Hey everybody, As some of you might know I have recently started a small business to make some high end rigid tube fittings named Illumitube. I currently make these using my 4 axis milling machine and that works good for now with small numbers. The parts however can be manufactured much more easily and faster on a lathe. Since this is not the first time that I have encountered this problem I have decided to build my own scratch build lathe. I have started designing this machine in June this year and I'm currently in the phase of making and collecting the required parts. The lathe will be a Turn-Mill machine meaning that it will be able to function as a lathe but also make squares using the mill. Furthermore the lathe part will be equipped with an automatic toolchanger to enable semi professional production. First I would like to start by giving you an overview of the design: The green parts have already been made so they are marked so i don't change the designs anymore. In the current design the lathe would have an effective range of about 1000mm with a maximum diameter of 100mm. The total dimentions will be: (lxhxb) 1400mm*600mm*750mm and according to solidworks it should weigh about 500-600kg. The frame will be made of steel. Well next up I have a couple of parts that have arrived already: The spindle: With a 100mm 4 claw: The spindle with the bearings(1x80mm and 1x72mm) The harmonic drive(for the toolchanger) And the last parts are the green marked parts which will be the spindle housing with the servo motor mount: The last one also has one of the alu blocks that i will use to make the bearing housings. I have a lot of work to do on the Steel plates which I will probably do sometime this month or later This project will probably be finished somewhere next year because I still have to get some money to pay for the rest of the parts
I do hope so it is also the reason that i started with the steel of the spindle housing. It is the smallest part and also the the hardest to make/ has the lowest tolerances. btw sorry for the large pictures, was a wrong setting by accident.
