made2hack
Plastic
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2016
Hello all,
I am planing a future lathe build and wanted some input. Essentially, it has to do with the saddle mechanics. I was wondering if there are lathes or machines with so called "drive by wire" type handle mechanisms? Where there is no physical connection between the saddle handle and the actual feed shaft?
The idea being that you turn the saddle handle as usual, it is connected to a rotary encoder which drives a stepper motor which does the actual moving of the saddle. And somehow, the saddle handle should be tight enough to simulate real life mechanical feedback.
The reasoning behind it is that I would eliminate the extra gears to drive the feed shaft for auto cutting and allow for software control for cutting threads and other auto feed parts. Plus the feed shaft would be down the middle of the lathe, and not on the outside, although I suppose that's the least problematic.
Any thoughts? How crucial is mechanical feedback on the saddle handle? What about backlash? Do you feel that you need that feedback to tell if you have chatter or other such problems?
Thanks,
I am planing a future lathe build and wanted some input. Essentially, it has to do with the saddle mechanics. I was wondering if there are lathes or machines with so called "drive by wire" type handle mechanisms? Where there is no physical connection between the saddle handle and the actual feed shaft?
The idea being that you turn the saddle handle as usual, it is connected to a rotary encoder which drives a stepper motor which does the actual moving of the saddle. And somehow, the saddle handle should be tight enough to simulate real life mechanical feedback.
The reasoning behind it is that I would eliminate the extra gears to drive the feed shaft for auto cutting and allow for software control for cutting threads and other auto feed parts. Plus the feed shaft would be down the middle of the lathe, and not on the outside, although I suppose that's the least problematic.
Any thoughts? How crucial is mechanical feedback on the saddle handle? What about backlash? Do you feel that you need that feedback to tell if you have chatter or other such problems?
Thanks,
