I'm getting the itch to buy a Bridgeport mill and maybe make some extra money doing small jobs. I got the space for it, I got the skills for it, I even got (okay, probably got) the money for it. I DON'T got the power for it!

All the mills I'm interested in are full on 3 phase vertical turret mills. I am not interested in a bench top Enco or anything similar.

Does anyone know anything about phase converters? Which are better, what to stay away from? Are they reliable for a long period of time or are they problematic? What does one usually cost?

The power requirements for the mills I'm looking at are typically:
-Voltage: 208-220/440
-3 Phase
-60 cycles
-3.4/1.7 amps


I can set up and run mills, I just don't know squat about electricity and all my electrician people I know are residential guys so they don't know much more than I do about commercial/industrial stuff.

There are converters for sale at grizzley tool, I think.

Here you go.

Rotary Phase Converters are cheaper just make sure you size it to handle startup power needs.

You might consider a variable frequency drive. That's what I run on mine. It's totally solid state, so you feed in single phase and three phase comes out. No moving parts, and you can change the speed of the motor without messing with the pulleys.

A local motor shop set me up with the components to make a rotary convertor cheaper than buying one.  It works great.

VFD is the way to go. I run my J-head Bridgeport on a Teco fluxmaster VFD. Its especially nice if you have a step-pulley mill. You can program ramp up/down times, wire in a remote,and you get full overload protection.
Static phase converters are cheap, but you only get 66% of rated power. I used to run my mill on one.
Rotarys can be built from an old motor, and provide true 3PH power.

Quoted: Quoted: You might consider a variable frequency drive. That's what I run on mine. It's totally solid state, so you feed in single phase and three phase comes out. No moving parts, and you can change the speed of the motor without messing with the pulleys. +1 Look on ebay for a cheap Allen Bradley bulletin 160, 1305 or 1336, or if you have lots of money then shoot for an Allen Bradley PowerFlex 40. ETA  The PowerFlex is no more expensive than the rest of them.  You can get a VFD for less than $100 on ebay.

This is what we advise customers to do for 3phase in a residential application. Allen Bradley is a fine product but not the cheapest/ most cost efficient.

Alright, now that there is speedy A's for my Q's!

Thanks for the info and keep it coming if there is any more to it.