[Galane]

Since I bought a Monoprice Select Mini 3D printer, my custom build hasn't gone anywhere. Thus I have the Arduino and RAMPS etc available for other uses.

I picked up a Unimat SL1000 lathe and am thinking about converting it into a mini CNC lathe for making small things, including custom small screws and bolts. A pair of NEMA 17 motors will do fine, should be able to make 3D printed mounts, reinforced with urethane resin filling. (Definitely should work, someone made un-reinforced 3D printed mounts for larger motors on a new South Bend 8K lathe.)

Is a RAMPS suitable for this? Can it accommodate a spindle pulse sensor for threading? I'm thinking of having the Arduino act as a motor controller, doing all the processing for curves etc while it gets instructions as a simple stream of g-code - like how a PLM2000 mill does with its internal servo controller and RS232 link.

Ideally, I'd like the control system to not end up larger than the lathe.

[109jb]

None of the Arduino based cnc firmware that I know if does spindle synchronization. This is a deal killer for a lathe.