Hi all, first post, new to the forum.
I'm currently a student at a local community college studying CADD/CAM and Machine Technology.
Anyway, I have this Harbor Freight/Central Machinery lathe/mill combo that is basically a metal lathe with a drill press above it. It runs 2 motors, one for the "mill" spindle and the other to run the main spindle/chuck on the lathe. X&Y for both machines are lead screw driven with handwheels.
I was curious if I may be able to manufacture some parts that would allow me to attach either stepper or servo motors to this machine to in effect have a full cnc lathe and mill in one. Additionally I am interested in adding a VERY SMALL rotary table w/ stepper in order to facilitate the potential for simple 4th axis work.
Ideas, comments, etc? I'm just at the formative phase of this project so any comments are appreciated. I can take photos of the machine if necessary also. Also curious if it is vital to run ballscrews or not. Seems from my research that the sherline lathes and mills run a leadscrew. As a note though, the backlash on this particular harbor freight machine is pretty sloppy.
Jason