johnsmachines

After removing most of the lathe gear which will not be required after the CNC conversion, the lathe is looking a bit naked.

The carriage apron, the lead screw, the back gears, the drive rod and control rods have all been removed.  Also the cross slide screw and handle.  The cross slide itself is temporarily removed, but available for measuring for fitting a ball screw.

I have now made accurate measurements and drawings of the lathe bed and carriage, in order to choose ball screws and nuts for the lead screw and cross slide.

The lead ball screw is easy.  There is plenty of room and machined surfaces for attachment.  I see no particular problems there.  Just time, careful machining and expense.  Chinese or Euro-American?  As usual, there is a big price difference and maybe not such a big quality difference as previously.   Looking at 25 or 32mm diameter, with 550-600mm of thread.

The cross slide ball screw is another matter.  The current cross slide square thread screw is 14mm diameter, and I would like to use a ball screw about the same size.  The problem is that a ball screw nut is considerably bulkier than the existing square thread nut, so some machining of the cross slide will be required to make space.  The cross slide dimensions are already fairly tight, to maximise the swing over the carriage.  I do not want to weaken the cross slide too much.  So it is all a bit tricky.  Time to consider options. And to get another opinion.

No lathe pics, so here are some of Turkish wall smashers.

This one was given to Queen Victoria by the Turkish sultan.  It was made about a decade after the fall of Constantinople.  It was cast in 2 halves.  There is a giant thread connecting the halves.  I imagine that the strange square holes are to allow levers to be inserted for the screwing by many strong men.  No double entendre  intended.

This one could have been used to make the breach in the wall at the fall of Constantinople 1453.  That stone ball is 600mm diameter.  With no trunnions or other supporting mechanism the barrel was probably dug into the ground for support.  That would allow repeated shots at exactly the same point in the walls.  8-11 shots per day.  It was made for the invading Turks by Orban, a christian who had previously offered his services to the defending Byzantines.  The Byzantines whose empire by this time had been reduced to a tiny fraction plus the city itself, could not afford his services.  The rest is history.