6-Axis Lathe and Mill combined - what is possible ?

[RC-Lights]

hi all,

let me quickly introduce me and my project.

my Name is Michael, i am from Germany and my plan is to build a CNC-Lathe from Scratch. The well known user "suntravel" convinced me, that Acorn is the best Hardware / Software combination for that
i am a mechanical Engineer with a workshop of manual machines like a lathe, mill and a small cnc router for wood, etc. And the next step is having a CNC Lathe, most of my parts are round. For me it is really annoing to machine parts on the lathe and when i need a milling operation on it, i have to go to my mill with rotary table and than i have issues with the runout. So why not combine a lathe with a milling axis ?

and Uwe aka "suntravel" showed perfect, that this is possible. So i started planning over a year ago und changes the concept several times. but now, the concept of the lathe is fixed and i started with the build some weeks ago.

here a a picture of the lathe-part of the machine:

So far so good. The mechanical part is clear, i did a benchtest with the acorn six controller and the drives, and i am pretty sure, the system will run. I have some concerns how to integrate the ATC turret, but maybe i can realise that as well. As a first step i will start with a manual toolchange with the multifix system.

But you see, i have a second Z axis on the machinebed. Here i want to implement a tailstock for turning long parts or have a long drill, which could make trouble on the turret. but i have more ideas about that, maybe it is possible to integrate the milling spindle here with 2 addional axis.

so i planned in CAD and from mechanical side it should work.

but i have some concerns, how i can controll all of the axis.

my ideas:

-lathe operations should be clear, can be done by intercon or per CAM, some tailstock action or drills in tailstock can be added in G-Code direct on maschine.

-some easy mill operations can be done also with G-Code after turning.

if this works, that would make me very happy, everything which comes now, would be a dream, but maybe it is possible.

i know, there is a Fusion Cam Postprocessor for mill operations on a lathe, but i am not sure, if i can use it, because my milling spindle would be on a different Z and X axis, so Z2 and X2. maybe i can modify the postprocessor, but not sure, if that is that easy. probably not.

different scenario: I plan also with a brake on main spindle for indexing and milling, so maybe it is possible to use the C-Axis with X2, Y and Z2-Axis as a pure mill, without some lathe operation. here is also my question, if this could be possible.

i have basic knowledge in coding, but i am far away from calling me an expert in that.

i also know, that is a really long way, not sure, if it will work anyway. but i would like to try it.

would be very happy if i can get some feedback from your side.


some more information about the the machine and the components i use:

-I buyed a very massive Weiler Headstock on Ebay with a center bore of 45mm and around 100kg of weight, perfect base for the lathe.
-the machine bed is a 500kg tooling plate from a huge mill, 1200x700x200mm, will be build in vertical orientation for good chip management
-Spindle motor will be a 4KW Servo with 1:2 belt ratio for around 3000 RPM on the Spindle
-Axis Servos are JMC AC Servos with 750W and brake for the vertical Axis
-Linear Rails are Hiwin and THK in Size 30 and 25,
-Ball Screws TBI Motion with double Nut, grinded, C5.
-all of the crossslides and plates will be out of steel, no aluminium at all.
-package protection for linear scale at least on the lathe axis, maybe also on the mill axis with Acorn Encoder Expansion Board
Encoder on Main Spindle
-Brake disk on main Spindle
-i have also allready the milling spindle, it is driven tool from a Traub Servo Turret with Sanvik Capto 3 Interface, really nice for tool quick change. i can easily adapt a Servo Motor and have a compact milling spindle.
Total weight is assumed to be around 1300kg.

hopefully we can have a good discussion about the project. I know, i am just at the beginning. It will be a long way and it will be expensive, but i am sure that i will finish that thing

Thank you very much in advance,

best regards,
Michael

[suntravel]

Hi Michael,

should be no problem to run this with Acorn6 lathe ultimate.

The Mill/Turn PP for fusion I am using can be modified to use other axis labels for milling.

Uwe

[RC-Lights]

hi Uwe, thank you for the answer.

give me a good feeling to design the milling axis with more effort for better results.

But will it be possible to have probing etc for the milling tools ? And all of the milling intercon functions will not work, right ?

here is a quick demonstration, how the axis movements will be.

[suntravel]

hi Uwe, thank you for the answer.

give me a good feeling to design the milling axis with more effort for better results.

But will it be possible to have probing etc for the milling tools ? And all of the milling intercon functions will not work, right ?

here is a quick demonstration, how the axis movements will be.

RTG will not work, it is only 2D for turning. Tool Lib and touch off will not work also with other axis labels than X Z, but you can use other WCS to save the position for different mills.

Intercon is also only for turning, if I make parts with milling, I use Intercon for turning and handcode milling in the g-code from Intercon, or I do the complete part in fusion with the PP I made for mill turning on my lathe.

Uwe

[RC-Lights]

Hi Uwe, that is my understanding also, but good to get in confirmed.