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« on: January 15, 2017, 03:11:20 AM »
Hi Craig,
Many thanks for your reply. The lathe does not have any leadscrews. It has a lever operated slide that has 2 lever operated slides mounted on it, one is compound and both travel in the z axis by means of gear racks. So I am pretty sure I will be having the linear guides installed. Would it be an option to have some shallow tracks milled in the ways to register the rails? I am considering the HIWIN MGR15 series. I have read that these are for 3d printers etc, but am wondering if the largest one, the 15mm, will be sufficient for machining soft, small diameter materials? The reason is that I think I might need to conserve on height as i start stacking rails and blocks for the 2 axes or else I might reach center and have no room left for tool holders.
Any thoughts on the spacing of the z axis rails? It seems like they would benefit from a wider spacing, but then...there is never any load on them except for directly at the spindle. I am thinking of desktop or even bench top cnc lathes that have a narrow bed but seem to do fine.
I am pretty sure rolled ballscrews will suffice, as the accuracy I require is not that high. What pitch would you recommend for speed?
Yes, I will post more photos and measurements soon,
Thanks again for your thoughts, much appreciated,
Justin