As the other comments suggest, anyone approaching small scale machining
should become familiar with manual machine operation first.

There are good write-ups of EMCO combo machines in the archives of this
newsgroup, and several other locations such as the Chaski 3in1 forum, and
the CNC Zone forum.

The capabilities of the EMCO combo machine will most likely enable a user to
fabricate nearly all of the mechanical parts required to convert the machine
to CNC.
Locating the electrical and electronic assemblies shouldn't be difficult.

The amount of information available for converting any common machine to CNC
is very vast.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Vernon" wrote in message
...
While I am fascinated by machining I have neither skill nor experience
as a machinist. Therefore, I will appreciate your help.

I am considering buying an Emco Compact 5 lathe with mill as a gift
for my son. I don't know what generation the machine is. However,
this is not a CNC capable machine.

Will we regret not finding a machine that has the CNC capability? Or
is this the appropriate place to start. My son is studying chemistry
and has an inventor's genius.

Thanks,

Vernon