Help needed for lathe project

[Delran]

Newbie from RSA,
I know you have been asked these questions before, but I need some serious help as I am no expert in this field. I am looking to build a mini precision lathe using servo motors. Z axis 5", x axis 10", gang type lathe, max turning dia 5/8", controlling spindle speeds etc. I have researched on what to use but have only confused myself as there is so many options. On the mechanical side I do not have any problems, but what servo motors, controllers, pc software etc should I use. I would like to maintain 0.0005" accuracy. I will be using precision parts to build the lathe.

Any help will be appreciated.

Delran

[DennisCNC]

If you want it to be very smooth and fast then go with AC $ervos or less smooth DC servos or slow and kind of smooth regular stepper motors. Same for controller, if you want speed and elegance then Galil motion card and Camsoft. Or like the rest Mach3 and Gecko's either DC sevos or Steppers. Or wait for the G-Rex when it is more user freindley and you will have a fast and smooth system. It all in the $.

[rhino]

I POSTED A THREAD A LITTLE WHILE AGO ON A SIMILAIR SUBJECT:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=156514#post156514

I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU OUT LIKE IT HELPED ME OUT.

[howling60]

Originally Posted by DennisCNC If you want it to be very smooth and fast then go with AC $ervos or less smooth DC servos or slow and kind of smooth regular stepper motors. Same for controller, if you want speed and elegance then Galil motion card and Camsoft. Or like the rest Mach3 and Gecko's either DC sevos or Steppers. Or wait for the G-Rex when it is more user freindley and you will have a fast and smooth system. It all in the $.

i am going to have to chime in here. from personal experience, camsoft may not be your best choice.. like i said, my personal experience.. i've been over a year now trying to get a camsoft controlled machine actually running. I still can't trust the control software to do what it needs to do, in a repeatable fashion, and/or accurately.

however, i have set up several Mach machines, and they are all very smooth, very accurate, and the latest (using a grex for motion control, and automation direct servos/drives) is not only incredibly smooth, it is also VERY quick. These have all been Mills, so i can't speak directly for lathe's, but i see no reason why it wouldnt' work out just fine.

like i said, this is all from my experience.

good luck!

-nate

[HillBilly]

Originally Posted by howling60 i am going to have to chime in here. from personal experience, camsoft may not be your best choice.. like i said, my personal experience.. i've been over a year now trying to get a camsoft controlled machine actually running. I still can't trust the control software to do what it needs to do, in a repeatable fashion, and/or accurately. however, i have set up several Mach machines, and they are all very smooth, very accurate, and the latest (using a grex for motion control, and automation direct servos/drives) is not only incredibly smooth, it is also VERY quick. These have all been Mills, so i can't speak directly for lathe's, but i see no reason why it wouldnt' work out just fine. like i said, this is all from my experience. good luck! -nate

Ditto (same experience)

Darek

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by rhino I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU OUT LIKE IT HELPED ME OUT.

Rhino mate, It is not necessary to shout in all your posts
(Caps on)
Friendly hint.
http://email.about.com/cs/netiquette...t/et020801.htm
Al.

[DennisCNC]

I like Mach3 a lot my self but thoguht maybe Cam$oft is cooler?

[howling60]

Originally Posted by DennisCNC I like Mach3 a lot my self but thoguht maybe Cam$oft is cooler?

i'm gonna have to go with a big 'ol "no way" on that one.. frankly, in my opinion the interface is much nicer in mach, the setup time is shorter/easier, and the user base is alot larger, or.. is seemingly larger anyway and possibly more "inventive" i guess would be a good word. The support for Mach controlled machines also seems to be more.. outgoing, and the software seems to be more responsive as well.

I'm not trying to crap on Camsoft, just, haven't had a good experience with them, and I may be biased towards Mach, as the majority of machines in our shop are all running on Mach3, and run very nicely at that. (a BP series I, and II, an eaglecnc (series II size), a 5x10 plasma table, a small lathe, a 6x12 router, and soon to be, some "other toys")

-Nate

[DennisCNC]

How was the setup of G-rex on one of you machines? Did you pull out any hair? How is Mach IV runing?

[howling60]

Originally Posted by DennisCNC How was the setup of G-rex on one of you machines? Did you pull out any hair? How is Mach IV runing?

the grex setup as far as i remember, was quite nice. The only problem we really had, was on the drive end, as we kept missing a setting osmewhere in the drives. one of those "look right at it, but dont' really see it" situations.

My only complaint with the grex right now, or then anyway, was the time it takes for the grex to sync up with the PC, that could have been our PC however, as it was a laptop used for everything, not a dedicated machine.

Mach IV, still had(s) some kinks, but we were working them out the entire time... however, i've been pulled off the project as some other things became more important so i couldn't tell you where it's @ right now. I would say you should wander over to the Mach forums here, and see what's being said in there, as I haven't kept up.

the machine in question, is linked to in a thread here about the automation direct servodrives that i posted. you can see the motion yourself there

-nate

[rhino]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Man Rhino mate, It is not necessary to shout in all your posts (Caps on) Friendly hint. http://email.about.com/cs/netiquette...t/et020801.htm Al.

sorry al, i must of had a few beers that night and knocked the capslock button. no offence meant.

rhino.

[NC Cams]

There was a thread I started a week or so ago that dealt with lathe retrofits.

Camsoft, Ajax and some other issues were discussed.

Just because a software works great on a mill, that doesn't mean it will work with the same efficacy on a lathe.

Caveat emptor (notice I"m not criticising Mach - the thread dealt with servos and a step-direction system did not fit my feedback needs due to the type of lathe involved (needs CSS and some other things that require closed loop feedback).