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Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / MY old lathe is still OLD ( would love to CNC her )
« on: July 21, 2006, 06:05:48 AM »
hi guys
OK , i see one familiar name in this forum and his a Aussie like me.
but the true run down is im a motor mechanic and have some free time on my hands
I love drag racing and have a few fast cars
and i want to go faster , presently building a 1200Bhp plus turbo 6 cylinder 4 litre falcon E series motor. will find out if i make the horse power once i get it on the heenan and froude engine dyno i run at work.
I'm in the process of contemplating converting this old copy lathe to a CNC_lathe . I know it will not be good and fast as some of the CNC_machines out there in the market place like the Okuna's , Mazak' , Puma's , Hitachi Seiki's , Mori Seiki's and Pinnacle's and the list is endless.
But if i had the cash i wouldn't hesitate to buy a MIlling center and a lathe in cnc setup. Maybe in a few years time
It's more a hobby at this stage for me , i want to be able to make my own parts at a slow pace .
i see a great deal of knowledgeable people in here and cnczone.com and many other good websites.
so here it goes i have this lathe and have attached several pictures of it , it is a very robust unit so rigidity is not a issue.
Will have to make all the brackets and adapter to couple the stepper motors to the lathe. This is not a issue as i have other lathes and mills at work. But the problem is im new to electronics and CNC is not my strong point. Some sort of guidance would be appreciated as to the approach i take on doing this conversion .
Yes some may say its a big machine but i thought why do a bench top lathe when i can start on the big lathe and be done with it .
Its just a larger version of the small bench top unit and i want to be able to turn some bigger parts than what the limits of the bench top lathe will permit.
I plan to convert a pacific U2 universal milling machine also to a 4-axis cnc setup also which is sitting in a section of my workshop probably tackle them both at the same time
I'm one that does things BIG , now the stepper motors i had planned to use are http://www.kelinginc.net/SMotorstock.html ( NEMA 34 HIGH TORQUE STEPPER MOTOR 1812 oz-in, ½” Single shaft with flat, 180
KL34H160-62-8B ½” Dual shaft with flat: Price: $189 ( in stock)
this crowd has drivers and power supply also am waiting on a email back from them as we speak.
these stepper motors are probably over kill for the lathe and mill setup but for the price there selling them i figure just spend a little more and get some decent horse power steppers.
again im open to criticism and suggestions here guys , what are your thoughts
i need all the help i can get 
am a fast learner , did bachelor of applied science , all math, science and computer studies at university back 20 years ago and kick my self in the head i didn't finish schooling . Did FORTRAN77 , basic , Pascal program writing back in 1984 now i am showing my age 
1. stepper motors or servos ? size ? brands ?
2. stepper motor controllers ? servo controllers ?
3. power supply ?
4. spindle speed controller ?
5. Ball screws and nuts/flanges ? size and specifications ? what brands ?
6. what software ? sorry im not being biased here , i am looking into " Mach " ?
any help will be great here guys
and i'm extremely sorry if some of you think i shouldn't have posted this thread in this section , looked all over and thought this would be the best section for this post
there is no chronological order that i have written this post so correct me
cheers
OK , i see one familiar name in this forum and his a Aussie like me.
but the true run down is im a motor mechanic and have some free time on my hands
I love drag racing and have a few fast cars
and i want to go faster , presently building a 1200Bhp plus turbo 6 cylinder 4 litre falcon E series motor. will find out if i make the horse power once i get it on the heenan and froude engine dyno i run at work.I'm in the process of contemplating converting this old copy lathe to a CNC_lathe . I know it will not be good and fast as some of the CNC_machines out there in the market place like the Okuna's , Mazak' , Puma's , Hitachi Seiki's , Mori Seiki's and Pinnacle's and the list is endless.
But if i had the cash i wouldn't hesitate to buy a MIlling center and a lathe in cnc setup. Maybe in a few years time
It's more a hobby at this stage for me , i want to be able to make my own parts at a slow pace .
i see a great deal of knowledgeable people in here and cnczone.com and many other good websites.
so here it goes i have this lathe and have attached several pictures of it , it is a very robust unit so rigidity is not a issue.
Will have to make all the brackets and adapter to couple the stepper motors to the lathe. This is not a issue as i have other lathes and mills at work. But the problem is im new to electronics and CNC is not my strong point. Some sort of guidance would be appreciated as to the approach i take on doing this conversion .
Yes some may say its a big machine but i thought why do a bench top lathe when i can start on the big lathe and be done with it .
Its just a larger version of the small bench top unit and i want to be able to turn some bigger parts than what the limits of the bench top lathe will permit.
I plan to convert a pacific U2 universal milling machine also to a 4-axis cnc setup also which is sitting in a section of my workshop probably tackle them both at the same time
I'm one that does things BIG , now the stepper motors i had planned to use are http://www.kelinginc.net/SMotorstock.html ( NEMA 34 HIGH TORQUE STEPPER MOTOR 1812 oz-in, ½” Single shaft with flat, 180
KL34H160-62-8B ½” Dual shaft with flat: Price: $189 ( in stock)
this crowd has drivers and power supply also am waiting on a email back from them as we speak.
these stepper motors are probably over kill for the lathe and mill setup but for the price there selling them i figure just spend a little more and get some decent horse power steppers.
again im open to criticism and suggestions here guys , what are your thoughts
i need all the help i can get am a fast learner , did bachelor of applied science , all math, science and computer studies at university back 20 years ago and kick my self in the head i didn't finish schooling . Did FORTRAN77 , basic , Pascal program writing back in 1984 now i am showing my age 1. stepper motors or servos ? size ? brands ?
2. stepper motor controllers ? servo controllers ?
3. power supply ?
4. spindle speed controller ?
5. Ball screws and nuts/flanges ? size and specifications ? what brands ?
6. what software ? sorry im not being biased here , i am looking into " Mach " ?
any help will be great here guys
and i'm extremely sorry if some of you think i shouldn't have posted this thread in this section , looked all over and thought this would be the best section for this post
there is no chronological order that i have written this post so correct me
cheers