Has anyone added a C axis and live tooling?

[pontiacg5]

Hello everyone, this is my first post in this section!

I work at a machine shop, and I'm on a Mazak SQT-10M with live tooling quite a bit. I got to thinking about it and I believe it could be rather easy to add a half axis to the mini lathe. The way I see it working is a flex shaft mounted in the tool post. (like this Dremel one here, http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg)

Then I would add a stepper to either the spindle or the belt drive to index the spindle, and as far as I know that would be all it would take as far as hardware.

I could make a flex shaft that could mount in the tool post rather easily, but I would not know where to start with generating G code to make cuts.

Would something like this work? Has anybody tried it yet?

[neutronics]

I once tried using a cable-driven Dremel grinder in a boring holder on my 7x10 lathe years ago. It didn’t really work. The collet just had way too much slop and the cable didn’t really turn concentrically.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work if you could find (or make) a more precise spindle.

[pontiacg5]

I was afraid of that. I was thinking it might be possible to make a new collet and chuck for the flex shaft in a size that would easily fit in a tool post.

I was looking around on here yesterday and I saw something someone had made. It was an air grinder fitted in a QCTP. I found it way back in this forum here, but I can't find it again for some reason. Has anyone else seen this?

[geo.agun]

I am in the process of of adding live tooling to an emco 6, I need a milling/drilling head that could work for both for the X and Z axis. I have seen the Sherline machines around and thought that those headstocks would be the bees knees for this kind of application. Sherline offers the spindles as a cartridge or mounted, with or without motor and drive, and the price is unbeatable.

I have ended up getting two spindles as the mounting for the cross axis milling/drilling ended up being very differently on my machine than the mounting for the axial axis. I have an automatic tool changer that restricts what and how I can mount thing. I went with ER collets on both heads but am now thinking that the axially mounted head at least might have been better as a no1 morse. Well at $150 I can just get another one and swap it out.

In my machine I found it easier to add an additional motor to drive the spindle that I can engage only when using the live tooling. This solved two problems, software, I can use my current programs to position the spindle and 2, I did not have to change out the servo-tack system that is on that machine.

THE SOFTWARE
this is where you are going to run in to a swamp full of frogs. Some of the stuff out there can, some can't and some, well, just because she said yes don't mean she will or that she is going to be easy.

Have fun with it.

[blades]

....... well, just because she said yes don't mean she will or that she is going to be easy.

Have fun with it.

Are we still talking about live tooling? Just wondered.....

[drmico60]

I have made a toolpost mounted drill using a flexible shaft. I started out thinking that perhaps I could use a Dremel type shaft but the bearings were awful. I purchased a flexible shaft designed for use with a portable electric drill and modified the bearings and fitted a decent chuck and it works well.
Full details are shown here:
Toolpost drill - mikesworkshop
Mike