First the question, then I'll introduce my self.

I got a "G0516" Combo Lathe with Milling Attachment from Grizzly.
I have been thinking of converting it to CNC now for a while now.
My question is, can I control in MACH3 both the mill and the lathe at the same time?
Or do I need to switch it to lathe first and then to mill to get the desired result?

And as promised, the introduction.
I am new to this forum.
Born in raised in the Netherlands (Holland), lived in Saudi Arabia, Australia and now Thailand for work.
I work for companies that drill for the Black Gold.
Always loved working with electronics and metal.

Yes and no. All depends what you are meaning by run at the same time and also whether you are prepared to code unconventionally.
For example you will not be able to run both spindles from Mach at the same time but you could turn them on/off and set speeds manually. Next thing would be Z axis on a lathe is X axis on a mill and X on a Lathe is Y on a mill etc etc so you would not be able to use conventional G Code.
Hood

Hood,

I've been wondering about controlling one of these type of machines with Mach3 also.  However, my question not to Turn and Mill at the same time but seperatly using the same computer.

Let me eplain:
Obviously it would be a simple matter to configure Mach 3 Turn to control the X. and Z. axis for turning as on any lathe.  The question is could Mach3 also be configured so you could run Mach3 Mill and control the X,Y and Z. axis for milling?  In this case the axis used for X used while turning would become Y for milling, the Z axis in turning would become X  for milling, and of course the quill  in the mill head would be powered with its own motor and that would be the Z axis for milling?

If this would be possible the operator could simply run Turn for lathe work or Mill for milling work.  Also, this would have the benefit of being able to use conventional G code both for turning and milling and all this is controlled by the same computer.


Do you think this would be possible?

Thanks,
Kerry Harrison

I put a vartical mill attachment on my lathe and tht way you don't have to change anything. I havn't hooked up the Y axis yet ut the Gecko are ready to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X2RVwgg88M

Regards

Noel

Kerry
 Yes thats no problem, just two profiles, a Turn and a Mill and set up the axis to the pins you require. It doesn't matter if X is Y and Z is X as you dont have them open at the same time.
Hood

There's mill2lathe, maybe that can do something.
Also I'm sure someone has made a simple machining centre using mach, this has 2 spindles.

Steve