Yep,
That’s definitely a good read.
I’d add (unless it’s in the thread and I missed it);
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You’ll ideally want a proper metal or cement (brick concrete etc.) mounting point for the VFD, not wood, when they fail they can do so with quite a lot of energy. They’re unlikely to start a fire, but electrical regs are there for the unlikely, especially if the VFD is already full of flammable wood dust from being operated in a workshop.
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Good earthing, all the way through the VFD to the spindle is not optional, it’s there so that if you get a fault you don’t get zapped.
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I’d say that an E-stop and No Volt Release are also not really optional by the time you have three phase power, several horsepower of spindle and possibly the VFD controlled by software to start the cutter on it’s own. Fumbling for the little stop button on the VFD or with the mouse to try to stop the machine in Carbide Create just isn’t a substitute for the “STOP!!!” button when you need it. That’s just my opinion.
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I would also say that a Residual Current (in the US they’re called Ground Fault) breaker upstream of the VFD is also a non-negotiable, again see the thread linked in 2, these aren’t the highest German quality and faults are relatively likely.
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Screened cable and a power filter are also pretty essential, the screened cable is covered in the thread Julien linked. you’ll need four cores for three phases and earth from the VFD to the motor, measure up what you think you’ll need and add 6 feet
Good screened cable will have a reasonably heavy braid capable and a foil screen. The power filter goes on the input to the VFD to stop the input rectifier noise upsetting your Shapeoko, PC or other electronics. -
There’s loads of options on the water cooling circuit, bear in mind you won’t really be using a lot of spindle power on a Shapeoko due to machine constraints so I’d start with a suitable water container you can get the supplied (horrid) fountain pump in until you decide whether you need active cooling. Remember to use a corrosion and fungus inhibitor such as anti-freeze, preferably use de-ionized water.
I decided to just add on extra drag chain for my spindle power and plumbing and just leave the Shapeoko motor and signal wiring on it’s own in the original drag chain, this was to reduce the interference risk of the motor power cable to the signal cables, just a few inches buys a huge drop off in EMI .
Some pics of my work in progress below;
Electrical switchgear box with 24V contactors to give me No Volt Release, E-Stop and separate power to the Shapeoko and the Spindle / Coolant Pumps etc. The VFD power filter is hiding behind the bright yellow / green earth cable running from the box to the front panel.
Where I should not have put the VFD, on the wood of the stand, it’s going inside a switchgear metal enclosure as soon as I figure out an RS485 remote panel so I can see the RPM etc. when it’s locked away, for now it and it’s irritatingly noisy always on fan are in view near the front of the machine but out of the path of most of the dust that escapes the extractor.
Here’s the additional drag chain, note the spiral wrap binding the hoses and motor power cable between the drag chain runs and into the ends of the drag chain. The spiral wrap bound group is tied into place at each cable chain entry / exit to reduce wear points on the cable and hoses. I just bent up some aluminium brackets and drilled and tapped the back of the X rail (sacrelige, I know)
Wiring and hoses to the top of the motor, make sure they don’t kink or flex too much as the Z goes up and down, I’m going to sort a better bracket soon, honest…
For extra points, fit your spindle with an “Eye of Sauron” circular light to make it evil;
