Greetings everyone, High School Teacher from Florida here. We (my students and I) are not "Pros" but we have built a 1515, 1010, Root 3, RS 32, and a standard MPCNC. We want to build a Lathe before the school year ends. (June 2) We have plenty of C beam, hardware, electronics and other extrusion leftover from all previous builds. I also have a 220v 2.2KW Spindle w. VFD from another job that resulted in overkill! (1.5KW was plenty) We would like to carve round/square stock up to 6 in in diameter. Here are my questions: Is 6 in diameter too much? If acceptable, would a Nema 23 HT be capable of spinning the stock without burning out or should I go for a Nema 34 for the rotary Axis? Recommendations, Tips, Advise, Comments or Jokes highly appreciated? Thanks in advance! Respectfully Javier Manufacturing Teacher MSG (Ret) US Army
I have no issue with Nema23s on my rotary axis CNC, but I do use a 1 to 6 gear ratio. I made this one with almost all "off the shelf"" Openbuilds parts. There are just a couple of angled aluminum plates I cut for the side braces and of course, the rotary axis. You could easily do something similar since you have both a 1010 and a 1515. Also, as posted here: Adaptor Plates For Non-round Stock For A 3 Jaw Chuck If I were to do it again, I would get a 65mm chuck and save about $100. All I use it for is carving and these plates allow me to carve any shaped materials. As built, mine will carve up to 8 inches in diameter. If I were to cut out the bottom of the cabinet -- which was the original plan -- I could do over 1 inches.
Giarc, Thank you for the quick response. I told my students to study your design, as well as 3 other within the builds threads. The double gantry drew everyone's attention. Lets see what their final decision is. I have a "small" piece of C beam (510mm) that I was going to use to build the Z Gantry. Would that be too tall, or should I bring it down to 300mm? Thanks for the Idea for the expansion plate for the rotary. We were thinking about a similar solution but were wondering if it would hold and work like intended. It looks like it does! I already ordered the K12-100mm rotary. The 65mm was on back order and delivery stated more than a month from now. I will post pictures and make a build thread. Lets get this done! Respectfully Javier Manufacturing Teacher MSG (Ret) US Army
My z axis is 500 mm. I believe I just ordered a 500mm linear actuator from the OpenBuilds parts store. It helps to line up the x axis because it allows you to reach all the way to the table top. I then engraved a straight line on the table top with a v-bit to line the x axis tail stock fixture.
Giarc, Thanks for the advise and the v-line tip. Students are exited about the build. Photos will be posted in a few days. Respectfully Javier Manufacturing Teacher MSG(Ret) US Army
