Hi All
is there anyone out there that has built a CNC Wood lathe

Is there no one??

take a look at a shopbot indexer.
Marshall's millworks has pictures on their site of products and the indexer I think: http://marshallsmillwork.com/

i converted my unimat lathe, it is not your typical wood lathe, even though that is what i have always used it for. although i am planning to convert my real wood lathe soon. it is 50 year old unit, very heavy duty. i have aquired some thk linear bearings and am really just waiting for some ballscrews and springtime.

on my unimate i made an attachment so i could use a rotary tool on it, i will do the same on the big wood lathe. i also added a stepper to the spindle so that i could cut threads. it works very well.

Check out www.crankorgan.com he has built one and is selling plans I think.
Hope this helps. :)

That was a great link. I hope to get lined out on that woodturtle.

I bought the plans to the wood turtle and someday may get around to putting it together.. For now I'm gonna break down and just buy this..
http://www.libertycnc.com/

It would seem to me there are so many disparities between wood and metal lathes it would be a difficult assignment. IF the wood is superhard like rosewood lignum viti[sp?] then metal cutting tooling could possibly be used.Softer wood it wood just tear up and detail,wood lath tools are used in a grain sensitive way.