"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2012-02-13, Michael A. Terrell ? wrote:
?
? I see some gears for sale on Ebay, and some he
??http://www.blueridgemachinery.com/ca..._catalog.html?

I love that "POR" (Price On Request) marking on lots of them. :-)


No kidding. I walk out of a store when I see things with no prices.


? He said that his dad was a machinist, and that he's been moving machine
? tools for 30 years. He didn't use the word Rigging, so that makes me
? think he just drove the truck from site to site.

:-)

Well ... you don't *need* rigging when moving a 6" or even a 12"
Atlas lathe. :-)


He claimed that he had moved machinery for 30 years.


? How hard would it be to modify it to use a stepper or servo drive?

Not at all difficult for use while *turning*.

However, for threading, it gets a lot trickier. You need a way
to send the speed and angular position of the spindle to control the
feed. Yes, it can be done, but you are good way towards a CNC machine
by then, so you might as well go the whole way. :-)


Add an encoder on the spindle to read the actual speed and use that
to set the timing, then the processor generates the drive in sync for
whatever ratio you need. Not as ridgid as gears, but will let you do
small jobs OK.


? The last lathe I used was a worn out navy surplus lathe in high
? school. Both of which are long gone.

So -- you should be able to deal with this one as well.
Certainly not be seriously disappointed, anyway. :-)


Since most parts will be small, I should be able to get by with
almost any old lathe. the only other lathe that was availible in the
area was over 16 feet long, and wouldn't fit in my shop even though all
it would have cost was hauling it across town.


? I doubt that the new high school even has a metal shop, but they
? spent millions on the football field.

Sigh!


Indeed. I took Metal Shop, Wood Shop and Drafting in Jr high school,
then two years of Electronics and another year of wood shop in high
school. The Electronics classes were held in the metal shop and taught
by the same teacher so we had access to all the tools, if our classwork
was done and for an hour after school every day. It's the same shop
that I used for a classroom to teach a night adult education course on
small appliance repair, while I was still in high school.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.