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

This idea is not wacky in the least Actually a unit exactly like what you
describe was produced commercially by Anilam. It was called a Lathe-Mate as
I recall.

As far as retrofitting a turning center, I am in the process of doing just
that with a Leblond 12-12 NC Turret Lathe. I removed the hydraulic servos
and controls and installed brushless servos that take step and direction and
a PC to run the works. It has two tool turrets, but unfortunately, no
tailstock. I have made some test runs and it looks promising but there are
some problems with the hydraulics in the headstock--old seals are leaking
and need to be replaced. So hopefully soon I will be able to report just
how well the conversion works.

I would advise anyone considering a retrofit of a larger manual lathe to
look around and pick up a cheap NC or CNC with a bad control. You will save
yourself a lot of work and have a better machine. Either that or seriously
consider this not-so-wacky idea

----- Original Message -----
From: "metlmunchr" <metlmunchr@...>
To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 10:47 AM
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: turning center retrofit for home shop?


> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Jon Elson <elson@p...> wrote:
>
> > 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 abominably out of date controls before buying a big manual lathe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
>
> I've got 5 turning centers and can handle up to 36" between centers,
> but about 90% of the work I do can easily be handled with 8" or less
> of Z travel. Given the difficulties and expense of putting a ball
> leadscrew in a good sized lathe, here's a wacky idea I've been kicking
> around for adding to a neat little programmable turret lathe I have
> that doesn't have contouring capabilities. I'll explain it as if it
> was going onto an engine lathe.
>
> Since the entire compound is easily removable from most engine lathes,
> just build or adapt an X-Z slide assembly in place of the compound and
> CNC this part as opposed to the entire machine. The original
> functionality of the lathe would be retained in its entirety, and for
> short chuck work the carriage and cross slide could be locked into
> position and everything would be done with the X-Z slide. For work
> longer than the controlled Z travel, the regular lathe functions could
> be used, and in the case of features requiring contouring somewhere
> along the shaft, the carriage could once again be locked down and
> these features turned via CNC. In my experience, 6 to 8 inches of Z
> travel in the slide assembly would cover about any feature commonly
> found in turning work that isn't readily do-able via manual turning.
>
> Further thoughts about this idea, including those of why it might not
> work, are welcome.
>
>
>
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