[Dman65]

I hope this is the right place to post this. This lathe is on sale at my local Harbor Freight for $399 and I have a coupon for 20% off which would make it about $320.

I wanted to find out if it is worth that price and whether or not it can be successfully converted to be a CNC lathe.

I know I have read that the lathe is just so-so by itself as far as its accuracy, but it seems like if converting to CNC the accuracy of the final instrument is really going to be dependent on the railings and drive that you automate. Or do you generally use the drives that already exist and somehow connect them to stepper motors?

Thanks for any information.

[jalessi]

Dman65,

The biggest enhancement for a CNC conversion would be the addition of ballscrews do to inherent anti backlash properties.

Microstepping will increase the resolution.

See the link below for the motor mount conversion.

http://jfettigmachines.com/

Jeff...

[blades]

Out of the box, the lathe is not in it's prime. Depending on your experience level, understanding of machinery, and tools on hand, you can definately dial-in the accuracy of it. It is a $400 lathe, so it's not like a $40,000 Jig Bore. That being said, it's a really decent hobby machine, and at $320 (which is what I paid for mine), it's a great deal.

Take a look at my thread titled "7x10 Project Started", which shows but 1 method of how to do a simple CNC conversion. The project is temporarily stalled until I get my Gecko 540 controller, but mechanically it's pretty much complete.
Jalessi is right about ball screws, it's certainly the best way to go, but it's also not absolutely necessary either. I personally wouldn't go to too much expense putting ball screws on it, because you can easily spend as much as the lathe itself cost. Ballscrews will remove the backlash, but won't improve the linear accuracy or stability. That being said, ballscrews are still at the top of the list of serious and worthwhile mods, assuming the expense is not an issue.
I am extremely happy with my 7x10. I haven't done a great deal of work with it, but It's perfectly proportioned for what I want. Not too heavy, not too light. I honestly don't have any plans of what I will use the lathe for once my conversion is complete, as the lathe and conversion itself is my hobby.

[Dman65]

Thanks for the response guys. I may go ahead and buy it tomorrow.

Based on the jfettigmachines.com site, the only thing you really need to do is mount the stepper motors on the existing controls. That seems like it should be pretty straightforward.

Blades, you should program your lathe to cut some V collars to press roller skate bearings into making V-bearings. I imagine you could sell a few.