Load Meter for 10EE with VFD or Servo

There are a few of us who have equipped their 10EE with a VFD or Servo. Mine is a 9.5hp DC servo. The drive faults out when it hits max load. The 10EE gives very little indication that the feed and depth of cut are near the drive’s limit. Aside from interrupting your pleasure the sudden stop while engaged can fracture your insert, spoil the work and maybe mark your shorts. A Bridgeport on the other hand when so equipped gives all kinds of warning. A load meter on your 10ee would let you know where you’re at when heavy material removal is the goal.

Drives typically have an analog output that is proportional to load. After some hunting I found a panel meter called “PanelPilot”, (no affiliation, just a customer). It was easy to configure and mount in a good visible spot, works well/problem solved, almost.

Personal Problem and an appeal to the electron savvy: I have a very rugged analog panel meter that looks more contemporary to the 10ee. It says “Percent of Power” and has a 0 to 100 scale. Full scale is 1V but 1.6 ohm. This low impedance just pulls down the output from the drive with little needle movement. Is this something for an Op Amp?

My electrical design capabilities are miserable but I can build from a schematic. It would be a shame not to get to use this nice old meter that has been waiting patiently in the junk pile for many decades. If it could be made to work with the 10EE the PanelPilot would be moved to the Bridgeport.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. The classy old meter is certainly D’Arsonval with a shunt as well as a multiplier resistor. Both are fine wire coil probably to finely tune the resistance for accuracy. Now just a little work to replace with suitable level carbon resistors to match my drive’s output, details from the documentation but verified with a Fluke. This install is a relative display, not accuracy. The PanelPilot will be moved to the Bridgeport after the old meter is tuned and working well.

The VFD on the Bridgeport has an analog output for load that is 0-10V but is also scalable by parameter to 200%. Perhaps it’s representative. This feature presents a minor challenge to select and install a load meter. Of the many discussions here and other places of 10EE VFD fittings there have been no mention of a load meter. For me the load meter is a necessity on the 10EE. On the Bridgeport it will be a nice thing to have.