Convert A Porper Model B to CNC
- Thread starter skipthorp
- Start date
I'm sure you could use ACORN and NEMA17 stepper motors or closed loop stepper coupled with a VFD for speed control. You will have to be pretty good with electronics or pay someone for the job.
I'm not super familiar with the Porper lathe, so I don't know how easy it is to fit a stepper motor to the different axis, so check that there's enough room.
ACORN is incredibly flexible, most support is user based, which isn't optimal, but the hardware and software is really good.
I'm not super familiar with the Porper lathe, so I don't know how easy it is to fit a stepper motor to the different axis, so check that there's enough room.
ACORN is incredibly flexible, most support is user based, which isn't optimal, but the hardware and software is really good.
DeeDeeCues
Well-known member
The first thing I would want to know is what you want to do with the CNC.
CNC is great for cutting shaft and butt tapers, inlays, etc.. It is not necessarily great for repair work. I can't see the advantage to attempting to do ferrules and tips with CNC.
If you are looking to add CNC and keep manual operation, that is a bit trickier as back-driving a motor can create current that can flow back into the control system and fry expensive electronics if they aren't protected. This is something you might research if you aren't an expert.
A basic list of your requirements for the machine after conversion would be helpful. What you want to do with CNC and what you still want to have the option to do manually would be helpful for you and anyone providing advice. Mounting motors, wiring them up and making them move with some kind of controller is easy. Making the machine do everything you want is tougher, especially if you haven't fully defined what you want....
I spend a decent amount of time as a mechanical designer for multi-million dollar CNC machines. Most problems we ran into were due to lack of specification, or poorly defined requirements. When I designed my cnc cue lathe, I worked from a detailed list of specifications that included some compromises. I'm happy with the result and know that my solution isn't the solution that most cuemakers would opt for. I'd be happy to assist via pm or email if you want someone to bounce ideas off, or a second set of eyes.
CNC is great for cutting shaft and butt tapers, inlays, etc.. It is not necessarily great for repair work. I can't see the advantage to attempting to do ferrules and tips with CNC.
If you are looking to add CNC and keep manual operation, that is a bit trickier as back-driving a motor can create current that can flow back into the control system and fry expensive electronics if they aren't protected. This is something you might research if you aren't an expert.
A basic list of your requirements for the machine after conversion would be helpful. What you want to do with CNC and what you still want to have the option to do manually would be helpful for you and anyone providing advice. Mounting motors, wiring them up and making them move with some kind of controller is easy. Making the machine do everything you want is tougher, especially if you haven't fully defined what you want....
I spend a decent amount of time as a mechanical designer for multi-million dollar CNC machines. Most problems we ran into were due to lack of specification, or poorly defined requirements. When I designed my cnc cue lathe, I worked from a detailed list of specifications that included some compromises. I'm happy with the result and know that my solution isn't the solution that most cuemakers would opt for. I'd be happy to assist via pm or email if you want someone to bounce ideas off, or a second set of eyes.
I can see the use for a CNC lathe if you make a lot of parts, like if you want to make plugs for carbon fibre shafts, buttcaps or whatever. But if it's for doing general cue work, I think that's just gonna be a slow way of doing work.
Considering the price of the Porper lathe, the difficulty sourcing parts and the hobby/prosumer nature of the lathe, it's a fairly costly project for something that might not have the accuracy and ridgidity needed. You can get a Haas TL-1 pretty cheap now..
DeeDeeCues
Well-known member
I don't know. A haas is going to cost well over 10k, right?
I was running a taper bar setup before converting it to cnc. I have maybe 1k into the motors and a stand alone controller with mpg handheld.
The rigidity issue is a minor concern, but working wood isn't like working metals.
If you wanted to make a bunch of parts like you describe, you'd really want something with a bar feed, which escalated cost.
Again, it all comes down to fully defining the function and usage.
You can get TL-1's under 10K now on the used market and even a well worn machine could probably produce cue parts from now to infinity, it's as you say, making cues or cue parts is not like machining metal parts all day long.
I agree with you, it's all about the intended use.
i have used a regular 13x40 lathe for years now and it has served me well. I'll be expanding shortly as I have a Hardinge HLV-H incoming. Seeing that's not a super cheap machine in itself, I also looked at Hass TL1 and similar cnc machines, but decided that another manual precision lathe was the way to go. I do have a 4 axis cnc as well.
DeeDeeCues
Well-known member
I'm happy I went to cnc for tapering and cutting points and butterflies. Because I have limited space I built my cnc on a big wood lathe. I've improved much about the lathe, but it can still act as a traditional wood lathe (one of my design parameters). I've put the tail on linear rails and have an er50 center chuck for facing. Many wouldn't have done it like I did, but it works very well. I had to machine a lot of the parts and had to work the lathe beds to obtain the required accuracy, but the end is a sufficiently rigid machine that has 46" between centers. I generally use er32 coolers in the head and there is very little runout. Material deflection when cutting is a bigger problem than any accuracy on my setup.