Here are some shots of my Lathe/Mill combo.  I purchased it in Canada from Busy Bee Tools (Craftex Brand) but there are some disturbingly similar ones available elsewhere   (e.g. Harbor Freight etc.)

I bought this as my first machine a newbie, I realize now the mill column isn't super-stiff and it's kind of awkward having to put a riser block on the bed to get near the spindle.  It works fairly well for my hobby-grade stuff nonetheless.









(why yes, that is an A2Z toolpost, home made digitizing probe on top of the cabinet, homecnc.info servos, homeshopcnc ballscrews, etc...       )

Hello Marcoose:
I have one of those Harbor Freight combo lathe/mills (P/N 44142) and I am VERY interested in converting to CNC. What CNC improvements have you done to your machine? My most pressing need is to convert the lathe portion. Mach 3 looks like the software to use and I've been researching the steppers/servos/encoders to use but I really have been searching for someone who has a machine similar to mine before taking the CNC plunge.

Bill
wlwoodall

Hi Bill!

I started by converting the lathe portion of my machine as well as the X & Y axis are more straightforward than the Z.  I purchased ballscrews cut-to-length and with ends already machined, and made my own preloaded ballnuts.  I went with servo drive as I like the closed loop and didn't find the price difference too significant.

I tore out pretty much every part of the original motion system and made some brackets to hold everything in.  The first phase was a pain as I had to keep re-assembling the machine so I could use it to turn bearing and ballnut mounts and then tear it apart to test-fit 

I just drill and tap the casting as necessary and use 1/4" mild steel plate for all the bracketry.  I think Mach3 is definitely the way to go!

Good luck!

   Marcus

thats a versatile number right there, whats the bore on the spindle?

The milling spindle on my machine is MT3, although I've noticed on the latest machine they switched to R8 which seems to be much easier to find tooling for.

I just found out last year the lathe is MT4 and comes with a dead center, but I've never used anything but a chuck.


So far it has served me very well...  the lathe is excellent for my needs and the mill is fine for aluminum and plastics, and I have used it to fly-cut mild steel and stainless.  For general and 3D milling of steels it is not quite a stiff enough arrangement.  I am planning on getting a plain mill when budget allows.

thats very good, you can drill / bore  2 axis alternately, mt4 aswell is a fair size for playing with. the swing on that bed aswell!. there is a need for one of each type machine