by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, Tools and Techniques
Button V-Block Turning Fixture I’ve been fascinated by the idea of a button v-block since seeing Ed Dubosky’s elegant design in the Metalworking One book. What a wonderful way to extend the capabilities of a lathe to precision milling on tiny model engine...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
CNC Precision and Accurate CNC Repeatability are important characteristics for any CNC machine. Precision (or Accuracy is another good term for it) is all about how closely we can hold tolerances. Repeatability is all about how precisely a commanded motion...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, Tools and Techniques
Note: This is a project I did MANY years ago. Probably not long after I got this little lathe. The parts are not finished as nicely as I would make them today, but the tailstock is very functional and was a real pleasure compared to having to search...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, Tools and Techniques
6-Jaw Chuck [Making a Backplate for my Buck] I’ve always been enamored of 6-jaw chucks. If nothing else, they are things of great mechanical beauty. I notice that many machinist’s I have a lot of respect for prefer them to the average 3-jaw for fine...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
CNC Servo Kit [HomeshopCNC Servos] This page describes what I had to do to adapt a set of HomeshopCNC servos to my IH Mill CNC Kit. I bought a “mechanicals only” kit that did not include servos. I’m not sure Gene and Tommy are even offering that...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
Introduction One of the best additions I ever made to my Lathemaster lathe was a quick change toolpost. I use it constantly as I am swapping various tools in and out for a job. I’ve gotten pretty facile with the lathe over time, and don’t have to...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
Lathe CNC Conversion History I love my Lathemaster 9×30 lathe, but it lacks several useful things in the gearing department. Changing speeds required changing belt positions until I finished my variable speed DC motor mod. There is no tumbler reverse,...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, Tools and Techniques
This is a very ambitious modification that never made it out of the planning stages. When looking at the amount of work involved plus realizing my ultimate goal was to CNC the lathe (which would mean discarding the tumbler gear system), I decided not to go...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
CNC Lathe: Mounting Step Motors I picked up 5 210 oz in Pacific Scientific step motors from eBay (I love eBay!) for $34. These should be perfect for driving the leadscrew and cross slide: Pacific Scientific 210 oz in NEMA 23 Stepper Motors… The motors have...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, Tools and Techniques
Material Finishes and Treatments [ Parkerizing, Anodizing, and more ] This page contains my notes on finishes and treatments for metal that I’ve experimented with. Finishes Files, Sanding, and Hand Grinding Filing is my first choice for quick...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
Optical Limit Switch for CNC Machines The Design Okay, here is the concept. I got a bag of 100 of these slotted optical switches on eBay for almost nothing. These are normally open, NPN switches. We want a limit to behave in normally closed fashion, so that the limit...
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by Bob Warfield | Blog, CNC Projects, DIY CNC
I’ve been plotting and planning a CNC conversion for my 9×30 lathe for some time now. This page chronicles the journey as well as the ultimate destination. Collecting Parts… Project Introduction: What do I hope to accomplish and how am I planning to...
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