cnc lathe that runs off 110v

[davesharps]

I have a project coming up thats going to involve turning a lot of 440c stainless and I know right off the bat i'm looking for a bit of a unicorn of a machine, but I figured its worth asking around to see what my best options are. I currently have a lms 7x16 lathe and It's been a great starter, but I recently got a tormach slant pro for work, and took a machining course at a school nearby to play around on bigger machines, and when I came back to my 7x16 I was amazed at how tiny it was, and how small of a cut it has to take. However with all the bigger more fun lathes i've played with, they all require 240 single phase, or some sort of 3phase. At my house i've had an electrician look to see if we could get even one spot of 240, and it sounds like the options I have are either a 240 outlet, but no lights in my shop, or find some sort of beefier 120v lathe. So i'm going with the later.

From what i can tell, the G602 is a pretty commonly used lathe for cnc conversion, and I figure it wouldn't be a bad option, but are there any cnc lathes that run off 120 that would actually allow for some pretty decent cuts to be made? I know I'm not going to able to take off 0.100" per pass or anything, but ideally i'd like something that could do more than 0.005" per pass.

Oh and as for budget, i'm thinking around 3-6k

Thanks!

Similar Threads:

• Just IN- new closed loop VFD with orient feature runs from 110v/220v
• CNC Lathe runs choppy
• Wiring HF 13x40 Lathe For 110v
• Fadal runs and runs and runs awayyyy!
• my 9x20 lathe motor runs slow

[RaderSidetrack]

You may wish to post more details of the electrical service to your shop.

Find the breakers in your main breaker box that feed the shop, and post the details of their amp ratings and/or photos. Regardless of voltage currently available in your shop, you can estimate the total potential horsepower available by reviewing the total watts (volts*amps) capability of your shop electrical service, For example, if it turns out that you have just a single 120 volt 20 amp circuit to your shop, then the most horsepower you could get would be 120*20 = 2400 watts = 3hp. See this converter for specifics:
https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/...att-to-hp.html
(That is using the entire electrical service for a motor. Reduce the watts to allow for lighting, motor inefficiencies, etc.)

This is important because in the end, its not really the voltage that counts when it comes to removing metal. The determining factor is watts = horsepower, and that is what will limit your proposed new machine's capabilities.

With more specifics on your shop electrical service, you are likely to get better quality suggestions as to what you can do.

[seanano]

How creative is your electrician? It sounds like you have a 120V circuit in the shop for lights and another circuit with a 120V outlet. If they are on different phases of the incoming 240V you could use the hot legs from each and get 240V. With 15 amp breakers that will get you approximately 2.9 KW continuous power (20% de-rating for continuous loads). Even if they are on the same phase, there is a good possibility you can rearrange the breakers to move one of the circuits to the other phase. Switch out all your lights on that circuit with LED bulbs if you haven't already done so to ensure you have as much power available for the lathe as possible.

As for the lathe recommendation, if you are wanting to take the heaviest cut possible, get the biggest one you can. If there isn't much in the way of used machines near you, I think you could come in under $6000 for a retrofit on a new 12x36 or 13x40. I picked up a new 13x40 3 or 4 years ago for under $3000 and was thinking along the following lines:

- 1.8KW servo and drive for the spindle (DMM) - $720 + shipping - runs off 120 or 240
- Axis motors / drives / power supply - $500 for stepper based system (automation technologies) or $1000 for servo based system (DMM)
- For reference, microkinetics uses 1275 and 750 oz in steppers on their 12x36/13x40 CNC lathes
- ballscrews and bearings - $500
- Control - LinuxCNC with Mesa cards - $200
- PC - low power J1900 fanless with SSD - $250
- Miscellaneous hardware - $500 (always more than you think)

With a setup like this, you should be able to run it on either a single 240V 15 amp circuit or on 2 120V 15 amp circuits without issue (spindle drive gets dedicated circuit, everything else on other circuit).