Lathe & Tool Changer Design (WIP)

[Noodles87]

Hey guys. I've decided to embark on my own lathe design along with a tool changer which I'll eventually build. What really pushed me to start this on my own was watching S_J_H and JH-Q's small lathe builds. Really inspiring for me. And after not being satisfied with what is commercially around in that size & price I've started my own.

Should be a fun..but long trip. So I hope everyone enjoys the ride and talks along the way!
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Some things I hope to include in this build.
•Automatic Tool Changer
•Power 5C Chuck(From Bison)
•Encoded Spindle(threading)
•2-3 HP
•Tail Stock/Steady Rest

I haven't settled on travels or anything as of yet. I'll know as things progress.


Here's a picture of the intended layout. And the concept for the tool changer(Head based of German Design. Not Final).






Though it could change. Hopefully the lack of pictures here(so far) wont discourage people. I'll update pretty often with progress and pictures.

The lathe has already been almost fully designed(not what you see in the pic). But decided to start over and hopefully get involvement form others through their comments and suggestions.

Sorry this is all you get to see for now. But stay tuned!

[Noodles87]

Here's a stress test of the head and shaft with 800N applied. This is almost double what its going to see in use. And only moves one tenth(average). This was worst case scenario of all the force being applied at its edge. Which the head will also not ever see. So this should hold up quite well for its use.



Thought I should mention I'll be working with aluminum. Which is why my cutting forces on average will be quite low. But if anyone wanted to say...cut steel or stainless. There might be a problem if this is based solely around aluminum cutting.

[BobWarfield]

Interesting design. Do you intend to use surplus linear rails for the ways?

I prefer gang-style tooling for a small lathe. It's simpler, and the tool changes are way faster. The only downside is you can't use the tailstock. This is not a problem for a lot of applications, and if you do use the tailstock, it just means you're back to 2 tools on the gangslide (one front and one rear).

Check out some of the gang lathes that are out there, Surplus tooling for them (Hardinge style) is pretty cheap and abudant on eBay. Note that you can also buy a Hardinge turret pretty cheap on eBay. See Widgitmaster's article on setting up his turret for more info on those turrets.

Best,

BW

[Noodles87]

Originally Posted by BobWarfield Interesting design. Do you intend to use surplus linear rails for the ways?

Yeah, hopefully.

I thought about the gang slide. And since its all design for now, there's no reason it cant be. But at least for my purposes. I will need a tailstock and steady rest since I'll be working with long thin parts.

[Noodles87]

The bearings for the tool changer will be A/C bearings. I'll only see about 8kN needed for the bearings with a FOS of 10. But since I want something far heftier as who knows what someone else might try and cut that might reach 15kN+ I'm choosing a bearing with about 30kN. Probably HUGE overkill but I think it's needed. From here I'll get the bearing size and start working on the housing. Not sure if I'll get to that tonight. I'm off to dinner for now.

[Noodles87]

To my surprise. After applying the load to where it would be in use and with a load of 2000N the displacement is still only one tenth!!!

[Noodles87]

hey guys. Just thought's I'd keep you updated. I'm very busy right now getting things done with moving. So I haven't had any time to work any more on this. I still plan to but not until I've got things sorted out. The housing was finished and most of the components in it. After some testing I should be able to move onto the machine itself. So this is still being worked on!

[Guldberg]

Finished components. Where is the pictures then?!?

[ckm]

I would love to see some pictures as I may do the same.

Chris.