Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] turning center retrofit for home shop?

skykotech wrote:

>I know I and others have retrofitted larger cnc mills to pc control
>(mine is a Shizuoka B-3V VMC running EMC), but I haven't heard much
>in the way of retrofitting a turning center, like a mori seiki or
>similar. Have any of you considered this or have done it? They go
>pretty cheap for older machines with like a Fanuc 6T control. Is it
>just too much machine for a home shop? Curious to hear other's
>experiences...
>
>

I looked very seriously at a couple of CNC turning centers which had
abominably out of date controls before buying a big manual lathe
project. One of the reasons behind my decision was that most turning
centers,
especially the ones that came up on eBay, had very short beds. I don't
believe I EVER saw one with more than 24" of Z travel, and most were in the
10 - 12" range. Now, MOST of my turning would fit those machines, but
every once in a while I have something longer to turn, and I really
didn't want
that limitation.

I assume you know that EMC has a problem with lathe turning.

Jon