8 station lathe Turret

[ruzzie]

I have connected my turret up to Mach3 and gave it a run and I think it will do the job nicely.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMZSoJxHEDU&feature=youtu.be[/ame]

 

[blighty]

awesome!

have to make one of these my self one day......

any chance of having a look see of your M6 file

 

[ruzzie]

I used a M6 file I found on the mach3 Forum https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=25198.0
It wouldn't work at first but after a bit of trouble shooting I found the problem was an extra "C" in the deactivate command.

 

[blighty]

I used a M6 file I found on the mach3 Forum https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=25198.0
It wouldn't work at first but after a bit of trouble shooting I found the problem was an extra "C" in the deactivate command.

thanks, i'll have a look at that in a year or two when i get round to building mine.

in the mean time, do you have any pics of the build?

 

[ruzzie]

I can never remember to take photo while I'm machining but I have some of the finished parts
I found a picture of an early turret design, a 6 station version which I made 6 yrs ago and is know just sitting on the shelf.
I fired up the cylindrical grinder, first time in around 3 yrs since it was last used to grind the shaft. I had planned on a timing belt to index the turret, but I found a 5:1 worm reduction so I used it.
I just need to put a homing switch on it and its all done. I will try and remember to take some pictures when I'm putting the leadscrews on the lathe.
Lathe is an EMCO V8

 

[blighty]

nice bit of work there.

was this your own design? from your pics it seems less complicated from others i have seen.

I just need to put a homing switch on it and its all done

not seen homing switches on other turrets, but i have always thought why not. you cant relay on the fact that the stepper will always land on a full step when you first power it on. or maybe the others just haven't said anything bout having a homing switch.

i did see one design that has a bit of slop in the drive, so the stepper would move it into position and as it retracted the splines would line the head up. the slop would take out the few +- step loss in the stepper. this meant you don't need a homing switch.

 

[ruzzie]

The homing switch is more of a safeguard so that mach3 and the turrets tool both correspond.Guaranteed one day for some reason they won’t match and bang.
I modified an Emco turret design I found online, I changed it so I need a 1mm shim to bring the tipped tools on centre by doing this I can still use toolsteel that hasn’t been ground away too much