Paul... yet another amazing project link on the welding web! And the phase converter link was good, too. 30 years ago I bought a large Powermatic planer from a high school shop auction, and of course it had a 3-phase motor. I wound up with tiny static phase converter, which worked but with the obvious loss of power. I seemed like the shop teacher had no idea of how to set up the planer, but other than dull knives and loose bolts, it was good as new- even had the grinding attachment on top. Moving the machine was a hoot, but I was young and dumb, and nothing got broken, amazingly enough.
Years later, I meet some folks who had set up a CNC machining operation on their farm in the far reaches of New York state... half a mile+ from any possiblity of real 3 phase power. They had installed a small Cat diesel driving a 3 phase generator, and used the waste heat even in the winter. They figured 12,000 hours of diesel life, which made the system a bargain, compared to paying the utility to run power in. (their CNC was a big router- 10hp I think, basically, over a 10' x 10' precision table). Some serious computer work to create the complex, custom shapes they made, mostly out of wood. Job lots for furniture companies and such.
