Newbie- Converting a non cnc lathe into a cnc lathe?!?!

[cvriv.charles]

Hi. I was wondering how possible it is to turn a non cnc lathe into a cnc lathe? I was thinking about purchasing a nice lathe. The lathe I need is large, about 5300lbs. I would need to convert this size lathe into a cnc lathe. How much trouble would this be?

I need this lathe to produce prototypes and even products in somewhat small quantities. I need a lathe this big because I need a fairly large spindle bore because I need to spin large diameter acrylic tubes. I need to cut internal threads for these large tubes. So I figured I would get a large enough lathe and convert it. Again,... how painful would that be?

Thanks in advance.

[salzburg]

If you can get or have all 2008 copys of the homeshop machinist
magazine by village press you will find guy by the name of freistad
describing the whole process. great description.

[deakin85]

just wondering why you would convert a coventional lathe to cnc if it's for prototypes or small quantity?....... manual lathes are ideal for making prototypes.

[Al_The_Man]

One of the down sides is you have to do a mechanical conversion as well as CNC control.
I would not recommend anything but precision ground ball screws, you might get away with rolled, but you should definitely get the preloaded ball nut as without, rolled can have quite a bit of backlash.
If you buy a used CNC that size & needs a new controller, you get ballscrews, spindle motor and encoder etc. and possibly reuse servo's
Al.

[One of Many]

Considering the cost of the lathe and tons more cash, blood, sweat and tears converting it. Along with very low top RPM for bigger thru-bore lathes. You might look into one of the larger used Bridgeport EZ-Path or SWI toolroom lathes.

DC

[Gaurav]

Has anyone found the copies of the homeshop machinist mentioned above??
It would be of great help if you can forward them

My ID is gaurav2701@gmail.com