Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Build my own CNC lathe - possible?

totally possible!

we've made a gap-bed base for a cnc'd cross slide assembly (not too much
unlike what omni-turn has done with those old hardinges).

we also had some heavy bases of steel that we fly cut (not ground) and
put linear rails on them and turned that into a make-shift cnc lathe. we
just used the 7x and 8x headstock assembly to bolt on top.

it's pretty easy to build a gangtool-style cnc lathe, but making a
turret version takes a bit more work; still amazed at what some hope
shop guys have done to this end...

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Alan Rothenbush wrote:

>
>
>
> Lazy Sunday morning, drinking coffee, daydreaming and a crazy plan
> starting to coalesce.
>
> 1. I've CNC'd my old Sherline lathe and have been playing with it in
> earnest, to get my head around the use of a CNC lathe. (Long time user
> of a CNC'd mill).
>
> This pretty cool!
>
> I took the trouble of adding manual handwheels to it (just in case)
> but I can see that a nice MPG will completely obviate the need for these.
>
> Problem is, there's some backlash in the system and due to the age of
> the Sherline, it's not easily removed. (Uses the OLD style leadscrew
> nuts). I'm compensating in software, but of course that's not the same
> thing.
>
> Still, a CNC lathe is cool.
>
> 2. My primary lathe is an old Southbend 9" x 18" that's a bit of a
> Frankenlathe; bed, headstock, saddle and tailstock are all from
> different machines. It still turns out pretty good pieces, I think,
> but there's a TINY bit of taper and a TINY bit of roughness in the
> turning, a bit more play in the nuts than I'm happy with, bit of wear
> in the cross slide, a slightly sloppy tailstock and so on.
>
> None of the faults are show stopping, but there's enough of them that
> I've gotten it into my head that I want something better, plain and
> simple; something NICE, and preferably new or nearly so.
>
> Now, it's about the biggest machine that will fit my space and it will
> do 99% of what I typically turn, so I REALLY don't want to contemplate
> anything bigger.
>
> Looking around, though, for "new" and "nice" in a benchtop of that
> size, the pickin's are slim; really, all I see is a Prazi D6000 for
> $6500.00 That's really outside my price range as a hobbyist.
>
> 3. Whatever I buy, I'd have to CNC; no question. I'm hooked. So even
> if I did talk myself into $7k (adding in taxes and whatnot), do I
> really want to start drilling holes in a brand new machine? Probably
> not; I'm not that brave.
>
> 4. Staring at the McMaster Carr online site and peeking at eBay, I
> keep looking at all these linear rails and I've got to wonder;
> couldn't a guy build his own CNC lathe for a WHOLE lot less?
>
> Some stout linear rails fastened to a suitable base (the ground flat
> bed of an old lathe, for example). Standard linear slide for the cross
> slide. Ball screws.
>
> Use an existing spindle out of something, maybe even another Southbend
> so all the existing attachments can be reused.
>
> Fab up a headstock and line bore it right on the machine itself; same
> thing for a tailstock.
>
> Sunday morning on the couch, this SEEMS doable. Am I dreaming?
> Hallucinating? Any opinions (including "you're nuts") appreciated.
>
> Alan
>
>
>
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