Benchmaster Horizontal as a lathe

[Shawn]

Not that I need another lathe but I can't stop thinking about how useful my little horizontal Benchmaster would be if I could use it as a lathe as well. I got a good deal on a 1hp DC motor and bought a couple of deep cell 12v batteries that will be used in series to generate the 24v I need, I'm just waiting on the motor controller to arrive to put everything together. In addition to the variable speed I bought a MT2 with a threaded end to accept the 3jaw and 4jaw chucks from my Unimat 3 lathe. I have designed a tool post for holding lathe bits and will design the cutoff tool post when the Sherline cutoff tool holder arrives in the mail. If everything goes as planned I might even think about converting the mill to CNC control. I have tried the mill in lathe mode holding a lathe tool in the mill vice and it works very well, I might even have to make a back plate to use a larger 3jaw chuck as I think the mill/lathe is more powerful and ridgid than the chuck will be able to handle. Just a couple pics of the progress so far, will update as things come together.



A render of the tool post I am thinking of building.



Cheers
Shawn

I haven't been around much as work is keeping me very busy so this project will be progressing pretty slowly for the next month or so.

[Sunset Machine]

Not so far fetched of an idea. My Brown & Sharpe has a threaded spindle nose. With a four-jaw on there that thing can grunt.

Large diameters can mount to a faceplate, RPM permitting. The toolbit can be at the bottom (6 o'clock) and feed by the knee elevator, no need to block it up high at all. If you have it near the 7 o'clock position there is a 1:1 ratio on the diameter to the table feed.

[Shawn]

I was planning to keep both the lathe tools and the cutoff tool at the same height so I didn't have to move the table once I get the tool height correct. Might have to give that one some more thought now though. I have been thinking about building a lever action tailstock so I can drill a few holes and maybe hold a live centre in the drill chuck, not ideal but better than no support.



I'll probably never get this far but I'm enjoying the design process, Fusion 360 is so far an amazing bit of kit.

[Pete O]

Having a horizontal mill myself, this idea really appeals. I was giving it some thought and it occurred to me that you could have various tools mounted on simple, individual toolposts along the table and bring each tool into play by traversing the table, might be a good way to knock out multiple similar parts. Or you could use a two-sided tool post and alternate between tools by reversing spindle rotation and working from opposite sides, for instance turn and face from one side with the spindle rotating clockwise, then bring the toolpost to the other side of the job and part from the other side with anticlockwise rotation.
And I've gotta get me a drawing program. That toolpost looks like you already made it. Nice design too.

[Shawn]

Not sure why the motor sound like a gas engine? I've never messed with large DC motor before so maybe that how they sound? The tool post didn't turn out as originally planned as I didn't have the stock I thought I had originally. 

Shawn

[Shawn]

Pete You should look into Fusion 360, its the easiest and most powerful CAD program I have tried.

[PixMan]

(08-18-2015, 11:15 PM)Shawn Wrote: Pete You should look into Fusion 360, its the easiest and most powerful CAD program I have tried.

With the help of my good friend Black Forest, I have the 'lifetime" subscription to Fusion 360.

I need some help with it, as I can't seem to do a single thing with it. I had one 3-D ".stp" file that I uploaded to it, and that's it.

What I really need to do is just spend some time with it and watch the instructional videos. Where I'm going to find time for that, I have no clue. It's frustrating to me to hear how good it is from folks like you Shawn, then fire it up and stare at a screen that makes no sense to an old AutoCAD user.

Oh well. Someday...

[Mayhem]

Maybe you can learn to use the tool log at the same time

[Sunset Machine]

(08-18-2015, 03:13 PM)Shawn Wrote: I was planning to keep both the lathe tools and the cutoff tool at the same height so I didn't have to move the table once I get the tool height correct. Might have to give that one some more thought now though. I have been thinking about building a lever action tailstock so I can drill a few holes and maybe hold a live centre in the drill chuck, not ideal but better than no support.

Once you find the spindle center height, use the toolbit to lightly scribe a line on the column face to set the tool to in the future. You'd use a surface gauge, setting the pointer to the toolbit and then swinging it around to the column, cranking the knee to set the pointer to that line. If you build a tailstock, it should hang from the overarm.

[Shawn]

I like the idea of placing a mark on the column, that would be fast and simple. Will do that for sure. Since I'm using a small Chuck and have lots of room vertically I may even try multiple tool positions and heights. The tailstock will definitely hang from the overarm if I ever get around to building it.

Pete, the tutorials on YouTube about Fusion 360 are about the best tutorials I have seen. I was like a dog watching tv when I first started as well. It was years since I had tried any type of CAD program but once you get started you will figure it out quickly. if I can help out in any way let me know.

Shawn