andy this may help your z if you cant get a ball crew on it http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/43645-Making-Acetal-leadscrew-nuts-the-easy-way?highlight=acetal+nuts
i have done this to my mill and like it alot On Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 9:16 AM, Dave <e...@dc9.tzo.com> wrote: > On 6/12/2013 11:35 AM, andy pugh wrote: > > I accidentally bought another lathe from eBay. > > It is beautifully made, in the 1920s, with no regard to cost > > practicality or logic. One of these: > > http://www.lathes.co.uk/rivett/page2.html > > > > It isn't quite as nice as the one in the pictures, and has no > > changewheels or screwcutting box. (imagine is stops short at the back > > of the headstock). > > > > Should I CNC it? > > > > If I do, I would have to do it sympathetically. (My other hobby is > > vehicles from the same era). > > As the entire cross-slide pops off at the flick of a lever, it is not > > difficult to imagine a slot-on CNC cross-slide, possibly incorporating > > a tool turret. In this respect the conversion is easier than the > > Chinese lathe I converted. > > > > However, the Z-axis poses something of a quandry. There is no way at > > all to swap the leadscrew to a ballscrew. It sits snugly in a > > semicircular slot in the bed. > > So, perhaps I could mount a ballscrew on a bracket at the back. Then I > > could slot-on the CNC top-slide and bolt it to the nut, and if I > > wanted to use the lathe in manual mode I could unbolt it, swap back to > > the manual toolslide, and resort to craftsmanship. > > > > Or, I could just convert it to an electric leadscrew with an Arduino > > and sell it on as a working lathe. > > > > I do think it needs to be mounted on an oak cabinet like the original > > Rivett ones. I think that looks great :-) > > (Then flat-belt drive to a motor/vfd mounted underneath) > > > > > > I think that a lathe has to have a power feed on the Z to be useful, so > I would add that. And that is pretty much all I would do to it. > > You may end up selling that lathe to a tool collector sooner or later. > There are a number of them here. > > Dave > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > Build for Windows Store. > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- We conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government." - U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, March 9, 2007 jeremy youngs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: Build for Windows Store. http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
