Thor, or should that be Zeus?

[Chaz]

Ill post some updated pics of Thor this weekend as I complete the new table and a few bits.

I have also bought a lathe (another thread) that I was going to convert into CNC or build a new one. I then started to think of a 4th axis for Thor which I could use the same headstock for. Perhaps not good as as dividing head however this then opened up a bit of a Eureka moment this morning in the shower (one of the many places for inspirational thinking).

Here's my thoughts.

Take the headstock, mount on Thor's table. Find a way to fit a motor and spin the headstock at lathe type speeds.

Create a new Mach 3 profile, I assume that that I can now assign different axis to different channels, using the CS Labs plugin. This means that my current X can become my new Z (for lathe use). I can then either use the current Z or Y to do the lathe X. This will depend on where / how I can mount lathe tools.

For the lathe tooling, this needs to be mounted on the current spindle mount plate. I can move the current spindle and aim to have more than one 'device' hanging off the main Z plate. From this - I can either try and direct mount some tools however the best approach is likely to mount a turret of sorts. This will allow tools that profile and face to be used, as well as anything that needs to drill or bore.

Any reason this might not work or is an obvious bad idea?

Thanks

[Chaz]

Ill take that as a no then ;p

In terms of Acceleration, how much would be considered good or 'too much'?

[Davek0974]

Acceleration needs to be as high as it can take. Acceleration is more important than speed.

[Chaz]

Acceleration needs to be as high as it can take. Acceleration is more important than speed.

Thanks. I had it set to 1500, then down to 750 which is too slow. The machine seems OK with it being 2000 which Ill try for a while and see.

[m_c]

Ill take that as a no then ;p

It is doable, however, the big question I'd ask is, how much effort is it going to be to swap between lathe and router?

[Chaz]

It is doable, however, the big question I'd ask is, how much effort is it going to be to swap between lathe and router?

Understood. If the lathe tools / turrets are mounted to the right of the spindle, it could be as easy as just starting the correct Mach 3 profile, no other work needed.

[needleworks]

Have you ever checked out Cliffs Utube channel ? He does some cool stuff with gang tooling on his Tormach.

[Chaz]

Have you ever checked out Cliffs Utube channel ? He does some cool stuff with gang tooling on his Tormach.

Nope, checking now, thanks.

[Chaz]

So Ive finally gotten around to doing something 3D. Took Thor's hammer (Mjolnir) and then cut in half and milled it out. Looks like an anchor unfortunately.

However .....

1.5mm ballend mill, 24K RPM, 0.1mm stepover, scallop operation in Fusion 360, around 25 mins.

Normal camera pic and then two high res macro pics to show warts and all. From the naked eye the part looks good. Polishing / Finishing will improve it even further.

[Chaz]

Have you ever checked out Cliffs Utube channel ? He does some cool stuff with gang tooling on his Tormach.

And this works exactly as the idea I came up with for Thor. I need to look at implementation and the ease of moving the 4th axis off (and remounting accurately).