> <speaker_2_d...@yahoo.com> wrote: > >> Now that I'm making parts on my Bridgeport, I'm getting greedy. I want to >> make gears. I want to make more complex parts. I want a 4th stage. I'm >> thinking of just using a small lathe that I retrofit with one of my spare >> steppers and clone the bridgeport stepper controller just to keep things >> constant. >> >> I'm interested in all your thoughts esp if you've taken the A axis plunge >> as to what is the best direction to head in A lathe is used by one of the machine outfits, not Navakon, but the other one, I can't recall their name at the moment.
But, the lathe may not be the most ideal solution. Using gear cutters, they will turn in the horizontal plane. To cut helical gears, you need to have the axis of the A axis inclined relative to the horizontal. Universal dividing heads have a swivel that allows the axis to point up or down. Then, the tailstock can be raised or lowered to reach the end of the arbor. You tilt the A axis to match the helix angle. Of course, you could mount the lathe on spacer blocks to accomplish the same. Jon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Make an app they can't live without Enter the BlackBerry Developer Challenge http://p.sf.net/sfu/RIM-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
