Clausing 12" Series 100 MK3a CNC Conversion

[BrassBuilder]

All Righty....

I've been meaning to get a post going on this and I thought I better git-r-dun before I got too far into the project.

A little background first....

A couple of years ago, I bought a Clausing Series 100 MK3a lathe. My original intentions were to restore it, but after looking for the correct motor mount and the countershaft assembly for the last two years (don't ask about those parts on ebay that I ....just... missed a few months ago....) I finally decide to CNC it. I know this may really PO some old-timer off, but I want a CNC lathe and this one is going to be it. Plus, I think it might be cool to have a 1940s lathe with 2010 electronics.

With that...on with the build.

Picture 1:
I already started the conversion here. I have my 220v treadmill motor mounted where I want it. It works great with the KB Electronics KBCC-225R motor controller. I now have variable speed control on it. I could not mount the motor where the stock motor was because I took out the countershaft assembly and there was not room through the headstock to run the belt down without first going through the countershaft assy. So...I have it up high and out of the way when I add coolant on this. And...the lathe now gets around 1900 rpm where before it only hit around 800. The headstock has bearings and not babbit bearings so it should handle the new RPMs nicely.

Picture 2:
All the gears and quick change gear box is going. Going on ebay that is....

Picture 3:
Another view of the motor setup. I should note that I am going to build a motor and belt cover once this gets rebuilt. If I don't get it tore down this weekend, then next weekend.

Picture 4:
The original Clausing stand. Not sure if I will reuse this or build a new stand.

Picture 5:
The electronics. The box is an old Gateway 2000 computer case. Yeah...back in the day Gateway had 2000 in their name. You can see the KB controller and the power supply. Still need to clean up the excess wiring. The computer power supply is running four (4) cooling fans in the case. The original power button up front controls it yet. I have the front of the case and the outer case being painted. The case and lathe will be dark red with Carbon Fiber decals over all the aluminum pieces going into this.

Picture 6:
Various bits and pieces that I have collected. Let' see if I can identify them...
Should be about three Compumotor OEM750 drivers. I only need two, but I got a heck of a price on them on ebay. So I bought them all...

I have three Pacific Scientific motors. The big one is a NEMA 42. The other two are NEMA 34. I am using the 42 and the smaller 34 on the build.

To the right are the ball screw mounts for the bed. In the back is the 1.125" Thompson ballscrew.

Lots of wiring, connectors, and other pieces are in the picture too.

I have the ballscrew for the crossfeed on another bench.

Until next time....

Mike

[BrassBuilder]

A small update from the weekend.

Picture 7.
The front of the Gateway 2000 case with the filler pieces installed. The color came out sort of orange. It is actually a dark red.

Picture 8.
The rear view of the front case. I have my two OEM750 drivers mounted.

Picture 9.
I have a 4" 12v fan mounted in the top of the case for air circulation. It runs off the original power supply from the computer case. I made this grille for it. It is about 6" x 6" with a bunch of holes drilled in it in a circular pattern. I painted it black and trimmed it in the carbon fiber sticker stuff.

Picture 10.
Not much left. It only took about a half hour to strip it down. The aluminum flat at the end is for the ballscrew mounts.

Not pictured:
I bought some 2" x 2" 1/8" wall square tubing today and I'll start building the new base this weekend.

Anyone planning on following the build? I see I have almost 70 views and not a single comment. But, I guess I haven't gotten anything really exciting done yet.

Mike

[skmetal7]

oh there are definately ppl following this.

so in what shape are the ways in? and are you gonna paint it?

[BrassBuilder]

oh there are definately ppl following this.

so in what shape are the ways in? and are you gonna paint it?

The ways appear to be in great shape. I cannot feel any wear near the headstock where there is normally wear.

It is getting painted the same dark red color as the control box. The base will be black or dark grey.

I was hoping on converting this without drilling into the bed casting. I wanted to be able to put this back to original if needed, but that is looking like a lost cause. I am going to need about 6 holes for the ballscrew mounting pads.

Stay tuned...more happening this weekend.

Mike

[The Blight]

We are watching, just not posting anything.

When you start on a conversion, you almost always want to keep the machine in its original state, but 99% of the time, you will have to make some minor modifications. After the first couple holes you stop crying and start thinking "its going to be all right in the end". Hehe. Worst thing would be to drill the holes the wrong place. You only have one shot at this. Good luck!

[BrassBuilder]

We are watching, just not posting anything.

When you start on a conversion, you almost always want to keep the machine in its original state, but 99% of the time, you will have to make some minor modifications. After the first couple holes you stop crying and start thinking "its going to be all right in the end". Hehe. Worst thing would be to drill the holes the wrong place. You only have one shot at this. Good luck!

Realistically....I will probably never put this back to stock anyway. For one, all the parts that are left over are going on ebay and they will be hard to find and buy again. Plus, the lathe will actually be worth more as a CNC conversion anyway. The parts that I do sell should pay for a good portion of the conversion too.

I'm still going to get at least a little sniffle when I drill that first hole.

Mike

[BrassBuilder]

Update for Saturday 20 Mar 10:

Pressured washed the bed and headstock today. I'm going to tear the headstock down again and re-pack the bearings after hitting it with the high pressure hose. Plus it will be easier to paint the inside of the headstock.

Got the stand pretty well roughed in. The first picture shows the main frame tacked together and I laid the bed in and started figuring out where I wanted the bed positioned.

The second picture shows where I left off today. I have a slight twist from one end to the other, but it should be OK.

I forgot to get my leveling feet ordered. I just got them bought on Friday. Should be here this week sometime.

Next, I want to rebuild the motor mount and get it mounted to the new frame a little differently.

I might build the stand for coolant too. Not sure I am going to run coolant yet. It will be easier to build it with coolant in mind now than later since I'd have to haul all of this down to the shop again because I don't have a welder at home.

Mike

[BrassBuilder]

Update for Monday 22 Mar 10

Got a few more things accomplished.

First picture is a closeup of the way I fabricated my supports for the lathe bed. The angle iron is 1.5" x 1.5" x 1/8" with 6" x 5/8" 6061 aluminimum on top.

Second picture is the motor mount cleaned up and I redid the support piece going down to the frame. Before, I had a chunk of 1" x 1" square tubing welded in. It looked horrible. The aluminum bar stock is much cleaner.

Third and fourth pictures are the rear and the front of the cross slide.

I am thinking about mounting the NEMA 34 motor on the back of the cross slide. Any reason not to?

I got a little more wiring done and repainted the case a darker shade of red. I'll post pictures once I get the box all wired and put back together.

Next weekend I plan on mounting the ballscrews.

Mike

[BrassBuilder]

Weekend update:

I had a lot going on this weekend and didn't get much of anything done. Had a wedding to participate in and I am working on a Masters degree in Information Technology full-time. Just started a couple of new classes this weekend on top of everything. I also work full-time. Life is not boring anyway.

I had *planned* on getting the ballscrews mounted...or at least a good start on them. I only got a couple of hours to work on this and an hour of that was to stop at Menards for some flat bar stock and a hole saw.

Got the self-leveling feet in late last week. I got the mounting pads cut and that is about all the furthest I got.

AND to make matters worse....my job is pretty much keeping me on the road through the month of April and that includes the weekends. I should get back on this in May.

Till then....

Mike

[RotarySMP]

Cool Build.

I mounted the stepper for my little lathe on the front side of the cross slide, as that was where there were mount holes. I don't think it makes a significant difference whether at the front or back.

[JP Hardinge]

Very cool project Mike!

I have access to several treadmill motors and have retrofitted my WEBB mill with a 3hp and KBCC control.

I've just purchased a Supermax CNC mill and I'm going to swap out the spindle drive motor with another 3hp treadmill motor, KB control, but this time I'm looking at their KB signal isolator to be able to control the motor from my Fagor cnc control.

Have you used one of these?....

http://www.kbelectronics.com/catalog...ntrol_prod.htm

The Model KBSI-240D Signal Isolator provides an isolated interface between non-isolated signals and KB motor speed controls. Signal sources include process controllers, transducers, microprocessors and programmable controllers. The maximum output voltage of the KBSI is 10 volts, which is a linear function of the input. The unit is versatile, since a single model accepts a wide range of voltage (0-25, 0-120 and 0-550VDC) and current (1-5, 4-20 and 10-50mA) signals, multi-turn trimpots are provided for Min and Max. The KBSI can be operated from either 115V or 230VAC 50/60Hz.

Dimensions:
2.7" x 4.8" x 1.1".

Models where used:
KBMM
KBIC
KBCC
KBPB
KBPC
KBRG
KBWD

[BrassBuilder]

Thanks for posting!

No, I haven't used the isolator. I am just using the KBCC-240D controller for now. I wanted to keep the electronics as simple as possible and if I find a need to add more stuff, I will rewire it then.

My job has kept me on the road since Apr 1st. I am leaving again for another three weeks, but I hope at the end of June, I can get my life back and get going on the project. My goal is to have this running by August at the latest.

Mike