Re: CNC minilathe

This is Dave K's department.

I think he was the first to convert and post the results.

http://www.dakeng.com

some discriptions of his conversion there. He kept the ACME and used
300oz in motors, so they have the power to handle the loads on that
little machine.

He just got a new job so is busy with impressing the boss and burning
the midnight oil so may not be real quick to respond. but, there
are lots of posts in the archives if you wanted to search.

Dave




--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "knives01us" <knives01@a...>
wrote:

>
> I'm planning to convert a 7 x 12 minilathe to CNC. I have a

basement

> full of machine tools so making parts for the conversion is no
> problem.
>
> Briefly, I'm scraping the lathe for bearing and alignment, and I'll
> make a longer crosslide with T slots to allow mounting multiple
> tools. I envision using the lathe to turn small repititious parts,
> and also with the tailstock in place to do taper or contour turning
> on longer parts.
>
> I have a 3/8", 8 turns per inch ballscrew with 6" travel I would

like

> to use for the crosslide. I understand this will rule out manual
> operation, other than that any downside? I was planning to mount

the

> 16 turns per inch Acme that came with the machine in ball bearings
> and make a bronze nut for the X travel.
>
> Need guidance as to appropriate step motor size from someone who

has

> CNC'd a similiar machine. I'm thinking that the rapid travels
> wouldn't need to be as fast on a lathe as a mill, so I'm tending
> towards 200-300 oz/inch motors belted 2-1. Any suggestions as to

what

> has or hasn't worked well are welcomed.