03-14-2018, 08:10 AM
I recently had a eureka moment which may benefit our members who would be interested in converting a Viel at minimum cost. I have gone through great pains to keep the two motor brushes accessible without needing to remove the motor. (This meant keeping them at 3 and 9 o'clock for easy access with a screwdriver.)
I will do this no longer. My poor Viel frame looks like Swiss cheese after mounting several different plates. I have removed and replaced the motor so many times. It finally dawned on me that removing the motor is just loosening four screws (removing three of them). The process takes less than thirty seconds and has become second nature.
What is tedious is trying to use the bracket provided by Viel getting the brush compartments aligned just so. The bracket itself works fine. Now I would just fit the bracket to the frame (with the motor hole properly aligned, which I will cover later). I would let the brushes be wherever they happen to be.
Please do not misunderstand me. I still believe the bessex designed plates are still the preferred option. The plates align almost automatically. The motor bolt alignment holes are precisely laid out and drilled. They make very good drill guides. These plates, as well as the modified drive pulleys (bored out from 1/2” to 15mm) are available from sharpeningmadeeasy.com. If you are lucky enough to snag one of the limited edition plates made by Mike with the Rolls Royce quality black finish, you may want to display your Viel in your best parlor. The metal finish plates work just as well; they just aren't as stunning.
I wrote this to give hope to our members who are unable to obtain a plate or on very limited budgets.
I will post a simple method of aligning the bracket included with the PSI motor as a plate soon.
Ken
I will do this no longer. My poor Viel frame looks like Swiss cheese after mounting several different plates. I have removed and replaced the motor so many times. It finally dawned on me that removing the motor is just loosening four screws (removing three of them). The process takes less than thirty seconds and has become second nature.
What is tedious is trying to use the bracket provided by Viel getting the brush compartments aligned just so. The bracket itself works fine. Now I would just fit the bracket to the frame (with the motor hole properly aligned, which I will cover later). I would let the brushes be wherever they happen to be.
Please do not misunderstand me. I still believe the bessex designed plates are still the preferred option. The plates align almost automatically. The motor bolt alignment holes are precisely laid out and drilled. They make very good drill guides. These plates, as well as the modified drive pulleys (bored out from 1/2” to 15mm) are available from sharpeningmadeeasy.com. If you are lucky enough to snag one of the limited edition plates made by Mike with the Rolls Royce quality black finish, you may want to display your Viel in your best parlor. The metal finish plates work just as well; they just aren't as stunning.
I wrote this to give hope to our members who are unable to obtain a plate or on very limited budgets.
I will post a simple method of aligning the bracket included with the PSI motor as a plate soon.
Ken