Every conventional manual lathe is outside the realm of me and every mortals budget so I have no other choice but to build a lathe based off of a previous design that others have already made and built. I habe choosen this concrete lathe design made by openspurcemachinetools.org: https://opensourcemachinetools.org/wordpress/concrete-lathe/. It's primitive looking and it's main purpose is to serve communities in 3rd world countries who can't have access to conventional metal manufacturing equipment. I need help.
>>2877767>I'm too stupid to make enough money to buy a lathe but surely I'm smart enough to design and build my own :^)
>>2877767>Every conventional manual lathe is outside the realm of me and every mortals budgetWhat kind of 3rd world shithole do you live in that you can't afford an old lathe? I live in an absolute industrial desert with practically zero manufacturing around me and I have 6 lathes. 2 of them were given to me free, another was $250, and two more were $4-500 each. One was inherited from my old man. They're really not expensive if you keep an eye out in your area on online sales ads.
>>2877767>main purpose is to serve communities in 3rd world countries who can't have access to conventional metal manufacturing equipment
>>2877767>$400 for chink mini lathe>$500-$1000 for old industrial lathe>"surely it will be cheaper to get a million custom parts and new parts and assemble them into my own lathe"
>>2877767in which shithole do you live? Or do you have issues with space>Every conventional manual lathe is outside the realm of me and every mortals budgetI'm eastern euro and I have 2 lathes and 2 mills. You ought to be from some shithole like Uganda if you can't spare 400$ for a chink mini lathe, or you are too dumb to save up money, which also means you won't be able to build a machine like that. Do you even have the tools required? I'd consider making a concrete lathe a fun project, I guess it will probably eventually fall apart with vibrations and shocks from machining.
>>2877807>too dumb to save up moneymore like too autistic to earn any learn the difference
my boy alan the latest contender in the small tradition of people who build their own lathe and machine tools from scratch following the gingery design check him out he has a small cozy channel https://www.youtube.com/@HaveAGoAlan/videos
>>2877767>can't have access to conventional metal manufacturing equipmentthey do have hammers and anvils right? if they don't have machine equipment it's probably because there is no need for things that need machining
>>2877770clearly /diy/ isn't the board for you, consumerist faggot.
>>2877827>more like too autistic to earn any>learn the differenceAutistic people have no problem earning money. They just gotta use their tism in the right spot and they can make all the money they would ever need...
>>2877855>clearly /diy/ isn't the board for you, consumerist faggot.Did you make your computer, keyboard, monitor, router, and make all the circuit boards for each and solder your own electrical components to those circuit boards in order to type this absolute nonsense? Oh, I thought so. Some things are not worth "building from scratch"
>>2877861you gotta be good with people to earn money
>>2877864>you gotta be good with people to earn moneyI'm living proof that is a lie. I loathe being around 99% of people. I've made entire policy changes to my work flow and life to avoid dealing with people as much as possible.
>>2877863firstly computer systems are vastly more complex than pure mechanical tools like lathes secondly electronics slop is everywhere which makes them not bothering with compared to robust mechanical stuff which is rare
>>2877865that doesn't mean you aren't good with them
>>2877867>firstly computer systems are vastly more complex than pure mechanical tools like lathes secondly electronics slop is everywhere which makes them not bothering with compared to robust mechanical stuff which is rareSounds like something a consumerist faggot would say...
>>2877867I have doubts you could DIY metal-cutting blades and similar stuff. Those are expensive alloys.
>>2877867lmao this is what normies think. Electronics can almost always be repaired in DIY conditions, steel and cast iron not so much even in an actual metalworking workshop.There is a guy on YouTube making his own chip with thousands of transistors. There is 0 (zero) guys on YouTube casting their own DIY lathes in cast iron.
>>2877882talking about computer systems as a whole here yeah electronics, operating systems etc have been diy'd and a chip with only thousands of transistors is comparable to a hobby lathe with soft metal which a lot of people are doing
>>2877879you could, all you need to do is have access to a steel mill, and machine shop to make the steel you make into tools. Quite easy really, too bad OP is to poor to buy even the tungsten required.
>>2877879metal working lathes have existed for hundreds of years before alloyed tool steel existed. it was a miserable existence but not impossible
>>2877868NTA, you're projecting your retarded worldview onto an anon who you don't know anything about because you're too scared to come to terms with the fact that you're just too fucking stupid to make money. There are plenty of autistic people who can't into socializing at all that make money, but the difference is that they don't use their autism as an excuse to be pathetic.
>>2877770>but surely I'm smart enough to design and build my ownOP isn't designing one. Existing plans are on line. Don't really know what "help" OP needs. But if she has the skills, I'd say "Go for it".
>>2877801>$400 chink mini lathe>spend 100's of hours making it usable for moderate work in non-ferrous metals>$500-1000 old industrial lathe>spend hundreds of dollars to get it shipped to your home, spend another several hundred to put the wiring in place to support it electrically, thing will rust to death in the corner of your garage>DIY lathe>Spend hundreds of hours, and $300 - ~$1000 in materials, won't rust to death immediately, can include modern features if designed correctlyGee, I wonder why OP thinks DIY'ing one might have a respectable value proposition.At the same time I do get it is the worst of both worlds, but the potential end result could come out better.
>>2877925>spend another several hundred to put the wiring in place to support it electricallyOld benchtop lathes that are comparable in size to the chink mini lathes or the one OP is considering are generally 120v wall plugs that don't require any wiring. OP is not building something of comparable size to a proper 3 phase industrial lathe. I bought mine for $400 on FB with a bunch of tooling included and it required pretty much no work to make usable after I leveled it.>thing will rust to death in the corner of your garage What the fuck are you talking about? You oil the ways once and you're done. When you use it, you fill up the oil cups. There are lathes that have been sitting in the corners of shops for 100 years that aren't rusted away. There is absolutely zero chance that, OP, someone who can't do the bare minimum of research and can't save a couple hundred bucks, is capable of building a lathe that is functional, let alone remotely concentric with "modern features."
>>2877949>What the fuck are you talking about? You oil the ways once and you're done. When you use it, you fill up the oil cups. There are lathes that have been sitting in the corners of shops for 100 years that aren't rusted away.Bro, I don't know where you live, but here in the Midwest the only listings I ever see for tiny shop lathes are Rusted pieces of shit that they ask $600+ for, or Lathes in respectable condition for $1200-$2000.also>Old benchtop lathesyou didn't specify this, now did you? Branching off of my earlier comment, the vast majority of lathes I do see for sale online are beat to shit shop lathes that barely work, the kind that DO require more substantive investments up front to get to working condition, and are much larger than simple benchtop models.
>>2877949based south bend 9 enjoyer. take the tension off the belt when your not using ittheres a reason they were the most prolific machine ever made. still a relevant tool almost a century from first conception and fantastic value for the price used with a little patience to find one under $1k
>>2877922>sheAnon...
>>2877954>Midwest the only listings I ever see for tiny shop lathes are Rusted pieces of shit thatSorry, I'm not rustbelt, and I didn't realize how badly you guys had it.>you didn't specify this, now did you?I wasn't the guy you responded to initially and I didn't read that he specified "industrial" lathes. Apologies, didn't mean to be a dick. Yeah, of course a big 3 phase lathes have a lot of initial cost setup, but I figured comparing one to what OP was looking for was apples to oranges. >>2877966Based. They're such great machines. I usually keep the belt un-tensioned, yeah, that pic was from when I first moved it. I've been really surprised at just how capable it is.
>>2877767is researching outside of your 3rd world shithole realm too? you can google "concrete metal lathe" and you get a bunch of info. you need to talk to village elder and go back to basket weavinghttps://www.instructables.com/Concrete-Metal-Lathe/
>>2877890i know i know nothing about the anon all i said was you could despise people and still be good socially like sociopaths who are immensely successful >you're just too fucking stupid to make moneyyeah i'm stupid socially>There are plenty of autistic people who can't into socializing at all that make moneyhow do you know they haven't been helped or do you think everybody has the same opportunities as everybody else
why do diy machine threads attract the most retarded kind of boomers we've had this exact thread multiple times
>>2877995>why do diy machine threads attract the most retarded kind of boomers>we've had this exact thread multiple timesBecause DIYing a machine tool is pretty fucking retarded. Can it be done? Yes. Is it feasible in any way? No. Will you end up with a superior product? No. Will you need access to machine tools in order to make it? Probably. Will you do it if you value your time? NoCan you find a cheap clapped out lathe and rebuild it instead and be miles ahead right out of the gate? Yes. Hell I might as well make my own 1/2" impact and proprietary battery system while I'm at it because obviously that would be a smart thing to do as well...
>>2878114those things aren't important for a hobby and who asked do you live in your own internal monologue world
>>2877770I forgot to add that I'm extremely gay. Hope that helps.
>>2877882Why would you cast your own lathe? You can bolt and weld steel together. You can design the housing and have it laser cut, you can use various motors and gears and/or belts. Why are you even here? Yes you can pick up old lathes at shops sometimes but why are you against diy on a diy board? Lol what a faggot.
>>2878118I know something retarded when I see it, and someone that has no clue about fabricating anything asking about how to build a lathe on a mongoloid image board just might be at the top of that list...I mean I have built some stupid, over complicated shit before for the fun of it, but I went into it knowing it was retarded and didn't ask anyone whether it was feasible, or to hold my hand as I did it... Look in the welding thread for the vise I recently built for proof of that...Unless OP has the skills to do something like that off the cuff without plans then he has no chance in hell of building a home-made lathe with any real functionality.
>>2877767Anon there are amazing used bargains you can find online. Specially in the usa.If you are in the Eu now there are enough german business closing to get all the lathes you want for cheap.
>>2877776Not OP, there are places where a fucked to shit rusted ass lathe with a bent-like-a-bow lead screw and bowl shaped bed goes for a grand and a new chinesium table top lathe goes for 2.5kThere's like five lathes being sold in my entire country, unless I have to go looking for them like I'm searching for a meth dealer, that's all the market here has to offer
>>2878159>unless I have to go looking for them like I'm searching for a meth dealerzoomers are fucking weak. you couldnt comprehend having to watch the newspaper classified ads for years to find something as was the norm 20 years ago. ads didnt even have full words since they cost by the letter>MTL LTH Monrch 12x20 QC TA ex cond $2500 (555)555-1234youd decipher you possibly just spotted a gold nugget. anxiously call and have to chat with the geezers wife because he was down in the shop and hed call you later. maybe take a few days to arrange a visit, then drive 3 hrs to see it. get there and have to have a full invasive interview to see if he thought you were qualified to buy it. then walk out to the back 40 leanto and hed drag a tarp off a pos rusty turret lathe and give you a half hr lecture about where he got it and how great it was and how it only needed a couple things to be a brand new toolroom machine. youd thank him and drive home with your tail between your legs and wait another 4 mos of looking to do it again
your $500 a month go farther than $2400 in the us really. You dont know how badly americans are being priced gouged. Anyways seems simple enough. Just get a high torque geared brushed motor and a 1.5 meter or whatever screw and put it on the back of the platform with a rotating lever and what not. also the platform can use regular 3d printer rubber wheels. the whole thing can be made out of wood instead of metal. Seems simple enough dont be a chicken and just buy the parts itll work.
>>2878121you are a black retarded gorilla nigger with zero reading comprehension. I'm arguing against the retarded idea that mechanical stuff is easier to do at home than electronics.
>>2877767
>>2878450Flatbelts are a huge pain in the ass. That one is also missing a good portion of the leadscrew powering section. Parts will be unobtanium so you will have to make your own solution. It will also require a lot of oiling and mainteance as it appears to use plain bearings. It may very well be clapped out. It is probably in the neighborhood of 120 years old.Great deal though. Part it out on OWWM.org or Practical Machinist, save the legs and tooling for yourself, and buy an old Clausing, Southbend, Rockwell, or Atlas.
What has this thread devolved into?
There are at least 100 videos of these German nerds who build computer milling machines, casting the base from epoxy granite and lowering it into their underground mancave with a rented crane. One guy had a coat rack thing full of BT30 tool holders and a Plexiglas flood coolant enclosure. At least 10% of those are better than a Haas VF2 mechanically, not even including the electronics and controls which are automatically superior since we already have gaming PCs to play Call of Duty 7.You're a fucking dumbass if you think they are going to be shit just because one person built it. You do not buy the motion components like the linear rails and ballscrews. Those are rolled or ground in a factory and you can spend as much or as little as you like. Just like you don't grind the fucking endmills yourself.But yes you will always be richer if you buy an off-the-shelf machine and sell "JOE'S YARD SALE" signs for $1 on Etsy for 100 hours a week for the 1000 hours instead. If you are a dumb ass breathing welding fumes all day maybe this uses all your brain power anyway.>>2878124>off the cuff without plansI.e.>I'm too goddamn stupid to use CAD or do arithmetic or mechanical drafting.If you ever actually built anything of consequence, you would know that you usually save time and energy by doing the boring design work first and researching existing designs. If you already built 20 lathes yourself then you can build #21 without thinking about it first.P.S. Mineral casting "concrete" is not the same thing as the sidewalk concrete. Just make a fabricated steel frame instead. It has less damping, but will still have less ringing than you're mothers phone.
>>2877767$200 for a harbor freight one
>>2877807Imagine taking a girl back to your apartment and being like , watch your steps… the pallet I keep my 100 year old lathe on has nails backing out of it and there might be some chips in the carpet Yeah I keep it to make my own guns, I’m not weird or anything >4chan is open on your gaming pc
>>2878516>>I'm too goddamn stupid to use CAD or do arithmetic or mechanical drafting.Imagine needing a computer rather than just use your intuition or mental math to tell you whether something will fit into a certain sized space. That is fucking dismal my dude...
>>2878694I do use my intuition. The difference is that my intuition is refined and constantly verified using engineering equations, computer models and simulations, etc. Your intuition is based on you being a dumbass and not being able to count past seven.>lol i trol u100% triggered. What did you even make recently? You put some pringles in your shopping basket once so therefore you transcend CAD?
>>2878711Aww I remember my first go-kart... How sweet that you needed CAD in order to build it. You'll get there someday slugger!
>but r*ddit said old clapped out machines cant cut precision fit parts and its impossible to hit thousandths without a dro>just get veeevooor if you want to ashkually get anything done. itll make good finishes on your prostate massager
>>2879053Based.You get a beaver to chew that boring tool out of a HSS blank for you? J/K man, if it werks thats all that really matters! I bought a bunch of small carbide insert boring bars off banggood.com many years ago and they have proved quite useful. It is nice doing the majority of shit with cheap carbide insert tooling and not having to grind many custom bits. Quick change toolposts and holders are an absolute godsend too!
>>2879053>DRO on a lathe.Yeah I've never really ever seen the point of a DRO on a lathe. Check your dia. with the approximators and then cut accordingly with your cross feed... If you need a precise depth or length you can always throw a mag base indicator or stop on there to cut up to... Same with z axis on a mill. X and Y are nice on the DRO but I just lock my quill in place and use the dial on my knee to cut to depth... Werk just fine for me.
im not going to 3d model because you cant fucking read you son of a bitch. you didnt even say what kind of lathe you wanted. look at my drawing and try to understand what it says.
>>2879063>You get a beaver to chew that boring tool out of a HSS blank for you?basically. it was just whittled from the closest thing i could scrounge to cut the .050 snap ring groove. not my prettiest tool, but cut fineccmt carbide rocks on old slow machines. the high rake aluminum type polished inserts cut and finish mild steel really well too. shit is a bargain from chinkexpress. the deskar "brand" inserts are the best quality vs price
>>2879071high torquegeared dcrotor disct8?3d pin?rail wheel
>>2877864sucking off the boss gets old
>>28790823d printer wheel almostyou know the ones used to move the belts. id get enough to cover the whole underside.t8 is the 3d printer screw thats used to lulift the extruder. its a long screw and can range up to 2 meters or so. Anyways its important that the screw hole wall be sturdy too because thats what will keep the wall with wheels from moving backwards.lastly the lever so you can spin the t8 screw. pic related.
>>2877925>spend 100's of hours making it usable for moderate work in non-ferrous metalsnigga you just tighten everything down and maybe scrape the ways and you've got a perfectly good lathe. a dozen hours at most. this isn't the 2000s boomer fuck
>>2879066>I've never really ever seen the point of a DRO on a latheThe ability to share a coordinate system between tools is worth it by itself. No need to take test cuts and measure more than once (possibly not at all if you have an absolute reference in the scales). Just swap the tool and change the tool number in the DRO and you know where you are.It's not entirely free real estate for precise work, since actual diameter will vary with cut depth, but still. Well worth the $200-$300 for a cheap set of scales and a readout. My only regret is that I didn't spend a little extra for 1µm scales, but whatever.You're not wrong; it is mostly a convenience and not a necessity. But, then, so is a quick change tool post, and there are few who would ever give that up for any reason.
>>2878516CAD work is boring work but if you don’t do it your gonna run into stupid issues like, “of course this lead screw needs a bearing on both ends but I forgot to size my casting to accept bearings. And then your doing it 2 or 3 times.Get a good ish computer, pirate SolidWorks or your CAD package of choice, download some CAD files and get comfy. The alternative is chaos.
>>2878142and in asia?
whats a good metal that can be used to cast your own lathe other than aluminum in a small shop setup
>>2879755Zamak.
>>2877767>no leadscrew Would be a killer for me. Buy a chinese.
>>2879755No metal at all. Use concrete.
>>2879772>No metal at all. Use concrete.Bakelite plastic.
>>2879766>Zamak.>>2879774>Bakelite plastic.Stainless steel brillo pads and clear 2 part epoxy.
Why are used rotary tables so expensive? They’ve been around for ages so you would think they’d be cheap as dirt. Are they getting scrapped? Converted to CNC 4th axis? I can find machines cheaper than some rotary table.
>>2879774Granite + epoxy
>>2879779>Why are used rotary tables so expensive? boomers. its they only way they can imagine to make a radiused outside corner or stopped circular feature. mostly just bought as gloat items to accompany their pristine unsed garage shop>Are they getting scrapped? already have been. they suck ass to use in a job shop and most guys were glad to chuck them in the dumpster when the first cnc showed upt. bought moore and hauser rotabs for the gloat factor
>>2879766gay sounding metal that's even softer than aluminium
>>2879779>>2879794There's an auction here on Saturday with a couple rotary tables, an arbor press, a really nice Dake Hydraulic press, Hydraulic hose maker dies and fittings, and an assload of pallet racking that I'm going to try and get. Wish me luck lads!
>>2879799>Pop can aluminum (3004-H19)>Brinell Hardness of 79>Casting Aluminum> Brinell Hardness of 60 - 90>ZA-12 (Zamak)>Brinell Hardness of 95-115Wrong-o, retardo.Additionally, the increased weight of the Zamak also helps it be more vibration resistant than aluminum.
>>2879911zamak is fucking trash. it rots and crumbles when it ages. its the reason craftsman/dulnap/atlas machines are worthless toyst. 1st lathe was a crapsman 109 zamak special
>>2879916>it rots and crumbles when it ages.Only an issue if your metal is contaminated with lead. Modern day metallurgy is much more advanced than it was years ago, should be a non-issue if you're buying from a non-chinese supplier....
>>2877767A guy on youtube made the concrete lathehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxqxlexybqEI forget the whole saga but it took him quite a while, I think he also had to cast parts from aluminum. The concrete lathe project is just weird... The "creator" from the open source machine tools website is so gung ho on how based and epic it is... But has never actually made one too my knowledge. I believe his multimachine has been created, but the directions for it are really "draw the rest of the friggin owl".Depends what you want to do but if you're on a shoe string budget and just trying to have fun in the garage you might have an easier time converting a drill press to a ghetto end mill and using it as an even more ghetto lathe. Yeah it's super jank but no one is doing aerospace contracts in their tool shed. You can clean shit spick and span with hand files after wards if you're motivated enough.The Homemade tools website is sparse on DIY lathes but this drill press to mill conversion got some praise:https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/converting-drill-press-mill-drill-7870If you want a reason to not do a project, ask people how to do it and they'll give you 12 reasons not to. Toss the noise and give it a go. I have watched marketplace in my area for 5 or 6 years now and never seen a deal on a metal lathe or mill. If you live in one of those utopias with $500 used lathes that's a no-brainer but most of us aren't blessed with that
>>2877767>bootstrap a factory can you really do that
>>2879084you're always sucking off somebody
>>2877767>>2879918https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4319672https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4644865https://www.printables.com/model/1048400-open-lathe-v1 (uses concrete iirc)
>>2879900Well I went prepared to drop some coin on some pallet racking and they ended up selling it in an odd manner. I was the runner up bidder and figured the first guy would take some and I'd get another go at it and the fucker bought it all. Goddammit! Did end up with a radius cutter for the lathe and the hydraulic crimping dies and some fittings for a steal though! Plus some other very random stuff...
>>2880525goddamn i miss live auctions. online bullshit is gay and no fun
>>2877882>There is a guy on YouTube making his own chip with thousands of transistorsEven with tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, that faggot still had to start a company to move on from microwave boards KEK
>>2880537>goddamn i miss live auctions. online bullshit is gay and no funI agree. I also partake in online auctions occasionally, but they're just not as fun as a good old fashioned live auction that brings all the weirdos out of the woodwork! I live in a pretty rural area, and I swear some of the people that show up at the auctions must come from the middle of no-where for their bi-monthly trip to town just to go to the auction. Kek!
>>2877807>400$ for a chink mini latheAren't chink lathe complete dogshit that can't cut steel?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3mu9NLjkR4
>>2880768they can, although with some limitations. I found the biggest limitation is the rigidity of the whole thing. Taking of the compound improves it a bit.t. had a mini lathe for 5 years
>>2877776If he's in a big city in the US, there's a good chance that it de-industrialized so long ago that the vast majority of machine tools were scrapped or shipped out of town decades ago and there's also the issue that most real industrial stuff is 3 phase, which is impossible to get installed at residential properties in much of the country so you need a very expensive VFD or phase converter to use them.
>>2880830>very expensive VFD or phase convertertry againchinkshit vfds are sub $100 now and dont let their smoke out at a fraction of the rate they did 10 years agorotaries are literally just an old 3ph motor wired in parallel with your machine. you can pull start them with a rope if you lack the 99iq it takes to wire up a start capacitor circuit
>>2880814Just save another grand and buy a real lathe.
>>2880835Are rotary phase converters better than, worse than, or equal to a vfd? I know if you know how to make one with an old 3 phase motor they are very cheap to get one setup, but are there other advantages to a rotary phase converter? One advantage to a vfd that I know of is changing the motor speed by altering the frequency basically giving you infinite (within reason) speed control.
>>2880887>Are rotary phase converters better than, worse than, or equal to a vfd?None of the above, really. RPCs are generally more robust, and can handle surge/startup better, as long as it's not so severe it collapses the magnetic field in the rotor and basically stalls it out. They can also be "made" by just straight-up finding some random used 3-phase motor and wiring it up. They're also less electrically noisy, but that's not usually a concern unless you're powering particularly sensitive equipment or are near the same.VFDs are better in just about every other way, though. They're cheaper, more powerful, and have control advantages (frequency changes, current limiting, voltage).
>>2880897adding you realistically cant run multiple machines on a single vfd. they wont tolerate downstream switching unless grossly oversized and even then unpleasant things can happena cnc usually needs 3 lines into the panel to power various boards and power supplies so a rotary is the most economical choice vs a phase perfect
I'm working on my own mini lathe as more of a curiosity/ learning project.I want to cast mine out of iron with those prismatic style ways that seem pretty standard (or at least one prismatic way)The issue's I'm trying to solve before starting tho are hardening the ways after casting, and accurately grinding the ways in after the fact. I've seen indians/paki's (and a few video's of boomers) using jigs with angle grinders(for grinding steel angles used in their ways), but that doesn't seem like it would give you very decent results....Everything else is using dedicated grinding machines the size of half my house.
>>2881854>Everything else is using dedicated grinding machines the size of half my house.Its almost as if your cast lathe bed will need to be accurately cast and then seasoned and then accurately ground for your lathe to be very accurate. Imagine that!
>>2882004I'm going to guess my best bet then is to either just use big expensive linear rails or a big steel plate handscraped in ala Gingery? That sucks.
>>2881854>The issue's I'm trying to solve before starting tho are hardening the ways after casting, and accurately grinding the ways in after the fact.Just don't do it. Hardened ways weren't always a thing. They're not necessary, they just help keep the lathe working accurately over years of service being used constantly in a production setting.Or just use a grinder. I've seen a lot of people saying you can't, but that never really made sense to me. Part of the reasoning is valid, as it's really easy to fuck up quickly with something that can remove material as fast as a grinder. At the same time, using a lower speed and a finer grit can nearly eliminate that problem. Not sure I buy the bit about the shape of the gouge left by a scraper is that important. The one left by a grinder is going to be very similar, anyway.A quick search for "using grinder to scrape ways" turns up examples and discussion that indicate using a grinder works out fine. By far, the biggest reason that ways are ground in production machines is throughput. A bigass CNC grinder that you can load a semi-finished bed casting on can have the thing ready in just a few minutes. Even someone very good at scraping is hundreds of times slower than that. It's a no-brainer if you're trying to make money.
>>2880907>a cnc usually needs 3 lines into the panel to power various boards and power supplies so a rotary is the most economical choice vs a phase perfectTo my knowledge, most/all but the oldest CNC machines don't even really need 3 phase. The spindle motor(s) is invariably going to be run off an internal VFD or controller of some kind, which will take single-phase (though often with some de-rating) or even DC. The electronics usually run off a control transformer, which likely only runs off one phase. If they aren't, any switching power supply won't care what it's being given as long as its in the right voltage range.The only thing that might be a problem is the hydraulic/coolant pumps, which may be either 3-phase or single. Even if they are 3-phase, it's way cheaper to get a VFD for a 1kW pump motor than it is for a 10-20kW spindle.
