20 years out of NC New to cnczone

[RIPPINANDRUNNIN]

Hello Eveyone.

My Name is Dan and i excelled in NC way back in 85. My life took me away from that and due to the current economy I am resurrecting production of large solid oak ship steering wheels made of red oak. My father sold many in mahogony and people requested Oak to math with there home a restaurant decor. The red oak brought his power lathes and Giant shaper to a smoking halt. He lost interest and set it aside. I have many antique wood machines in a new pole barn. Some parts I can make easily by hand on a wood lathe. One piece in particular is very tricky, he used a 5Hp electric shaper to make these parts. Fine for pine or Mahogany but when you try and run oak threw there it is VERY dangerous and i will not run them on that machine. I believe with some ingenuity i can cut these parts with a gantry router (Most affordable for startup) and possibly retrofit the hand lathes with stepper motors. I have access to the 3 axis mill at my aunts metal shop beginning next week but I know the metal boy will be cranky when wood chips start a flying. I'm having trouble posting pictures here but it's my first day here and I'm sure I'm missing something. I downloaded cnc simulator and layzy cam to try and get a feel for G code. I'm pretty much Swinging in the dark with that but it's not the first time I started from scratch.

Thank You in Advance for your help.

Dano