control valves, hyd. motors and hyd. cylinders can be hooked up to do just about anything.

[Den-Den]

A 3/4 HP 3 phase gear motor powered by a VFD.  The VFD gives you forward/reverse along with variable speed.  I would check your local salvage yards for the gear motor.

I am using this set-up except that my motor is only 1/3 hp.  My motor is designed for inverter duty, definitely would go bigger if you use a standard 3 phase motor.  30 to 1 ratio and 1750 nominal speed with a roller chain sprocket (#40 chain).  It took two tries to get the optimum sprocket size for my set-up.  The small motor will stall without breaking anything if something blocks the travel.  Variable speed forward and full speed reverse, this is a good system.  I do recommend spring loaded stops and/or limit switches as mine got locked up when I hit the end stop, I had to remove a couple of bolts to get it loose (no damage and it was working again in a few minutes).
Another option would be a hydraulic motor (assuming you have hydraulic pump already).  If you go this way, give some thought to amount of torque the motor will put out if travel gets blocked by something.  You don't want to tear up the power feed system if the carriage hits an obstruction (it WILL happen).

[ladylake]

 
 The hyd drive on mine and I'd guess most have a bypass valve.  Stops when hitting a obstruction.  Steve

[moodnacreek]

The hyd drive on mine and I'd guess most have a bypass valve.  Stops when hitting a obstruction.  Steve

On a homemade system you put an adjustable flow control and relief . Hydraulics are not really affected sawdust,rain, snow etc. You build it a little too big and turn it down.

[Wayniac]

dont have hydrolics so it has to be electric 

[moodnacreek]

dont have hydrolics so it has to be electric

Yes but you have the power to run a hyd. power unit.

[mike_belben]

If all you want is carriage feed id stay electric.  For log turners and clamps and toe board then yeah a powerpack would make sense. 

[moodnacreek]

If all you want is carriage feed id stay electric.  For log turners and clamps and toe board then yeah a powerpack would make sense.

So how do you do variable feed and the same in reverse? I would think it should be D.C.