Naturally, there is quite a bit of stripping involved to remove parts not required for the CNC conversion.

This includes feed gearbox, apron gearbox, leadscrews, compound slide and the main gear train.

Here are some pics before and after.

It took about 2 hours to get to this stage.

I used hybrid closed loop steppers with encoders on both Z and X axis.

These were ordered from steppersonline via Ebay. They look to be rebranded Leadshine products.

Z axis is 8.25Nm (1200 oz in), and X is 4.25Nm (600 oz in). I am certain that these are overkill, but would rather have too much power than too little.

These require 48V DC, so I will add an extra 20A power supply to power these.

They will be geared via timing belts. This should give better accuracy and increased power.

Of course a suitable controller is at the heart of any CNC machine.

My CNC lathe will start life as a Hafco AL-320G, then will be stripped and converted to CNC. It is a 600mm (24") lathe which is all I really need.

Here is a link showing full specifications:

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L141

Lathe was picked up on 23rd November 2019, now the fun starts!

I have quite a bit of the gear I need to do the conversion, so this should not take more than a couple of weeks to do, but this may be just wishful thinking!

The main modification I made to this lathe was the addition on a Quick Change Toolpost.

This really is a necessity.

I made the mini-lathe QCT the same tool height, that way I can interchange tools between both lathes without changing height of the toolholder.

I was planning on maybe converting this lathe to CNC, but the spindle bore was just too small.

I really need 37mm bore, so I sold the lathe and will replace it with a shorter bed with larger spindle.

I rented out my house (and garage) and moved into an apartment.

Mill is in storage and I will replace the lathe later, probably with a Hafco AL-320G and this will get the CNC treatment as well.

Best offer on Ebay was $1500 which was well under value, but at least I did not have to move it to storage!

I have a requirement for really accurate work, so I added a 6 jaw Adjust-tru type chuck.

I say "type" because it is Chinese, but it can zero work perfectly, so gets a big tick from me.

Because this lathe is European, the spindle nose is not a standard camlock, but a DIN standard, and is very easy to change chucks with a bit of practice.

This in my C8C toolroom lathe.

It is fitted with a 6 jaw  Adjust-tru type chuck, and turns out very nice work if I do my part correctly.