Re: cnc lathe/mill

Thanks C.S.
First I would like to let you know what I will be machining. 90% of
the material on the lathe will be machined from aluminum, and the
other 10% is steel and plastic. The part I am going to be making of
steel is a shaft around 8 inches long and .65" diam. for engines,
and maybe a few other small steel parts here and there. The same is
for the mill. 90% of the parts will be aluminum with very few parts
being machined from steel.
From the info i gathered sofar, it seem I am better off putting out
a little more cash and getting a litte bigger lathe around 12x30 or
so.
For the mill, lathemasters has a nice size dove colum mill about the
same size as the rongfu31, but at the extra price of 400 bucks.
Where are the mill/drill archives, as I want to look up some more
info before I buy anything.
what is wttools website? I looked for it but found nothing.
Once again, I appreciated anyone who can post their opinions on what
I should do, and their own experiences with lathes and mills aroudn
the size I want.
Thanks, you guys are great.
-Jason

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "C.S. Mo" <cs@v...> wrote:
>
> First - on the lathe, what's nice about the 9x20 is one person can
> reasonably carry it/move it. What's not nice about the 9x20 is
that one
> person can reasonably carry it/move it.. Which is to say, although
you
> can do fairly precise work with it and although the work area is
fairly
> reasonable, it is a very slow lathe because there is not enough
mass to
> give it sufficient rigidity.
>
> I've been looking at a Grizzly 11x26 for a while. I haven't
actually
> used one but it appears to have the mass and rigidity to be a nice
lathe
> while still being small/light enough for 2-4 (strong) people to
move,
> although really at ~500lbs, you're getting into the realm of
requiring
> equipment to move it. Apparently WTTool is going to be selling a
version
> of this soon.
>
> Incidentally, the older version of the 9x20, from Enco, Jet..etc.,
the
> one with the two levers for threading instead of the single lever
on the
> modern version, has much more mass and is actually a quite nice
lathe.
> However, I rarely see them in good condition and they're usually
price
> similarly to new ones. I believe the weight is around 5-600lbs.
>
> However, it all really depends on what you want to do with the
machine.
> A 9x20, under CNC control will turn plastics and the occasional
> aluminum, no problem. The entire machine can easily fit in an
apartment
> and can be moved if necessary. However, if you have the space, and
can
> deal with the difficulty of moving, in machine tools, bigger is
almost
> always better. (Within reason!)
>
> Regarding the milling machine, regardless of whether or not you
have a
> stepper on the quill, unless all of your parts are the same height
and,
> unless all of your tools are basically the same length, you're
going to
> have to move the head up and down. I would not (now) even consider
> CNC'ing a round column mill - for the price difference, the square
> column mill offers a lot of advantages.
>
> As for which one - I've personally seen/used the Grizzly, Enco,
Rong-Fu
> (not clone) and WTTool versions. Out of the ones I've seen/used,
the
> WTTool version was the clear winner in fit/finish. If you want my
whole
> report on that, you can search the mill/drill list archives.. (The
round/
> square/brand thing has been discussed over there at least once
every 6
> months for as long as I've been a subscriber...)
>
> All that said, you might consider a ShopTask 3-in-1. I've never
used one
> but I understand that, as a lathe, they're pretty good, as a mill
> they're adequate and they're fairly easy to convert.
>
> Oh yeah - I personally would definitely go with servos rather than
> steppers. You can get appropriate servos on eBay for around $100-
150 and
> with a Geckodrive G320, they're no more complicated than a stepper.
> Rolled ballscrews should be more than sufficient for your needs.
>
> You can see some pictures of my CNC efforts here:
>
> http://www.smidgie.com/928/machineshop
>
> (Sorry, long overdue for an update)
>
> --C.S.
>
>
> >Thanks for the info dave,
> >I really started to look up info, and like you said they are all
the
> >same, but what suprised me was all the bad feedback on the 9x20
> >lathes. Another downturn is the need to change gears or belts for
> >diffrent speeds. At my school we have a enco lathe, with about 40"
> >between centers, but its pretty old, and has as alot of backlash
and
> >runout. I needs alot of work to get back to good runnign
condition for
> >precise machining, so I want my own lathe and I want to convert
it to
> >cnc. Can anyone suggest a lathe of good quality and ease of use
that
> >is around the size of 9x20 or bigger under 1200 bucks?
> >I am favoring towards the lathe, but am still thinking about the
> >possablilty of getting a mill and converting it to cnc. Just like
the
> >lathes, all of them seem to be the exact same thing. Man no one
can
> >come up with their own design. I plan on converting a mill to cnc
too,
> >but like the lathe I am not sure what to go with. I did see a
website
> >selling a rongfu31 mill converted to cnc, but for almost 8k, so I
know
> >its a good canidate for a mill, but does anyone have any
suggestions
> >what mill they would go with if converting to cnc around 1200 or
> >below? I know the lathemaster mill has a dovetail colum which is
> >better than a round colum, but since I am going to be putting the
> >stepper on the quill, I dont think it really matters.
> >
> >I really am mainly looking for people to give me suggestions on
what
> >they think is a good lathe or mill for converting to cnc around
the
> >size and price I am looking for, as I don't know what type of
stuff to
> >look for when shopping for one of these machines. Sorry for the
long
> >length of these post of mine.
> >-Jason
> >
> >--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "turbulatordude"
> ><dave_mucha@y...> wrote:
> >>
> >> the Grizley, Harbor freight and JET are all the same lathe.
> >>
> >> the longer machine offers lenght. a nice plus.
> >>
> >>
> >> check out all the options that come with and price them up
seperatly.
> >>
> >> make sure you list every feature you can. ask the 9x20 lathe
list
> >> for more comparisons.
> >>
> >> Often there is one unit that offers so much more in options
that it is
> >> the best value.
> >>
> >> Check shipping also. Harbor freight and use-enco might have
better
> >> shipping costs.
> >>
> >> make sure the stand comes with or that you add to make it
compare.
> >>
> >> Dave
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "jak785" <jak785@h...>
wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Hi,
> >> > I am about to get a bonus at work, and this is my chance to
get a
> >> > lathe or mill and I want to convert it to cnc use.
> >> > I like to play around with small turbine engines, and I want
to
> >> > start making my own instead of buying parts, so I need a
lathe and
> >> > mill, but right now I can only get one of them. Most of the
parts
> >> > are symetrics, so the lathe will probably be the better
choice
> >> > although with a mill I can machine all kinds of stuff. I
found tons
> >> > of information on retrofitting a mill for cnc use, but almost
> >> > nothing with a lathe, so I was hoping you all could help me
out a
> >> > little.
> >> > First lets talk about lathes.
> >> > Can anyone give me some information on a good lathe with a
size
> >> > around 9"x20"
> >> > Here are three I found that are about the size I need and in
my
> >> > price range:
> >> >
> >> > Grizzly G4000
> >> > http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.aspxitemnumber=G4000
> >> >
> >> > JET 321373 BD-920N BENCH LATHE
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
> >> > ViewItem&item=6003249800&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1
> >> > or
> >> > Lathemaster 9x30" lathe
> >> > http://www.lathemaster.com/LATHEMASTER9x30Lathe.htm
> >> >
> >> > Can anyone give me an idea on which one would be better for
> >> > converting to cnc? Also what size stepper motors would I need
for a
> >> > lathe of this size?
> >> >
> >> > Mill
> >> > If I go with a mill, I was thinking about:
> >> >
> >> > RongFu31
> >> > or
> >> > Lathemaster mill
> >> > http://www.lathemaster.com/HEAVYDUTYMILLINGMACHINE%
207045FG.htm
> >> >
> >> > Does anyone have any suggestions on what mill they would get,
or
> >> > know of any other brands about this size. The taig mill is
too
> >> > small, and I don't want a huge knee mill either, so these are
in the
> >> > size range I want.
> >> >
> >> > Also about ballscrew and stepper motors
> >> > has anyone ever bought ball screws from this site
> >> > http://www.homeshopcnc.com/ , and are these stepper motors
any good
> >> > for the size I would need. I'm guessing around 600-1000 oz/in
> >> > motors. I know ground ball screws are much better, but i dont
got
> >> > that type of money. any suggestions on this topic would be
helpful.
> >> >
> >> > Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to figure out
which
> >> > route to go, and then what machine to get after I decide mill
or
> >> > lathe.
> >> > -Jason
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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