[Emc-users] CNC lathe integrator

[Ralph S. <st...@ww...>]

I am shopping for a CNC toolroom-type lathe for our Manufacturing
Systems lab.  I would love to have an open-source control running
on standard hardware, as doing our own low-cost maintenance would
be a real benefit.  Unfortunately, I haven't got the time to do my
own retrofit of a lathe with LinuxCNC.  Are there any machine
integrators that will set up a new lathe with LinuxCNC for a
reasonable price?  I'm looking to end up with something on the order
of a Haas TL-1, ProtoTrak lathe, Clausing MultiTurn, or the ubiquitous
Kent/Acra/Eisen/Victor 1118CNC machines.  I've got a budget on the
order of $25K-$30K.  I'd like the finished control to be as good
as a Fanuc 0i or MDSI OpenCNC if possible.

We presently have a Haas TM-1 toolroom mill, and I find the Haas
control to be very antiquated and frustrating.  It might be a
candidate for a future LinuxCNC retrofit :-).

Thanks for any suggestions!
-- Ralph

Ralph Stirling, Project Engineer
Walla Walla College, School of Engineering
http://engr.wwc.edu/students/classes/engr480