[Newbie] Lathe CNC - No Compound?

angelfj1

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I'm considering a cnc conversion of my Grizzly, G0602. I have noticed that after conversion. some folks operate the machine without a compound. Is this a common practice and what are the pros and cons.

Thanks, Frank
 
There is no use for a compound on a CNC lathe. The controller runs both the X and Y axis. Now if you are gonna set the lathe up for manual functionality having the compound may still be a good idea. But you are gonna need to make sure that it's put in the same spot every time for use with the CNC function. The CNC controller is not going to know where the tool bit is if you move the compound and therefore the tool bit.
 
I eliminated the top compound with a solid 6075 Aluminum block and made it .100" shorter for the proper setup of a AXA QCTP. Bob
 
This is going to sound kinda silly- but would a rotary table with some... modification to the plate work as a ATC post on a CNC lathe?
 
This is going to sound kinda silly- but would a rotary table with some... modification to the plate work as a ATC post on a CNC lathe?

Don't know why not, anything is possible if you're creative enough.:)
 
The only concern that I had was that the force of the piece spinning would be too much for the worm gear in the rotary table.
 
You would want mechanically lock it into position once it indexed.
 
Sounds good, and I would think that it could be locked with a short stroke pneumatic cylinder using gcode. Bob

That's the way I would do it.:encourage:
 
There would be no point in having a compound on a NC lathe, all tapers may be interpolated by the control.
 
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