Newbie- possible build: slantbed lathe

[bramvh]

Hello all,

Just wanted to introduce myself and the project i am about to undertake (or not).

I have been reading this forum a lot, and also did quite some researching on the internet for several years, and I decided that it is time for me to start the build of a slantbed lathe.

My goal is to build from scratch a cnc lathe / machine center.

The pictures give a general idea, I made them in sketchup (the only program I can work with) they are not finished yet, but I will try to explain a bit further.
So, where to start.. first thing I want to have 2 spindles opposite to each other, so that when parting the work piece I can grab it with the second spindle and do some final machining on the other side.
The 2 spindles will be driven by one and the same DC servo motor (a baldor 180V DC 12 Amps/ 46,6 amps peak servo motor), I think that should give me enough power.

Then I will have 2 beds on the Z axis, one with an 8 tool turret, and the second one with a 3rd spindle for milling, the spindle will be able to rotate by 45° plus and minus, and also move up and down for Y movement by about 100mm (4 inch). The 2 beds will be able to move independently from each other, but they will be on the same tracks. I will probably be using a Chinese high speed spindle for the milling part.

I might be building is a chip conveyer, and a part extraction system
Ideally I would have an ATC on the 3rd spindle, but that would be pushing it

So far, although a massive amount of work, mechanically this will be doable, but software wise it will be a challenge. I have 8 axis, 1 axis/spindle, one spindle and several pneumatic cylinders to control.

I have gathered some parts already over the past few months.
This is what I already have and would like to use:

- DC servo motor Baldor 180VDC 12 Amps/46,6 Amps peak (that is a massive 8388 Watts peak and 2160 Watts continuous power) I have 2 of these
- 1000 line encoder with index, plan on using it on the spindle as the baldor motors came with a tacho
- 5 stepper motors nema 23 (these are small ones, but I hope to be able to use them)
- 6 gecko stepper drives G203V and one Chinese copy
- I also have laying around 3 x G320 servo drives from gecko, don’t know if I will be using them
- then I have a manual chuck 170 mm, and an automatic chuck also 170 mm, this one is intended for use with an hydraulic cylinder, but I hope this will also work with a pneumatic cylinder.
- I also have all the pneumatics (controls and cylinders)
- I have all the electronics (break out boards x 2 and a G100 from gecko that I can use as IO)

I will take some pictures later this week form the parts that I have and post them here.

What I still need:
- a servo drive that can handle 180 VDC/40Amps
- all the ball screws / nuts
- all the linear bearings
- all that involves the structure for the lathe
- a cooling system
- probably 2 steppers or servos
- power supply(s)
- ..

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated, sources for the parts that I still need, and comments (usability) on the parts that I already have are also welcome.

I have a standard lathe and mill at my disposal for making all the parts that I might need
maybe I should mention that this is probably going to be a 2 year build or something, I can only work on it a couple of hours per week.

Thank you for your time.
English is not my native languish, I am sorry if there are things that aren’t clear

Best regards,
Bram