Hello All,
As you mini-lathers probably know, the mini-lathes supplied by Micro-Mark, Harbor Freight, Grizzly, Homier and others are all made by the SIEG company in China. Sieg paints them to spec for the retailers and does some customization, but basically, these lathes come from here: http://www.siegind.com/Products/blackred_lathe.htm
My thread involves getting a decent CNC kit for these lathes. I don't even mind buying motors and making brackets myself, and buying a separate controller. These lathes don't have ballscrews, and the stock screws aren't real smooth, so oversizing the motors or gearing them down would be a good thing to discuss. It would be nice if someone has an alternate solution to hanging a big stepper motor off the tiny little cross-slide on these little lathes.
Also, I'm thinking about automating the tailstock for automated drilling and am looking for ideas on how to best motorize the tailstock.
Happy Turning,
John.