CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

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SteveHGraham
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CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Has anyone here converted a mini-lathe to CNC? I got a Big Dog (Real Bull) 7 x 14 for threading, and now that I have a nice big lathe, I'm thinking of rigging this one up so it can be used manually or with CNC. A guy named Ron Steele has a site where he offers plans, but it's for a slightly different (HF/Grizzly etc.) lathe. I emailed him to see if the plans can be adapted easily to my lathe. I would expect that they could, since the hardware only attaches in two places.

This is a handy little tool. I think it would be great to be able to use it to make smaller parts with CNC.
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Marty_Escarcega
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by Marty_Escarcega »

I would bet its quite close. In any case many of those little 7" lathes have been converted. I bet you can find lots of information on the internet on it. I like Gecko drives, a little pricey, but superior support. G540 would be overkill, but it will have everything you need except, a simple power supply, stepper motors and motor mounts (which you can make yourself) since its not your primary machine and if you want to experiment with CNC, I say go for it.

Marty
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SteveHGraham
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I would want to make it monkey-see, monkey-do as much as possible. That's why I asked about the Steele kit. Also, giving up manual machining would be a bummer.
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WJH
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by WJH »

The cost to make a mini lathe cnc vs the cost to make a larger lathe cnc is not that much different. I've been contemplating the CNC conversion of my x3 milling machine, makes more sense to take a used Bridgeport with blown controls and update it with modern electronics. Anyhow, just something to ponder.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I think the other side of the coin is that you can make all your mistakes on a small lathe so you won't wreck a big lathe when you convert it.
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Richard_W
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by Richard_W »

I have been looking at one of these. Says it will work for a lathe or mill. If so? Then you can move it from one to the otherand almost as fast as changing a vise.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-XY-Mill-Dri ... 1c2f275a58


Thoughts?

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SteveHGraham
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Holy cow. $2200!

From what I've read, the lathe thing will be a three-figure job.
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by Richard_W »

SteveHGraham wrote:Holy cow. $2200!

From what I've read, the lathe thing will be a three-figure job.
I suppose, but you should see the video of it doing it's thing on the mill. Keep in mind you could use it on your big lathe as well as your mill. Kind of a 2 for one thing. Also you are getting BobCad V21 in the deal. Price that as a stand alone item and the price becomes very good. Also you might not need to use a rotary table again, since CNC can do it with out one.

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


For me if I bought it I would turn my Pratt & Whitney lathe into an 18" swing CNC lathe. Just make some sort of adapter plate for it to mount to. Anyway I am just in the thinking about it stage.

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SteveHGraham
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

It's pretty cool. No doubt about that.
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GlennW
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by GlennW »

It looks as though you could turn a perfectly rigid full size mill or lathe into a machine with the rigidity (or lack of) of a mini mill or lathe by installing that X,Y CNC table.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Yeah, but being able to watch from the couch as it makes 10,000 light cuts all by itself would make up for that to some extent.
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Re: CNC for Big Dog 7 x 14 Lathe?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I decided to get the plans and see what happens. If I like CNC on the little lathe, maybe I'll do it with one of my other machines.
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