Does anyone know of any good sources on lathe design, preferably online, but
I can try the library if that's warranted. I'm especially interested in
smallish lathes, about 50mm above bed height and 150mm between centres, but
capable of very high accuracy (approaching 0.001mm).

Is belt drive better, or is a fully geared head a reasonable choice?
Remembering also that I am going to have to cut any unbuyable gears...

In the headstock of a small lathe with some kind of belt drive, the pulleys
are usually arranged so the largest is nearest the chuck. Any special
reason?

Is myford type backgearing better than the traditional type with two cog
sets at either end of the pulleys? Why?


I have a zillion more questions, but that's enough for one post.

Thanks,

-- Peter

"Sweet dreams are made of
Anything
that gets you
in the seam
And I feel like
I'm Seventeen
again." Eurythmics

Tim Williams wrote:

[snip some nswers, thanks]

I have a zillion more questions, but that's enough for one post.

I'm waiting for you to ask me how to melt and pour the 20 pound bed casting
you'll need. ;-)

I've got a suitable length of meehanite (a fine grained cast iron, I don't
know if it's sold outside the UK under that name), and I'll machine the
bed/ways from solid. Same with the head and tailstocks. With a wee bit of
geometry I can arrange things so the left over bits are the right size for
the saddle and cross slide too.

All from billet, as they say


--
Peter Fairbrother

There is a Yahoo group devoted to design ideas for the Ideal lathe.

Peter Fairbrother wrote in message ...
Tim Williams wrote:

[snip some nswers, thanks]

I have a zillion more questions, but that's enough for one post.

Peter Fairbrother wrote:


SNIP
capable of very high accuracy (approaching 0.001mm).
SNIP

Wow. You're talking ABEC-7 bearings at a minimum. That's a few
buckaroos, for sure. G

You'll need very good lead screws, probably ball screws.

Personally, I'd buy a Hardinge & fix it up. Don't know about the .001mm
though.

Good luck.


--
Steve Walker
(remove wallet to reply)

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 04:13:41 GMT, Steve Walker
calmly ranted:

Peter Fairbrother wrote:


SNIP
capable of very high accuracy (approaching 0.001mm).
SNIP

Wow. You're talking ABEC-7 bearings at a minimum. That's a few
buckaroos, for sure. G

You'll need very good lead screws, probably ball screws.

Personally, I'd buy a Hardinge & fix it up. Don't know about the .001mm
though.

0.0000393"? Why, that's less than a hundredth of an RCH.


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Larry Jaques wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 04:13:41 GMT, Steve Walker
calmly ranted:

Peter Fairbrother wrote:


SNIP
capable of very high accuracy (approaching 0.001mm).
SNIP

Wow. You're talking ABEC-7 bearings at a minimum. That's a few
buckaroos, for sure. G

You'll need very good lead screws, probably ball screws.

Personally, I'd buy a Hardinge & fix it up. Don't know about the .001mm
though.

0.0000393"? Why, that's less than a hundredth of an RCH.

or a thousandth of a BCH?



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when an attractive woman enters the room. || Full Website Programming