Slant bed CNC Lathe

[fvfdrums]

So I have broken the back of the flat bed router/mill I have been working on which feels like forever and kind of has been but its turning out great and although still things to do its on the home stretch at the very least. (http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/4572-New-CNC-Mill-on-the-horizon)

One of the projects I wanted to undertake after this was to build a similar scale slant bed lathe. I used to have a 3 axis Churchill Matrix beast of a machine which was fantastic and allowed me to make an awful lot of useful parts in repetition so I am looking to replicate something similar but on a much smaller scale than that thing!

Current plans are to buy a pre made spindle because my lathe is not up to machining to the tolerances I need for making one right now (until that gets replaced ;) )

I have been looking into the "epoxy Granite" / composite construction methods for some time now and I am very tempted to look down this route for this machine I think it would certainly be possible to make a good base and headstock for the machine using this technique what do people think?

I would certainly want to be producing a tool changing turret and have seen plenty of designs out there that seem successful enough.

So basically I am back to the drawing board only right now, until the other machine is done I will not be working on this other than in a design sense however I would like to get the design up and running so once I can make some parts using the mill (mould etc) I have something to work from!

As ever all inputs are appreciated

Thanks

Francis

[Ger21]

You might want to check this one out if you haven't seen it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1IDHIcyHLY

He used to have a ton of pics on his website, but it looks like all the links are now dead.

[fvfdrums]

Thanks, yes I saw that lathe a couple of years back very nicely made however I want something that's probably a bit stiffer as I need to be able to machine more than plastics.

However it's very nicely designed I have to say.

[dazza]

ive kept bits back to do one myself in the future ,a small gang tool affair. they do lazer cutting and water jet at work although one of the formen told me not to expect special treatment there as the gaffers an arse so that might be a job I throw on here.
plan is to make a base out of plate with lots of triangular plate gussets throughout..heat treated then the face ground for hiwin rail and a head stock I have..and filled with a resin/crete mix

[fvfdrums]

I have been investigating some of the options as far as the main head spindle goes and there are a fair few out there to choose from. I have not had a chance to get on Solidworks and plan out a rough size but I imagine it will be determined by a component like this anyway so makes sense to decide on the sort of size of spindle I go for and then design around there.

Is there a calculation to determine the overall weight a lathe should be based on the swing over the bed - I dont know why this came to mind but I am sure I read it in my travels.

[Boyan Silyavski]

I see that as a more viable attempt in the future, than making a lathe. The build, basic principles and updates are well documented at the zone. Maybe even combine that with the turret from the above video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlQgMk6te_Y&feature=iv&src_vid=295Phu8GnjE &annotation_id=annotation_409160