[edcross]

Hi, I have a FLA-300 4X4 3 axis wood router cnc, I would like to add a wood lathe. I know I will have to add another axis, what I would like to know, is there a company that sells an attachment to do this.

Thanks

Ed C

[pchfurniture]

Just posted that same question. Hope someone has some info. I'll keep you posted.

[sk8nmike]

Adding the Lath is the easy part, just find one that has a head shaft extenton out the back of it and attach a servo or stepper to it.

The next part is will your controller accept a 4th axis or can you use the X or Y axis to rotate

Last and hardest does your post processor work with the software to provide for wrapping the pattern or text on a round object?

[keebler303]

Are we talking about a rotary axis or a lathe spindle? Big difference.

Matt

[sk8nmike]

Not really, both preform the same function, one is off the shelf the other is custom..

[keebler303]

Rotary axis:
Slow Speed
Precise angular resolution
Able to do text, carving, or almost any other shape.

Lathe spindle:
High speed
Poor or no angular resolution
Can only do round things of various profiles.

The two are quite different in both hardware and software/Gcode. Of course you could make a rotary axis that serves both purposes but they are not even close to the same thing in general.

Matt

[sk8nmike]

if you go back and look you'll notice that the set-up I described had a stepper added to control indexing and slow rotation..

[keebler303]

What you described is a rotary axis. The OP asked for a "wood lathe". I think we can all agree that if he actually wants wood lathe functionality it would require a certain list of hardware, while if he wants rotary axis functionality the list would be quite different. Now if both functionalities are required, the lists will be combined and several components would serve the role in both cases.

Lathe functionality:
spindle
tailstock
drive motor (AC motor)
drive belt and pullies
motor speed control
tool holder to hold a stationary tool
can generate gcode even with CAM meant for a router

Rotary functionality:
spindle
tailstock
stepper or servo
stepper or servo drive
drive belt and pullies
need CAM with support for rotary axis to generate Gcode

So Ed, what is it you want to build?

Matt

[edcross]

I would like to do both.

[islaww]

I actually have a machine in testing that has been designed from the ground up to do both. Something that hopefully will work for guys that make a product where both lathe (high speed rotation) and indexing (slow, precise rotary motion) are both needed. Hope to sell it one day. Here are a few short vids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlr-...q1H5E9wEAzld2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPp1...q1H5E9wEAzld2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yzn...q1H5E9wEAzld2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-5_...q1H5E9wEAzld2Q

[islaww]

And here is my latest version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=126hNJ9CEi0

[TTalma]

That looks awesome, would you mind showing some more details of your build?

[islaww]

A few more refinements.. mostly in chip control:

https://youtu.be/4j_GFr0spSE

[islaww]

I have received a number of emails thru my YouTube page regarding plans or kits for this unit, which are not available. In the near future I am developing a kit that fits smaller machines, similar to the Jet 1221VS. This kit will be able to be adapted to most smaller lathes and will not include control software. It will use the standard 25 pin interface that is direct connect for LinuxCNC, Mach or WinCNC CNC control softwares. Adapter available for ShopBot.