[MynamesKenny19]

Ahhhh, okay. Thanks for the kind replies man, I'm a noob. I'd like to cnc my Taig lathe as well, but it's a slow process for me to acquire the parts I need. The way you did yours seems a LOT simpler than the one here:

Taig Micro Lathe CNC Conversion

Sorry, not trying to copy your entire setup, just your leadscrew

[Punisher_67]

Ahhhh, okay. Thanks for the kind replies man, I'm a noob. I'd like to cnc my Taig lathe as well, but it's a slow process for me to acquire the parts I need. The way you did yours seems a LOT simpler than the one here:

Taig Micro Lathe CNC Conversion

Sorry, not trying to copy your entire setup, just your leadscrew

Kenny you can copy anything you want my friend - I am only happy to help in any way I can - for being a supposed nob you are doing very nice job on your conversion......:wave:. Is that your website.....Jeez there is some great ideas there thanks for the link .

[MynamesKenny19]

Haha nope, I sure wish it was mine though! Nahh, it's a site I found while searching for "cnc taig lathe" online. Thanks for helping out though man, I appreciate it! I'll start a thread here when I have most of the parts I need for a conversion, that way it doesn't take ages. I have 2 nema 17Y4 motors but they have 110 oz/in of torque, I'm not sure if thats enough. I got them out of an old flatbed scanner I found at the junkyard, they still work too!

[Punisher_67]

Haha nope, I sure wish it was mine though! Nahh, it's a site I found while searching for "cnc taig lathe" online. Thanks for helping out though man, I appreciate it! I'll start a thread here when I have most of the parts I need for a conversion, that way it doesn't take ages. I have 2 nema 17Y4 motors but they have 110 oz/in of torque, I'm not sure if thats enough. I got them out of an old flatbed scanner I found at the junkyard, they still work too!

Kenny I think 110 oz/in should work good

[Punisher_67]

Ok here is the video of one of the twins in action

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTaiG_cs178]CNC TAIG COUPLER MOVIE.avi - YouTube[/ame]

[acidcustom]

Thank you

The original lathe in post #1 and the CNC mill both have a 2hp ac/dc treadmill motor that uses a variable a/c control for RPM , The mills motor I had the center casing chromed , The a/c controler can be bought on ebay for $20 . The new lathes have a 32 volt dc motor that will take 110ac through a voltage regulator and a rectifier block . I will probably never get close to full power with these since I never have with the old lathe .

The new lathe motors were from a machine at work that was 20 some years old , I completely stripped them down and machined the front and rear face plates and painted the center section black . Apon taking them apart for observation they were extreemly well built and would easily take the task on with ease

Here is where I am now with the CNC twin

What was the controller and treadmill motor you use on the mill I have been looking to power up my Taig cnc and have a 130v dc motor but no controller

thanx john

[Punisher_67]

Hello John

this is the controler I use , they are under many catagories on ebay . The motor I got from a surplus store here in Canada called Princess auto .

Variable Speed Controller Hand and Body Wand Vibrator | eBay

[NFornalski]

Hi Peter,

First off your shop, machines, and parts are absolutely beautiful! The attention to design and detail you put forth is inspiring, and thank you for sharing.

I have been working on a plan for a Taig lathe to CNC conversion and the design that is on the top of the stack right now very much resembles your manual electric configuration. In the interest of keeping this project's complexity and cost down I have been exploring the possibilities of utilizing the installed rack and pinion gear assembly for this CNC conversion. Since you happen to have both a lead screw and gear driven configuration I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on this. I have to admit thought I'm not familiar with a manual electric setup. What is the basis for driving the machine? Is it a CNC capable machine strictly run with MDI, or is there another means of controlling it?

Thanks,

Nick

[Punisher_67]

Hello NFornalski

Thanks for the nice comments I am anal about it looking as good as possible .

On your first question between the leadscrew and pinion gear assembly for me they work equally and are about the same speed machining . the pinion setup was far more easier to build and setup at least for me , the math for the steps was quite easy also considering Mach3 has a application on the settings page that will calculate the exact steps you need ( set steps per inch ) . For the leadscrew setup I used the jib and leadscrew from the taig mill so parts are readily available .

The manual lathe setup uses a hobby battery charger to vary the voltage to the two axis motors , enclosed is a picture of the new motor setup and the switch mount to control the whole enchilada . I can vary the voltage from zero to 32 volts since the charger uses a step up transformer inside bumping up from the 12 volt power supply . Instead of cranking it by hand I wanted a more smoother and consistent running setup but with manual controls .

Feel free to ask for any other help or closeups of anything built

[bjm323]

What did you do about cross slide backlash?

[Punisher_67]

I haven't done anything yet but am leaning to go this direction , just scroll down and you will see the spring setup here - simplistic but effective

Taig Micro Lathe CNC Conversion

[NFornalski]

Thanks for the clarification on that.

In regards to the manual electric configuration again. Is the anti-backlash gear really accomplishing anything not directly engaging the rack itself? It seems that this will only address the backlash between the stepper gear and the anti-backlash gear, but not for the backlash between the rack and pinion gear.

Do I have this right?

[Punisher_67]

You are correct in that assumption - but the rack can be set with the eccentric bushing to be very close in tolerances . for my applications if its out a bit on the CNC rigs its a minor issue . all of my close tolerance work is done on the manual stepper lathe where I have more control . Even the anti backlash gear could be eliminated if you set the gear lash close enough on a regular gear .

[NFornalski]

Right, the eccentric bushing. I hadn't considered it's adjustment.

[acidcustom]

Hello John

this is the controler I use , they are under many catagories on ebay . The motor I got from a surplus store here in Canada called Princess auto .

Variable Speed Controller Hand and Body Wand Vibrator | eBay

Thanx for that Peter
I will be looking at gwtting one after Xmas

john

[Punisher_67]

This is the absolute final product , a complete CNC + manual over electric Taig lathe work bench . Please excuse the carpet I don't know where on earth the previous owners bought that or what would inspire a carper maker to come up with such a hideous color design option .

[the4thseal]

it looks like there is a stepper connected to a servo for the spindle. Does that cause a problem with the stepper motor sending ac current back to the drives? Thoughts?

[Punisher_67]

it looks like there is a stepper connected to a servo for the spindle. Does that cause a problem with the stepper motor sending ac current back to the drives? Thoughts?

There isn't - Sorry where do you see that

[the4thseal]

in picture 5 of 6 i thought the spindle motor and what looks like a stepper seem to both have the ability to turn the spindle. If not what is the stepper motor doing? Is it a stepper?

[Punisher_67]

Ok I see whats going on and a little bit of an optical illusion - here is a better look at a different angle - that is the stepper for the leadscrew