[jkeyser14]

What precision level are those bearings rated at? I'm just curious as to what sort of accuracy you are shooting for.

[arie kabaalstra]

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

I think that a "labyrint" (as it is called in the Netherlands) will do just that..
if you have a "collar on the spindle, any coolant will be swept off, when you put a ring around it, any fluid will just flow to the bottom, and back into the machine

[will gilmore]

nice job so far. im interested in how you make your spindle, especially how you keep it oriented properly in relation to the axes.

[pminmo]

Wow!

[rhino]

Any Progress??

[JH-Q]

Yes, i have done a bit of work on it. The spindle is now almost ready and the main frame for the lathe will be welded this week. Also i ordered a ballscrew for Z-axis, it is 31mm in diameter, got 5mm pitch and is 600mm long.

[WilliamD]

Beautiful! I love your lathe!

[JH-Q]

The frame is now welded and looks really good!
The welding was done by my former classmate, who is a talented welder. I asked him to do it as my welds aren't that good.

[romihs]

JH-Q,

Impressive job you have done there!

I'll be watching this thread!

Regards

Sandi

[JH-Q]

Z-axis ballscrew is here!

Diameter: 31mm
Pitch: 5mm
Lenght: 600mm
Cost: ~120€ including shipping and customs (85$ buy-it-now bargain)

The screw looks precicion ground and moves incredibly smoothly. Also i didn't notice any backslash on the ballnut.

[romihs]

JH-Q,

Where did you order that ball screw from? ebay?

Regards

Sandi

[ataxy]

nice ballscrew

[mog5858]

wow i am now going to be fallowing u as well

[the4thseal]

So did you mention what the spec on the spindle bearings was? And ...o..yea... great job!!!

[FPV_GTp]

JH-Q,

Where did you order that ball screw from? ebay?

Regards

Sandi

HI JH-Q , i second that question , " Where did you order that ball screw from? "

do you have a website that has a direct link to the supplier ?

nice work JH-Q , very impressive , the way the CNC_lathe is progressing , you will just up the workmanship stand by 1000% , makes it very hard for us old timers

cheers

[JH-Q]

The ballscrew was bought from ebay, i waited almost half a year waiting for suitable one come up for sale.

Spindle bearings are some chinese brand, but they claim to handle 4300rpm with grease and 5000+ with oil lubrication. I'm going to set the mechanical max. spindle speed to 3200-3300rpm and electronically limit it to 3000rpm. I didn't find any accuracy datasheets but i hope they are accurate enough.

The frame is now machined, i still have to do some burr removal and tapping on it, and then i will post some pics of it

[rot]

Best low budget cnc-projekt I have seen!
Everyday I´m looking if there is somthing new.

[JH-Q]

Here is the updated cad-drawing.

The movements are now decided, X axis will be around 75mm (150mm in diameter) and Z around 300mm.

[RotarySMP]

Great project.

Have you encorporated the coolant system, and coolant/swarf drain flows into the design?

Do'nt forget the enclosure design. I found that the enclosure was one of the biggest advantages of CNC'ing my listtle lathe at home.

[RotarySMP]

Do you have an estimate of what it will end up weighing? Looks like a lot of steel