As soon as I saw these in the box that I won, I knew they would be useful.
I scored two brand new Alitvar ATV variable speed drives - this little pack of electronics mojo will take 120 volts in from the wall and spit out 220 volts 3-phase. The neat thing is that it is not limited to the standard 60Hz frequency. It will run from zero to 400Hz - quite the rage. I can get a 3-phase motor and because this is outputting the full voltage at whatever speed I select, I get full torque from the motor (except at the far extremes of operation). It also supports ramping so when I turn it on, it will start slow and proceed to full speed in 15 seconds or so - that way, if the belt is torn or something is jammed, I can hit the E-Stop button and kill it before things get hairy.
For bladesmithing, this is a perfect driver for a belt grinder. I can remove large amounts of metal with a coarse grit belt at low speed and polish with a very fine grit buff at high speed.
The big unit will support up to a 1Hp motor and the little one up to 1/2 Hp. There is also a large programmable logic controller from that German company whose products I do not like that much. A PLC will have a number of inputs and outputs and you program it through your PC. Just as an example, when inputs A and B come high, count off 35 seconds, bring output A high, count off another 15 seconds and bring output B from three to ten volts. You can actually run some pretty complex scenarios. Oh well - this unit has been expanded a lot and is probably worth something to someone. None of this stuff has been used as a number of the inputs and outputs have not been connected. It is like the company shut down in the middle of this project. Their loss, my gain.
The box by itself is fully shielded and will be a great storage box for my backup radio equipment in case of an EMP.
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