Lathe building project

[rootz]

Hi everyone,

After reading this forum for several years and always dreaming of building my own lathe, now it's the time. After i got the possibility to buy a caruso,I thought it might be the right time now. I cutted a while with a Rek-O-Kut/Audax mono lathe. But we upgraded our soundsystem to stereo, so it's time for stereo cutting!
First got infected with the lathe virus, after visiting ameise and got some dubplates cut.
So the last two years i bought a lot of cheap stuff on ebay i could need for this project.

So for now I have:
- Technics SP10 with Grace 747 tonearm
- phono pre
- rose+krieger linear unit with 1mm pitch
- maxon ec motor with epos2 drive
- case for control unit
- (hopefully soon) Caruso + Preamp
- Amp
- RTW peakmeter

The plan is to start small and try to run it with as less options as possible. I just want to already think about future options, without building them right from the beginning.
Done already:
- made CAD drawings for everything
- build control unit with basic control options for driving the maxon motor ( the control unit has already much more options/buttons for controlling things like heating, vacuum, lights, temperature..., but i want so start small)
- set up code for controlling the maxon motor via arduino due (DAC output to 5v analog input of eops2)

Doing atm:
- building plywood plinth for technics
- building/mounting the arm on the linear unit
- start building the suspension box
- trying to learn to code, as i have only very basic javascript knowledge

There are still to many to-dos to list them all here

If everything is working how i wanted it to, i will share the CAD drawings, code and detailed info on what i used with everyone who is interested. I really got most of my info from this forum and also want to contribute to it by sharing. Also happy to link up in person, if there's anybody near munich.
The goal i want to archive is to cut decent dubplates for our soundsystem.

I document this project with analog photography, so the pictures won't always be up to date. Perhaps i will set up a blog or design a book documenting this project.

Some first impressions:
The CAD drawings are already a bit older, but will update them soon.

Best,
Jo

[2043]

Wow! Looks Fabulous! Is that an Arduino Mega that you are controlling your stepper motors with? I've been exploring the Arduino world and have some UNO's on order to play with. How did programming go for you? This looks complicated for sure. I'm guessing each button control is for each cutting arm function. Dang you have a great setup there!

[boryo]

That looks great! Congratulations! Would you share the exact model of the motor and the driver? I've powering the overhead of my lathe with stepper motor and would like to try 'the proper way'. I remember this was somewhere on the forum but cant find it now

Best,
Bob

[rootz]

Some time went by, but I still working on it.
Finished the measurements on the Caruso Pre just a few days ago. Seems fine so far. Also need to check again with the dummy head, when i finish the cable.

IMG_1123.jpg

IMG_1126.jpg

Caruso Head also did arrive some time ago Really happy that i got one of the last ones.

And I just did some new CAD drawings of the cutter. Wanted to go with a more easy one then it was.

Bildschirmfoto 2023-12-12 um 18.26.34.png

Bildschirmfoto 2023-12-12 um 18.28.11.png

Bildschirmfoto 2023-12-12 um 18.30.11.png

I someone wants to take a more detailed look. There is a web-view for Fusion360: Lathe:https://a360.co/3Tt2QzM Suspension Box: https://a360.co/47PjCxJ It's pretty cool, to play around.
If anyone notices anything that could cause problems please let me know. If someone is interested in the Fusion 360 files, I'm happy to share them.
I will work some more time on it and will then hand it over to my friend to build the parts for me.

For the questions on the last posts:
I'm using a EC32 Maxon 24V with a gearhead. It's controlled by a Maxon Epos3 Motor Controller. I feed 0-5V from the arduino to the Epos to control the speed. I just got some help with programming on the arduino. When everything is up and running I will share the code.

So hopefully in the beginning of next year I'll be able to set up my lathe and start the first tests.
Thanks again for this great source of knowledge.

Cheers,
J

[farmersplow]

Hello Jo,
those are really great 3D plans. It looks like you are making good progress with your construction.
I noticed two things about the suspension box:
1. you won't need the huge counterweight because you have a tension spring high up anyway with great leverage. The weight will get in the way of the cables on the rear wall (many cables come together there). You can't adjust the weight when the box is closed. Or I may have seen it wrong.
2. if I understand correctly, the lifting of the head is done with a servo motor. I tried that at first, but in the end I left it because I couldn't find a way to use a mechanical lever for lowering and raising. The servomotor positioning always blocked the lowering or raising. Or I saw it wrong and the servo motor controls something else.
In any case, keep going! I'm looking forward to seeing how the development continues.

Thomas

[rootz]

Thanks a lot for your feedback Thomas! Your project is also very inspiring, your works are really amazing!

1. Very valuable! I will test if I really need a counterweight, otherwise I just leave it out. Just wanted to have some space if I later want to develop a automatic lift like in a neumann suspension box.
2. I searched a lot for a solution that works manually and with the servo. But i couldn't find a good solution. My latest idea was to install two micro switches at the start and end point of the manual lifting mechanism. Those microswitches should control the servo. But i haven't figured out if they react fast enough. I think I need to test it when everything is set up.

Viele Grüße aus dem Nachbarland (und dem gleichen Breitengrad wie Wien )
J