Originally Posted by
Goodlett
@timshufflin,
I don't know much, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I think the Shopmaster is capable of all the operations that you mentioned, turning, threading, milling keyways, drilling, etc., but, I don't think there is any chance of completing all these operations in one set-up, hit cycle start, and walk away. There is no way to switch from lathe to mill as an automated task. Also the spindles do not index, so, a rotary table would be needed for that.
Please don't take it the wrong way as I not trying to be rude, but, you not having time for a learning curve and your neighbor being competent in Mach 3 is a bit of an unrealistic expectation for wanting a fully automated process. CNC machines are dumb, you must tell them exactly what you want them to do in exacting detail. Then add in tool wear and tolerances and things get extremely complicated very quickly. I'm not saying what you want can't be done, because, I'm sure it can. I just don't think the Shopmaster is the right tool for the job.
At a minimum, I think you need a machine with an Automatic tool changer or a turret lathe with live tooling.