Hell, I haven't even bought my new lathe yet and I'm already considering a cnc conversion for it. My plan is to make R/C car alloy wheels from 6082 aluminium, these are average 2.5" dia x 2" length. I feel the cnc would give me much greater design opportunities than the manual lathe, such as cutting a curved face. I have quite a few spares left over from my router project, so would like some advice. I have one 360 oz/in peak servo motor, which I think would be suitable for the Z axis, maybe geared down, but what is a "good speed" to shoot for on these small lathes cutting aluminium? As for the x-axis, I have a xylotex stepper driver board knocking around, but the only steppers I have are 116 oz/in, which will not be powerful enough. The board will handle 2.5Amps/phase, at 36v max, so I'm thinking a stepper in the 200-300 oz/in range for this axis. Again, what is a decent speed to aim for?
Lastly, I have never even seen a cnc lathe "in the flesh" so to speak, so are there some good articles on the net to act as a primer - anything from cutter selection to g-codes.
Many thanks, Jason.