Thanks Greg, will give it a try this afternoon when I am at home.

Gerald what is the difference between the EN8 End Drawn and the other one I think he mentioned spit and polish or something.

Got a quote from the place in Malvern for 25mm x 450mm long piece of EN8 drawn bar...price R 83.00 + vat.

This morning I had to pick something up in Wadeville. Rode past the other place called Turn Bar. Same thing EN8 end drawn bar...R 21.58 per 450 mm length.

How can 2 places 20 km from each other differ by such a big margin.

Drawn bar has slight surface marks because the bar has been pulled (drawn) through a hole in a hard plate to get it down to final size.

Peeled and polished bar has been through a peel/polish process to remove the surface marks. About 20% more expensive than drawn.

My local supplier for 25mm EN8 quotes about R40/meter drawn and R48/meter peeled.....if purchased in 6m lengths.

For short pieces, they add a cutting/handling charge. For off-cuts, some guys charge less to clear stock, other guys charge more to make up handling and cutting. If you wear a dirty blue overall you pay less than a guy wearing a collar and tie. :)

Probably true at the metalshop but not at a restaurant. :)

Hi Kobus nice work

can you tell me wich company you used for laser cutting and bending when building your mechmate
and do they still have the plans and stuff to do it
looking forward in building a mechmate

Hi Jannie, welcome and good luck with your build.

I used Metals Centre in Johannesburg. The guy I dealt with there was shot in an armed robbery. They are capable to work straight from the DXF files that you download from here.

They did my bending as well.

Jannie, you can try Laserfox (012) 6669629 as well. They were a R1000 cheaper than our local guys. You will have to send them the latest dxfs.

Jannie remember to go with your overall maybe you can get some discount ,welkom en sterkte.

kobus I just got a set of gears like yourselves (aluminum though) - I have a extra motor and driver which I will hook on soon.

but I still dont have a wooden lathe :)

I am seriously looking for a PROPER lathe now. This thing I have is really rubbish with the 2 bars holding the tailstock in place. The amount of flex is too much and I don't like it. If I can pick up an old metal lathe with a proper cast iron bed, I will re-do my indexer, but in the meantime I will have to work with it as it is.
Tomorrow I might go and turn my new shaft if my friend is available. This is the shaft that will have the original 3 step pulley and my 120 tooth module 1 gear.

Today went to a friend's house and he made me the new shaft....modified my big gear and drilled a 27 tooth pinion.

Attachment 8256

As luck would have it the old motor fitted in underneath the table.
Now busy making the bracket for the stepper.

Attachment 8257

Kobus, I believe that you are the first to have a lathe & indexer in one. The gear for cutting, and the belts for polishing - very novel I think. Even the open spur drive for a DIY indexer is the first I've seen, and I believe it will work very well - better and cheaper than SB's offering of Oriental Motors with torque-limited gearboxes from $2000 to $6000.

For "non-metrics" wanting to emulate Kobus and use a big gear to mate onto your 20DP pinion gears, have a look at http://bostongear.com/litportal/pdfs...BG_pg05-50.pdf, bottom of page 30, cast iron gears. (YA80 to YA200).

Gerald, do you think the Z axis would be strong enough to hold a lathe cutting tool? So you could remove the router and add a tool post . Then you could have CNC turning,when you needed it. If not you could add a removable tool rest bar to it to take some of the side load off of the Z axis.

Gerald,

You link is bad.... fixed

Definitely strong enough, unless you are going take really deep cuts in hardwood with a blunt cutter. There always comes a point when something is not "strong enough" :)

Edit: I have to add that the cutting tool must not be further than 200mm [8"] from the bottom roller on the z-slide.

It's UGLY but it works
 

Finished my DUAL PURPOSE INDEXER.....should patent it. ;)

Still ugly but it works. I can now spin the wood with the electric motor and with the JOG keys in Mach 3 turn a piece of OAK in under 2 minutes to be round.

Running in this mode it is now also possible to sand the piece to a smooth finish. Overall a happy chappie.:D

Attachment 8264

Attachment 8265

Some Video of rounding the wood and cutting a TAPER leg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JyS6MG6vM

Nice going Kobus, I have to agree with you about the lathe, those are really horrible units, we have got three that my Dad bought many years ago, but they get the job done at least (as my Grandfather always said - it harder when there's none :))

Where do you have the Y0, near the headstock or tailstock? I assume you disconnect the stepper motor when running the AC motor?

Thanks Alan, yes Y-0 is at the tailstock. One thing however with the software I use...the TOP of the leg must also be at this point. I did the taper and could not find a way to TURN the direction in the sotware around, so I turned the leg around to start the taper at the tailstock and cut deeper towards the endstock.

I presume if you forget to dis-engage the stepper motor you fry the drive and/or make smoke in the electricals, even if that side switched off. The stepper motor is a good generator.

O yes sorry I did not answer that Alan. The stepper plate from the original Gerald design was used and with a springwasher on the bolt it is taken away and locked so as not to be turned by the electrical motor.

Hi Kobus ! Very inspiring the way you build the indexer. After a few days of searching with local vendors I found something that could be use as an indexer.
But every wood lathe doesn’t have that jaw chuck. Is it OK if I use it as it is ?
Marius

Hi Marius, Things to check before you buy.

I think you should be able to get a 4 jaw chuck that will screw into the shaft for that machine. This juck is used to screw the piece of wood from behind.
Take the tailstock and see if it moves if you rock it. Must be rock solid.
Line up the tailstock live centre point with the headstock...see if that are at the same height...also not skew.
See if you can change the shaft to make it longer to add the stepper gear.
Also make sure that there is enough solid material to attach the bracket that you will hang your stepper onto.
Just buy a small metal lathe at modify the thing to accept a stepper....they are usually more rigid and precise...then you can turn metal with CNC as well.

Good luck.

Hmmm... I was afraid that you'll recommend 4 jaw chuck :D. My common sense tell me to use 4 jaw chuck but I was afraid not to be very heavy but again you are right, the entire construction should be very sturdy and rock solid. I'll do my homework this time more carefully. Thanks !
Marius.

Marius I have one of those that looks the same wich I bought about 3 years ago.It came with a copy attachment.I used it to turn four legs only and then it went to collect dust.I will be using it to do my MM lathe.I dont see anything wrong with it and it is a good starting point.Yes you will need to modify it a bit but hey anything is possable.(will post pic tomorrow)

I got mine
 

these are the alu gears I got.

Hennie tomorrow I'll go to see some lathe models. This one catches my eye because of the price (100 Euro) and it's new. But I have to see if it's OK to make the proper modifications. Meanwhile searching the German EBay I found some useful things...
That lathe with extra 4 jaw chuck its 450 Euro, witch is a good price (I think...).
Regarding the necessary modifications: after I finish the MM now everything looks easy to build or modify :cool:.

I wish my 4 claw chuck looked like the one in the green picture...much easier to tighten than the one on the right like mine.

That "self-centering" 4-jaw chuck only works if your stock is square - it is a real curse when the stuff is off square and you did not realise it.

A wood lathe usually comes with a live centre for the headstock. (Like the Einhell.) This will be used to make a live centre to drive the work piece. No need for an expensive chuck.

A faceplate is also very useful to clamp stuff to the headstock. Just screw it to the faceplate from the back. You can even make clamps on the faceplate to function like a 4-jaw chuck so you can clamp square and off-centre items. With wood you don't look at 20um tolerance, so centering on the centre is less of an issue than with metal.

A problem with any lathe is the alignment of the centres. If this is not accurate, you will end up with a tapered item. Bolt the lathe down to a sturdy frame using jack screws (a simple 12mm MF HT bolt with three nuts will do) to line up the centres properly. On a metal lathe, use an engineer's level (not the one you buy in the hardware store) but with the wood lathe it is better to just turn a test piece.

Jan, the "expensive" chuck is needed for true indexing work where you could be changing direction, or need to hold a position firmly while the other axes do their thing. A "spur driver" is okay for lathe type turning work, but will develop backlash for indexing work.

Gerald you take the word right out of my mouth.

Jan for indexing you NEED an expensive chuck, not just a little claw thing that works in one direction.

The self-centring is what I need for my indexing as I will start with a perfect square blank as the top part that fits onto the rest of the table skirt etc.

Centering with individual jaws is not too difficult. I use a digital vernier to measure the jaw positions relative to the OD of the chuck after the first tightening, calculate the average (center), back out the two jaws that are too deep, tighten the other two.

In most of the situations it's better to use a perfect square blank or a rounded one. So the "expensive" option for a chuck is the best. On the other hand let's don't forget the time that could be saved with a self centering system.

What does a self centering system look like???

a 3-jaw chuck?

I must need another cup of coffee to have missed that:D thanks Ken

You are welcome J.R., maybe you should try some strong Chinese Tea. :)

The 3 jaw is no good for my application. Most of my pieces will be squared at the top.

You do get self centering 4 way jaws.

http://www.allproducts.com/manufactu.../product3.html

If the keyhole is between the jaws, then it is a self-centering "scroll" type. If the keyholes are directly behind each jaw, then only that jaw is moved by the key.

But over time, without much care, self centering chucks do wears off & loose the center...