slant bed lathe?

[clovenedhoof]

I'm a longtime reader of the forum but have rarely posted,
I'm designing a CNC gang tooled lathe, I'm using a XY table from a Taig mill for the cross slide, and 400 once/inches steppers for control. I'm using a Hardinge high speed head stock for it and 2x6 1/4" steel for the frame. The problem I've run in to is that my headstock is designed for the motor to be mounted underneath. The problem I face is that it if I place the motor under the lathe as is i'll end up with the lathe very tall, I was thinking about making the whole lathe a slant bed lathe. Basically mounting it at a 45 degree or so angle. Then I could mount the motor under the headstock and not have the lathe be too tall.
Here is a picture of my set-up so far.
http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=DSCF1244.jpg
the advantages I see are:
the coolent and chips will be easier to collect
the lathe wont' take up as much room on my bench.
does anyone else have any opinion?
-Chris

[Guldberg]

It would work. Just remember that your x-axis has to fight gravity when you slant it. Also the new height is determined buy the "height" of the x-axis (in a 45deg angle). It could end up higher than just putting the motor underneat. Have you considered putting the motor underneat the bench?