Hi,
Okay a few different subjects for my questions as seen in the subject.
I'll summarize each question in bold.
Firstly I'm looking at getting a mill and lathe. The two models that I was looking at getting were:
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalo...-C3-Mini-Lathe The C3 lathe.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-A...ill-568039.htm The X2 mill.
They are about the right size for me and I've selected them based off previous advice and people's reviews. However I'm more wondering what make / version to get.
For the C3 lathe that I've listed (I was looking at getting the metric one without DROs), the ways are not hardened - Will this be a problem ? ACR have told me in an email that they have not had any problem with non-hardened ways but I thought I'd ask here for advice.
So in summary, first question is
which version of the mill and lathe should I get ? (I'm in the UK, hence I want metric please.)
Second thing is safety glasses.
I
hate this type:
http://www.bellbrush.com/images/gog001.jpg so if I can get away from them, I'd love to.
I'm looking for glasses for milling, turning and brazing. (Just a mapp flame, so no super-bright flame here.) Also I don't require glasses, which should make life easier. So
what kind of safety glasses would you suggest ?
Thirdly, at some point in the future I would like to have both lathe and mill setup for CNC.
What stepper motor ratings would be suggested for the mill and lathe listed ? I was also going to add a motor to the tailstock to do automated drilling.
Also related - What kind of sensor is needed on the spindle of the lathe to enable threading and how is this setup with Mach ? Is there a guide for this ?
So
What stepper motor ratings are suggested for both the mill and lathe ?
Finally a specific part that I want to be able to turn and then mill.
Attached is a very bad drawing of the part with some sizes. The part will be made out of copper. There is a series of turned steps and a couple of holes, one of which is off-center.
I would do the off-center hole on the mill, while doing the steps on the lathe.
However, I don't know how I'd clamp the part.
For added complications, the through hole of the C3 lathe is only 20mm, which is half the size of the part so the bar stock would need to be cut down before it was put into the lathe. I understand that the part would need to be turned around at the end to finish the last face of it, but after the main steps have been turned how would the part be clamped ? Would it be alright being clamped on the largest diameter 1/8" step ?
Then how would it be clamped in the mill to drill the off-center hole ? If you were to use a vice, you would be clamping on two slithers of 1/8" high metal.
So
how would you safely machine this part, including clamping methods ?
Thank you very much for any help,
-Andrew.