Converting my Engine Lathe to an 8-Station Turret Lathe!

[widgitmaster]

Hi Bob,
The coiled air lines take up more space, and in my little shop that is a valuable commodity! The lathe is near the front of the garage, so when the door is open it covers the lathe. This eliminates access to the celing as a place to hang an air line, coiled or straight!

But you are correct, it is FUN

Widgit!

[widgitmaster]

OK,
Here is a little video of the turret in action, making delrin nut blanks.

VIDEO

Widgit

[widgitmaster]

Another video of the turret making aluminum spacers!

VIDEO (this is a long winded movie, be patient)

Station #1 is a push bar, which puts the stock at the starting position.
Station #2 is a facing tool, removing .005" material.
Station #3 is a 1/2" stub drill, set for .4" depth.
Station #4 is a 5/8" shank boring bar, finishing bore to .525" ID.
Station #5 is a turning tool, set to turn .87" OD x .39" long.
Station #6 is a parting tool, set to cut of the part at .37" long.

Next operation will be to hold the new parts in a collet, and face them to the final thickness.

These little spacers are used between the ball bushings and snap rings on the x-axis slide of the Mini & Midi-Routers. Two required for each router.

Widgit

[ozzie34231]

Hi Eric,
Are you getting that finish on the ends without polishing? (On the screws)
If you are maybe you can spell out the details of speed, feed, and maybe a closeup picture of the finishing tool; ,,,,,,,,in your spare time :-)
Ozzie

[widgitmaster]

Originally Posted by ozzie34231 Hi Eric, Are you getting that finish on the ends without polishing? (On the screws) If you are maybe you can spell out the details of speed, feed, and maybe a closeup picture of the finishing tool; ,,,,,,,,in your spare time :-) Ozzie

Hello Ozzie!
No, making the ends is tricky!
I have found that by the time the tool bit cuts off the thread, the intermittant cut has killed the cutting edge! This is the advantage of having a turret lathe, as one tool rough turns the bulk material off. Then a finish tool removes the last .010" in light cuts.

Lastly, I file off a little taper from the 1/4" diameter, and polish the finish diameters with a Cratex stick (rubber impregnated with abrasives)

The tool bits are 3/8" AR brazed C6 carbide, sharpened on a diamond wheel. I have purchaces tool bits from Enco, and was not happy with them, so now I buy them from McMaster Carr. Enco's Chinese bits are not as tough as a C6 grade bit should be, and the steel that they are brazed to is bent or twisted!
This is a big problem for me, as the rigid tool holders on my lathe's turret require the tool to be exactly .375 from spindle center line!

The finish tool has a sharp point.

Widgit

[ozzie34231]

Thanks Eric,
I'll have to try the Cratex.
Why the sharp point?
Ozzie

[BobWarfield]

The videos are very enjoyable, Widgit!

Oh, but you are so close to nirvana. That lathe would be so easy to CNC!

Probably less trouble than building the turret and stops for it. Imagine it singing along with a pneumatic collet closer and bar puller.

If you leave off the spindle speed control, you would just need a few relays to turn spindle on and off, reverse (if desired), coolant relay, and a couple of Geckos for the two axes.

What a machine it would be for turn out router parts!

Best,

BW

[widgitmaster]

Originally Posted by ozzie34231 Pics. After cleaning up a bit and re-looking at Erics pics, I see there are not many differences. The piston is held on by a nut and there are some parts in Eric's pics I don't recognize. I now see that the top screw broke while extracting it, I don't know why as the set screw was totally out. I could make another but creating the hex hole would be a project for me. I think I'll just use a bit of loctite blue on the threads. Jerry

Hey Jerry,
Did you ever get that 8-station turret hooked up and running?
Eric

[ozzie34231]

Hi Eric,
After looking at the thing for a long time I decided to work on setting it up. I took a lot of pics. and wrote an article which I've submitted to Home Shop Machinist.
Most of the article is on making and setting up the tool holders for CNC use along with Mach3.

It seems to work well in early tests, but shortly after completing it I decided to paint my '94 Infinity. Re-learning to paint with today's materials has proven a long experience. I painted and re sanded the hood four times.

Next week I'll get back to using the turret and giving it some real tests of repeatability and stiffness. I used a commercial angle plate to mount the turret and it was just big enough; so if stiffness proves a problem I'll go to a larger one or consider a huge chunk of cast iron. The weight of that would be more than I want to deal with at my age. It will be interesting to see if it's stiff enough for a parting tool. Of course I can still use my old post for heavy work; I've set the turret up as a back tool post. Using both back and front makes CNC coding a bit tricky with Mach3, avoiding collision and such. It's not a huge problem, just have to keep one's wine consumption under control.

Assuming I'm happy, I'll consider designing a new back end so I can rotate the turret with CNC. That shouldn't be too tough. The real beauty of the Mag is the indexing system; lots of surface, lots of surfaces.

Rotation of the turret with the air disconnected does not seem a problem; the spring loaded ball locater holds well enough, with the tools presently installed.

Thanks for your interest,
Ozzie

[Tkamsker]

Hi
i know this is an old thread but i am thinking to build me an Turret for my CNC Lathe (a new retrofitted one )
But i don't know if vertical or horizontal turrets are better.
So my question is about the real world use ,..

i expect your version of much "stabler" when you cut steel
i am thinking of doing one with steppers and electronic driven. Which you can or can not use with cnc. (also manual)

And your experience with your types of holders would interest me as well.
And if i may ask can you give me the diameter of you plate with the t-slots in it and the width of the t slots ?
i would like to have an idea of the size of the plate.
best reg thomas K

Originally Posted by widgitmaster Another video of the turret making aluminum spacers! VIDEO (this is a long winded movie, be patient) Station #1 is a push bar, which puts the stock at the starting position. Station #2 is a facing tool, removing .005" material. Station #3 is a 1/2" stub drill, set for .4" depth. Station #4 is a 5/8" shank boring bar, finishing bore to .525" ID. Station #5 is a turning tool, set to turn .87" OD x .39" long. Station #6 is a parting tool, set to cut of the part at .37" long. Next operation will be to hold the new parts in a collet, and face them to the final thickness. These little spacers are used between the ball bushings and snap rings on the x-axis slide of the Mini & Midi-Routers. Two required for each router. Widgit