Re: Is this too nuts etc

At 20:06 25/01/01 +0000, you wrote:

>I want/need to cut a MUCH coarser thread than my lathe is capable of.
>Ruminating upon possible solutions to the problem
>
> ( when I as younger, I used to THINK about problems, but now ... )
>
>it occurs to me that if I attached a stepper or servo to the lathe
>SPINDLE ( somehow ) and suitably configured the "steps per inch"
>parameter based upon the diameter of the material, I could cut threads
>via CNC !
>
>Certainly, math errors could be a problem and it's unlikely to be
>fast, but it SEEMS like it might work .. any comments ?

Perfectly possible. There was an article in Model Engineers' Workshop a
couple of years back by the CompuCut guys describing exactly that process
on a converted Taig lathe.

I have cut threads on a Taig CNC mill by using my stepper-driven dividing
head (a converted Taig headstock) to rotate the part while milling the
thread out using a V-tipped engraving cutter with the right angle of V at
the tip - see the penultimate photo on the following web-page:

http://www.jeffree.co.uk/Pages/divheadmk2.html

This was a fairly fine thread (24 TPI), but no reason why it couldn't be
done with a coarse one.

Regards,
Tony