The lathe may be the inexpensive part but it’s the hardest part to find at least it was for me. I really don’t remember when I started looking for something like this, but it has been years ago.
I believe a VFD is the easiest and cheapest way to go. Teco is a great brand, Seimens lack a user friendly interface. Stay clear of Eaton.
I've got a TECO 1/2hp gear motor I bought for my Lewis Shaper some years ago. It was easy to set up. Now all I have to do is actually MOUNT it!
I looked for a lathe for 34 years before I found one I could actually lay hands on and buy. HF 93212 7x10 Mini-lathe. 1973-2008. Then I spent several years trying to figure out why I couldn't produce anything really useful on it. Eventually the wife got tired of my griping, and told me to take another class. So I did. Found out that I wasn't able to measure things accurately. AKA "Screw loose in stick actuator." At least that's what we called it when I was an aircraft mechanic for Uncle Sam. A few hours with a Johansen block set and my calipers and micrometers, and suddenly I was getting good parts! A year or so ago, I traded in the 7x10 for a couple of Unimat micro-lathes that I'm in process of refurbishing. I got a Atlas TH42 in late 2015, but haven't used it much since I had access to the school machines until last May, when I finally finished my class. Been working on my house lately, so have not gotten to fix up my shop, or finish the refurb on the Uni's. There is a Smithy CB-1220XL 3-in-1 machine and a South Bend Heavy 10L also in need of refurbishment, and I've been acquiring bits and bobs to do those machines, also. Got to finish up the kitchen & water heater work, some caulking and wiring and such, install a new door frame such, and then I might have time to work on cars and the shop.
Doing brake rotors on a conventional lathe is a pain.
The special brake lathes are designed to do both faces at the same time so they are parallel. Not an easy set up on a tool room lathe.
cat headCat heads?
Man.....
I got my first taste of running a lathe in 9th grade, was working as a Tool & Die Apprentice before graduating high school, tested out of 1st year of apprenticeship schooling, and for the life of me, I am drawing a blank on the cat heads! Lol
Shop made 4 screw centering device on the outboard end of the tail stock
Used in conjunction with a 4 jaw chuck, dial indicators, and ground pins in the bore to get the bore of the barrel coaxial with the head stock
If you are putting on muzzle mounted accessory that the projectile passes through alignment is important when you cut the threads and shoulder.
Cat heads?
Man.....
I got my first taste of running a lathe in 9th grade, was working as a Tool & Die Apprentice before graduating high school, tested out of 1st year of apprenticeship schooling, and for the life of me, I am drawing a blank on the cat heads! Lol
Be sure and research the features the VFD will support. The Teco unit Clough42 installed on a smaller lathe was very interesting. He really did a a great job of breaking down the features and tuning it. Here is a link of one of the videos of the 8 or so he made on it. The Teco preformed very well.
Thanks for the link, I watched the series. He amazes me with his knowledge and ability to communicate it off the top of his head.
Is there a way to convert the motor using the VFD and keep all the other lathe functionality the same? Without the need to connect the lathe controls through the VFD?
Edit: after starting the linked video. I need to watch it again.
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Yes, by using the VFD simply as a phase converter. But you loose all the functionality that the VFD that makes it so much better.
you might get by with slight frequency changes, but I imagine all of the controls/relays you have now are using a single phase 120/240 coils. So you wouldn’t want to change the frequency more than 10-15% +-. You could run the controls off the single phase input supply to get around some of that. But once you start rewiring, I’d go all the way.
That's been my dream to get a lathe. I was ready to buy but then we decided to move so I didn't want to have to move it.
Watched the vidio , the guy knows his stuff.....sure seems like an over-kill to me , just to run 1 lathe.....yrs ago i ran my whole shop on a 40 hp 3 phase motor.....U could pick up a smaller motor say 5 -7 hp 3 phase , wire it with two 110 lines giving you 220 volts , now run 3 lines & ground to a 3 phase fuse box , u can use another single phase motor to run the 3 phase motor 2 bring it up to rpm's by simply putting a belt from 1 shaft to the other....then throw the switch on the fuse box .... now you have 3 phase power at the box by way of your 3phase motor , now the single phase motor can be shut down by kicking off the belt , the 3 phase motor will continue to run generating 3 phase power (the dead leg will give 95% power) you can now run up to triple the amount of hp as your 3 phase motor.....this can also be done by using a capacitor on the 3 phase motor , it will kick the motor hard enough to start it (a nice vthing to have) i also had a 7.5 hp that had the capacitor it was a convience & worked well....
i mounted the 40 & a 1 hp on a wooden skid below the fuse box ....
i'm sure you can find info on this method in popular mechanics or the internet , it's not diffucult to do at all......attached find pic of my mfg. facility......i had many lathes , auto screw machines , cnc equipment.....power via this method never gave me a problem plus using 110 lines avoided paying for 3 phase power.......
