I thought I would post some pics of my build, I started at the weekend. I am going to try to do the job at minimal cost and time. Budget is below £200, I hope to finish first version in a month, then make improvements from there.
I am a beginner, only metalworking as hobby for a year and most of my stuff is a botch (which I blame on the awful machine ))) .
I hope to post some pics, video, and maybe some text about my ideas and what I have done.
Don't expect too much, I am trying for an evolutionary approach, botch then improve.
Very quickly what I did this weekend:
1) wired up and installed variable frequency inverter for main motor.
2) made stepper mounting brackets for X, Y, and rotary table from 100x50x5mm alloy extrusion.
3) played with linux cnc emc ubuntu distribution.
4) tested pacsci stepper that I got from ebay.
5) tested some other stepper drivers.
6) butchered all the atx PSUs I have lying around (have heard switching psus are not good for stepper drivers but thought I'd give it a try anyway).
7) mounted most of the PSUs in an atx case.
8) thought about how to remove backlash in the lathe
9) butcher some HTD pulleys from a HP laserjet to connect steppers to lead screws
10) took loads of pictures and some video
May post some video when I get time though its not good so I may not bother.