[JH-Q]

For the spindle, i'm trying to get a ready casting, shaft and tapered roller bearings from quantum/optimum machinery. If i cannot get them, it will produce lots of thinking..

[Willyb]

Excellant project. Keep up the good work. I am converting a Mill to CNC and would like to build a Lathe when finished.

Regards

Willy

[MrBean]

Add me to the list of followers.
You've made a great start. I'm looking forward to seeing how this project develops.
Nice work.

Regards Terry.

[JH-Q]

Hardware worth of 50€ came from www.ruuvi.net webstore. Also i got a 24v / 3.5A transformer which will be used for coolant pump power supply.

[thkoutsidthebox]

WOW! Nice. Another follower!

[Adobe Machine]

I must compliment you: Very good design, good craftsmanship..Is the age listed correctly ? 17 ? You will make a good engineer in the future..You are already doing work that most adults can not do.

What type of school do you go to ? Are the aprenticeship programs long ? Do they still combine their Mechanical Engineering degree with a Master Machinests certificate ?...

We have graduated Mechanical Engineers that do not know one end of Lathe from another..and certinly, could not design / build what you are doing..

Keep up the good work !

Adobe (old as dirt)

[FPV_GTp]

hi JH-Q

Nice work definitely , seems you have access to some cnc machine considering the finish work from some of the pillar blocks and other basketry i can see on this thread

Keep up the good work

Adobe Machine Happy 21st Birthday nice work on your " Lathe " thread also Adobe

cheers

[JH-Q]

Yes, my age is correct. I am studying mechanical engineering and my profession will be machinist. It takes three years to graduate and it is just the basics, not the master machinist stuff.

As for most students in our class, they aren't that intelligent. Few even don't know how to put a cutting tool in lathe, some put it on its side! (insert towards ground) You should have heard the sound a knurling tool made at ~1100rpm!

Yes, i have access to CNC lathes and medium size VMC at school but all of the parts you have seen this topic are manually machined. Just steady hand and good cutting tools. My secret in machining aluminium is using Sinol/Marinol (denaturized ethanol) especially when milling and tapping, it makes wonders in surface finish and chip forming! I haven't ever clogged an end mill with aluminium during my 1½ years of milling experience.

[arie kabaalstra]

I like your design, an all steel construction, and the revolver head looks the business.. a bit like my mini-VMC, the design shows that the designer knows a thing or 2 about what he is building..

I don't know which ball-rail you are going to use, but Rexroth has ball-rails with the holes at the bottomside, so you can screw them on from underneath, the top surface therefore hasn't got het Counterbore-bolt holes so no chip is ever going to ruin your Runnerblocks..that's the kind i use on my design, 'cos i dont want chips and dirt in my runnerblocks

[JH-Q]

Here comes the heavy metal! I bought about 63.5kg of steel plate which cost me 135€ with cutting. I'll get few 6m lenghts of steel maybe on the next week too. I also bought vibration dampeners for the machine. These were a bit expensive for me at 7€ each.. i hope they are good quality. My rails are all THK brand.

[JH-Q]

Much progress on this project. I cut the steel for frame and machined one of the big steel plates with VMC @ school. It took a little under two workdays and there was around 3kg (6.6lbs) of chips removed. I also bought X-axis linear rails which are "THK HSR20", 400mm long and i will shorten them to 340mm. Next major step will be cut rest of the steel for frame. weld them and then maybe the most important phase of the build, which is machining the lathe bed. The square tubing in the last pic is just for supporting stuff during test-fit, actually they will be part of the table under the lathe.

[arie kabaalstra]

Looks good!!

From where i can see, the milling machine you used was set up properly, it's a nice smooth surface..

i think you'll be able to machine within 0.05 mm over the entire distance..

this machine is going to work out well..

[Willyb]

Hi JH-Q

Great job on your CNC Lathe build. Really like your Design. I have a couple of questions if you don't mined.

(1) What size of Chuck are you planning to use?

(2) What size Spindle Motor are you planning to use?

(3) If you had used Gang Tooling, what would your X Axis Travel have been?

(4) Did you ever entertain the idea of building your Lathe with a Vertical Bed for better swarf handling?


General question.
(1) What are the disadvantages of a Lathe with a Vertical Bed?


Thanks for your help with my questions and good luck with the rest of your build.

Best regards
Willy

[JH-Q]

Here is some answers:

1. 100mm most likely. 3-jaw and 4-jaw self centering + maybe collet chuck later on.

2. Haven't fount suitable one yet, i asked an automation recycling company about one and will know friday this week if they have any.

3. 300mm? haven't thought about it.

4. Yes, i have been thinking about it but not very much. As i think it now, it might have been a good idea as the linear rails are 4-way loadable and their orientation doesn't matter functionality.

One disadvantage i can think of is much more difficult assembly of the machine as gravity doesn't help at all. There may be much more of disadvantages but none which come in my mind now.

[arie kabaalstra]

i think the biggest disadvantage of a vertical bed setup is gravity pulling the X-axis down, this can be solved with:

A: a bigger motor to drive the X-axis
B: a counterweight, which can be mounted behind the bed..

but this gives a higher inertia to the X-axis, which will adversely affect Rapid feeds. ( more mass to speed up )

a 45 degree angle is widely used as a good compromise between Vertical and horizontal setup.. ( i'd personally go for 45 degrees if i'd ever build a lathe that is )

anyway, this project is well thought about..a nice piece of engineering..

[Willyb]

Hi JH-Q & arie kabaalstra

Thanks for your help with my questions. Yes, you certianly have done a very good job engineering this CNC Lathe. I wasn't suggesting that you should change anything. It's fine the way it is and the Rotary Tool Changer will work just fine. Keep us up to date and take lots of Pictures.

Willy

[JH-Q]

I received a nice lot of toolholders and carbide inserts for being in an exhibition working with Haas VMC. These are going to be really good tooling for my CNC lathe as i get the shanks milled smaller.

The tooling consists of:

2pcs seco roughing holder PWLNR2020K06 one of these is a bit broken
-8pcs inserts for these

Seco face roughing holder MTFNR2020K16
one unused insert

Seco threading holder CER2020K16
-9pcs inserts for metric 1.75 thread

Seco profiling holder SDJNR2525M11
-one worn insert

Seco cut-off holder CFMR2525M04
-5pcs inserts with 2mm radius.

Ceratizit Ecocut 14mm EC14R-2.25D 07 (almost unused!)
-8pcs inserts

Ceratizit 16mm end mill for high speed machining (new!)
2kpl inserts

[bryanrabb]

sweet work, I hope you will upload video when it is finished

[JH-Q]

As the company i asked for spindle, didn't ansver my e-mails acceptably, i will build my own spindle. The advantages are:
-heavier duty bearings
-bigger bore
-better cooling

So i went ahead and bought 50x82x23mm taper roller bearings from ebay at 30$/2pcs shipped to door which was a great price!
The bearings are rated for 4300rpm with grease and even more with oil. That is enough for me as i am thinking of top speed of around 3000rpm.

I also included a drawing of the spindle itselft which i will machine at school. Sorry about the bad quality of the pic.

Sure, i will upload lots of video when finished

Any ideas what kind of cover i need to prevent coolant from getting to spindle bearings and still allowing rotation?

[davereagan]

The drawings are cool, but the pictures of parts made and bought are really inspiring. Please post more when you have them!!!

Dave