"Bolt-on" CNC retrofit thoughts
Hiya guys, I have just bought a 1963 Colchester Chipmaster lathe which would be perfect for CNC retrofit. Unfortunately my father has grand designs for building steam engines and such in the evenings
I am therefore trying to think of an "easy on, easy off" cnc attatchment.
Now this lathe comes with a big ol' taper turning attatchment which has it's own leadscrew and can be hooked up in about 10 minutes (Photos will come if thee is any interest in this thread). So I am thinking of using this attatchment, hooking a motor to it for a removable x-axis. One thing I need to point out here is that the current leadscrew has a backlash of 0.15mm - plenty accurate for the RC alloy wheels I make, so no need for ballscrews at present. One thing I cannot figure out is what tpe of bearings are inside the attatchment, and whether they will hold up to the task. If not, I will simply use the leadscrew, but add new bearings. Any opinions would be greatly accepted, and plans for the z-axis will be posted shortly (I am working on them).
(Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)