[the1mavin]

Hello,

I am considering purchase of a Patriot VFD-CNC. Primary use will be gunsmithing, secondary would be motorcycle/automotive. Materials would be stainless and aluminum normally although I would like to do some titanium eventually.

I was wondering if anyone might help me with realistic expectations for the machine - primarily the lathe accuracy at around 12-18" from the chuck.

Thanks!

[bhurts]

If the lathe spindle has acceptable runout for your application then how you setup your part at that distance will determine the accuracy. Even if you have almost 0 runout at the spindle it will be much higher that far from the chuck. Whatever machine you use you will need to use a steady rest at that distance.
Find out what the runout is on the machine and decide if it will work for what you are doing before you buy anything. I don't know the requirements are for gunsmithing but I would think you would need to be able to get within .001 atleast and most likely .0005 or less would be more likely.


Ben

[the1mavin]

Ben,
Thanks for the reply. You are dead on regarding my needs - .001 would be "ok", but .0005 would be ideal. Any chance I can get these tolerances out of the Patriot VFD-CNC with proper set up and steady rest?

[bhurts]

The manufacturers specs say .0008 radial runout on the lathe spindle. That means you would have to spend a considerable amount of time getting things setup to stay below .001. That doesn't even take into account issues that may come with the chuck. I have not used this machine but from the specs they give which are probably fairly accurate of the machine I would say no way. It may be possible with the machine. They say it is for gunsmithing. I would still not try it. The machine tolerance is to close to your worst case tolerance. That's a bad combination.

Ben

[smallblock]

I've had 3 Shoptask/Shopmaster machines starting back n 1993. What you get out of them is pretty much related to your skill level and imagination. I've produced some nice work on auto related stuff and there are some gunsmiths using them as well. If you are thinking of a production machine capable of high tolerances and fast production, you will need to spend some serious money, but for a home gunsmith you should be able to do just fine. Here is a link to a guy who started his business with a Shopmaster.

GALLERY

[kstephendaniel]

For your Steady Rest requirement you could consider using ARMS Steady Rest from India.

ARMS Steady Rest are India's leading manufacturer and exporter of Hydraulic Steady Rests used in CNC lathes. They have our satisfied customers in India, USA and Finland.

ARMS Steady Rests are at par with international standards and very competitive in price. They can be used as replacement to any other make due to its unique design which enables interchangeability in mounting dimension. They can be used on any CNC make.

To see our catalog, please visit this link ARMS AUTOMATION : Hydraulic Steady Rest

To see the images of our Steady Rest manufactured by us please visit this link ARMS Hydraulic Steady Rests

K Stephen Daniel
[email protected]