I have a maximat super11 which I really like. I want to cnc it. A built a wood cutting router from Joe's cnc plans a couple of yrs ago so I know steppers, wiring, Mach, gcode, cad, cam, breakout boards etc etc, I just don't know how to apply it to a lathe. My plan would be to replace the motor with a 3phase with a vfd, remove the feed gearbox, carriage, half nuts, compound rest, lead screw etc etc and install a ballscrew for carriage feed and for the cross slide. I am an experienced machinist and can fab up whatever required. What I don't know is the following:

How do you synchronize the spindle with the feed for threading? Is that done through Mach?

I guess you need an encoder on the spindle, do you need a specific type of stepper controller to receive the encoder input?

What is the convention for axis names on a lathe?

Is there a thread that is cnc lathes for noobs?

Any information, direction to websites etc much appreciated.

Scott in Montreal