Yep, two tons of 50's toolroom lathe in far too little space - I have to climb over it to check the oil or set the taper attachment and open a window in the shed if I have to deal with *long* workpieces! Winding the ram up and down would be a bit awkward...
I'm hoping that it'll be rigid enough if I use box-section (been reading a few articles on t'internet re torsional stiffness and bending moments) rather than solid for the column and ram, as stiffness seems to depend more on the overall dimensions than the mass of the metal I might be OK? I have considered filling the box with concrete for a bit more mass and vibration damping - back in WW2 this was a method for conserving materials when building machine tools!
I've been lucky enough to get a couple of free leadscrews (scrapped as the plain ends were bent, so they can be cut down and a new section let in and loctited) that can be pressed into service for the elevation and ram fore-and-aft, the local scrapper has wiper motors for Not Much Money, so it's starting to look feasible
I'd quite like to use a worm and wheel for the head "nodding" but that may be tricky in view of the loads involved - certainly the worm and wheel on a Bridgeport/clone is under a lot of stress and a known point of failure
It'd have to transmit about 100 ft-lb of torque, and I haven't yet found the calculations to verify it'd be possible.
Before I get into this I ought to get my poorly QC 'box and new threading dog clutches sorted, though (means finding a few gears and the right bearings, teaching myself ally casting - conceptual drawings done, details still to come)... Still, at least I have the mill head stashed on a shelf and a few daft ideas!
Dave H.
