New CNC lathe conversion plans

[CNCadmin]

Ron has done it again here is his new plans for converting your lathe to cnc- http://www.stirlingsteele.com/latheplans.html looks pretty good.

[rustyolddo]

I have a set in my hands, it is a very nice conversion. Once I get thru with the mini-mill, I'll write a review on the lathe plans.

[CNCadmin]

Have you started your conversion yet?

[mark c]

I've got the plans too. They're very well done. I'm probably 1/2 way done. My micro-mill just took a s**t so I gotta fix that before I can get back to it. I'm using the Hobby CNC 200oz/in stepper kit and thats pretty much done too. I'll post again soon as I go

Mark

[Otokoyama]

I'm mostly done with the Steele mini-lathe conversion: http://home1.gte.net/res0d176/MiniLatheCNC.html. I have yet to do the Spindle Sensor and Guard, though am anxious to get cutting metal. So, far I've made some promising test cuts under jog control. I've got to come up to speed on Mach3's lathe features before running some code.

[CNCadmin]

Very nice, I'm looking forward to doing my someday soon.

[Stevie]

Originally Posted by Otokoyama I'm mostly done with the Steele mini-lathe conversion: http://home1.gte.net/res0d176/MiniLatheCNC.html. I have yet to do the Spindle Sensor and Guard, though am anxious to get cutting metal. So, far I've made some promising test cuts under jog control. I've got to come up to speed on Mach3's lathe features before running some code.

your going to be moving that keyboard; i can say that from experiance
mine is above the lathe on top of a shelf that carries my 3 halogen lights; it works good in that position and it keeps it out of the crap

[Otokoyama]

The keyboard is already covered with swarf, but it's impervious to that and the location is very convenient. A shelf above the equipment is an interesting idea. The worst problem with this keyboard location seems to be that I carelessly place objects right on the keyboard (e.g. chuck key) which occasionally depresses keys.

The Steele conversion is working flawlessly. I highly recommend this to people who are considering converting their lathes. Ron Steele's mill plans look every bit as good.

[Stevie]

chk out mine

[ESjaavik]

I would use a box structure instead of the ones shown on the picture of the conversion. That would be much more torsionally rigid. I know, as I did that on the Y-axis of my mill, and even if much thicker rods are used, at certain speeds (resonance ) this will influence the torque of the stepper, it can even stall out. I'll have to redo that part. My X-axis use a thick-walled tube as standoff, and it has no such tendencies.

And what about the heavy stepper hanging out at quite a distance? The rear part of the slide will probably bear on the underside instead of on the top as originally designed. If it does not have a large surface and good material pairing, it will wear out rapidly.

[Otokoyama]

Originally Posted by Stevie your going to be moving that keyboard

My "impervious" keyboard warped after a thorough soaking with Tapmatic Dual Action Plus #2. :frown:

Originally Posted by ESjaavik And what about the heavy stepper hanging out at quite a distance?

I was concerned about this and went with a lighter motor on the cross slide to minimize whatever effects this might have. The motor mount is quite rigid as is, and I didn't notice any tightening of the cross slide after the motor was in place, as might be expected if the bearing surface was affected.