C.N.C. Lathe

[lonestaral]

I have built a few woodturning lathes over the years.
I am thinking of building a C.N.C Lathe.
Something like 1M between centers, 6" dia work.

I have 3 nema 23 motors and control board from my first mill.
I made a 6:1 reduction drive yesterday and it seems to work well.

I also have a headstock and tailstock from my current lathe

Some of you have made lathes before, so the question is did you do your own design or use existing plans ?
Any information, tips, or pitfalls to avoid.

Horizontal or slant bed ?

Front or rear tooling ?

Horizontal or vertical bedway ?

If I did my own design based on the MechMate and wanted to log my build on this forum would there be any objections from Metalhead ?

Let me know please.

[smreish]

The very first MM in the USA was a MM Lathe.....

[islaww]

Al....
Are you referring to an indexer (cnc incremental positioning of the rotary axis) or a true lathe (cnc knife cutting between centers on a true lathe bed)?

I have done both.

Lathe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=126hNJ9CEi0

Indexer/Lathe combo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrHzP4FWOSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-5_ZMINDEU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yznJrzd730

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPp1itlsbnI

[lonestaral]

Thank you for the links GC.
I will watch them later.
I want to build a true lathe.

[Robert M]

Hi Gary,

It always been interesting seeing your CNCing jigs, tools & "toys" !
like this new indexer version, care to share more photos and info so we can be inspired & see the feasibility in making one ?!
Tks

[islaww]

Robert...
Thanks. This project is a cnc wood turning lathe, not an indexer. The 2 terms are often confused. An indexer will incrementally turn a blank between the centers for cutting with a router/spindle, but steppers will not have the power to spin a blank at speed to enable knife cutting.

I almost always have addition info and pics of most of my projects in my "Locker Room" section of the CAMHeads Forum: http://www.camheads.org/forumdisplay.php?f=113

I usually post there most of the info that I am willing to share. Based on consumer interest, many of my projects end up as commercial products in one form or another, so often fine details are omitted. That said, as a "do it yourselfer", I post these projects to possibly get others off the couch and into building their versions. Most DIY guys don't budget as high for components as I do, so most of my specs and research wouldn't apply.

[Robert M]

Thanks for your reply and the link Gary, but yes, I was correctly referring to your indexer, not the lath, although your indexer may not be the latest...new toy !!
I'll register to Cam heads and see from there, thks

[darren salyer]

Registering at the Camheads forum is worth doing.
I went to an Aspire camp at Jim McGrews last year hoping to check out Garys lathe in person, but he was unable to attend.
At the dinner the night before the official camp started, we were talking machines and I hesitantly said I own a self built MM, thinking I might be poo-poohed, but The Camaster guys were very complimentary of the MM.
Great group of guys there, just like here.

Edited to add: If I ever upgrade, the Camaster would be top of the list. Very well built machines.

[lonestaral]

Well, I tried to register at Camheads to look at the photos.
Failed because the answer to the question about the 16th President was not in the correct format.(you must be joking, was not acceptable)
Might have well as asked, who was the 16th King of England.
Looks as if I will have to do my way.
Thanks anyway.

[Robert M]

Al.....what is this, you among many....Mr determination .....letting it go, letting it "frustrate"...for such a little mistake of yours
I got in easy....you should get too
Comm'on al....

[hennie]

Al. Go and have a look at my thread no. 23. Made my own stand alone.Did own drawings.

[lonestaral]

Coming along slowly.

[darren salyer]

Very nice work as usual, Al.

[Robert M]

This look very nice…..and promising !!
Looking forward for more pics and some of your work from it !!
Congrats…

[lonestaral]

Update.

Motors wired and working.
I had a problem with only one motor working .

It turned out to be a printer cable problem.
One pin had pushed back, sorted.

On to the homing switches and e stop.

[Fox]

Nice work

[fanefane]

I've generated the G-Code with Powermill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC0ZT0KOnY

[darren salyer]

Absolutely gorgeous work Stefan. Did that leg really take less than a half hour to make, or was there time lapse involved?

[lonestaral]

Thanks for the video Stefan.
Superb job on a superb machine.

My own workings will be much more mundane.

Homing switches and E stop wired and working.
Movement and reference
Very impressed how smooth and quiet the 6:1 reduction drives are.
Cables cut to length, ends soldered.
More to do tomorrow.

[Alan_c]

Nice machine Stefan, is it a self build? do you have it documented somewhere?

[fanefane]

The CNC is made by myself,

Stepper Motor :Hybrid Servo Drive HBS86H+86HS80-EC-1000
Lathe motor 1,5 Kw /1450 +frequency converter ABB
Spindle 2,2kw+frequency converter Danfoss
linear rail :
2x KSF35-R-1-1796 mm +6 block
1x THK SHS45 + 2 block
Ball Screw:
1x THK 32/10 ,1600mm
2x Rexroth- Star 25/5, 530mm

[darren salyer]

Impressive work Gents.

[lonestaral]

You have built a Rolls Royce, Stefan.

I will continue building my Tractor.

[Alan_c]

Nice! Is the cross slide able to rotate? I see in the pic on the left that the spindle is in front of the machine with the tool post at the back and in the pic on the right it is on the other side?

[lonestaral]

Finished off the energy chain.
Tidied things up a bit.
Just as well today was a public holiday.

[darren salyer]

Must. Not. Get. Sucked .In. To. Another. Build.
Stay strong Darren, yeah its cool, yeah you could make neat stuff with it....
OK too late. That's a great job Al. I'd love to build something like that.
Can't wait to see what comes off such a sexy looking machine.

[lonestaral]

Resistance is futile.
You will be assimilated into the collective.
Just ordinary round tractor parts.
Machines to make machines, made the energy chain on #114.
Back to my day job tomorrow.

[Alan_c]

Ah man!!! now you got me wanting one too!!!

[lonestaral]

Motor and start switch mounted.
Using the motor from my pillar drill until I can afford another.
Minor clash points being resolved.
Small adjustments to make.

[lonestaral]

I found a second hand motor for not a lot of money.
I think it is 500w. Cleaned it up, painted it.

I had to increase the distance between the wheels on the Z slide.
It was tipping under load.
Made a live center and an extended driving center.
0.5mm taper over 265mm.
It looks like I have a usable machine.

The biggest problem now is Mach 3 turn.
On the original screen the Single block button did not highlight.
I downloaded the blue screen for turning, same problem.
After a lot of searching I found the Mustang blue screenset that worked.

A major problem is that G70/71 are not supported.
That roughing and finishing cycle must be one of the most used cycles in turning.
You end up with several programs instead of 1.
Time taken, hours instead of minutes.

The Wizards leave a lot to be desired.
You have to manually enter any work offset (G54 etc) also toolcall (T0101) for offsets.
Both wizards to put a radius on the front of a job are no good for my purpose.

Solutions.
Keep looking for something else.
Write it myself.
Get my friend to write it.
Thats the weekend gone again.