my1987toyota wrote: Looks good AlekseySP . What kind of accuracy can your lathe hold?
It's hard to say, we have only cheap iGage scale on Z, so we didn't measure accuracy in all working space. But repeatability is very good, within few tenths. First i had some problems, but after tuning servos everything was fine.
But don't expect a miracle, you will have to figure out what machine can do and what can't. Removing a compound slide improves rigidity. If you want to use simple steppers 1.8 deg 200 steps per rev, keep in mind their downsides: first, they are slow. In the beginning it might be a not a bad thing but after a while it's getting annoying. Faster they spin more chance to lose steps. And don't forget about acceleration, it's a very important parameter. Second problem of stepper is a resolution: 200 pulses per rev with 5mm pitch ballscrew gives you approximately 0.001in increment. Setting microstep helps during motion, but motor can't stop between full steps. Again, for most hobby projects it's enough. Plus nothing can beat a price.
