scrap part mini lathe

so I went browsing the web looking for a good solution for powering my spindle. found a few interesting things, but the stepper motor controlled spindle is what caught my eye. I gathered up supplies. here is a list: nema 23 unipolar stepper, 2 vcr drive heads and the timing belt pulley assembly from a old belt sander. and various misc. bits as well.

for the frame of the spindle I am using some fiberglass c channel, pretty sturdy material. I plan on laminating two pieces with jb weld & rivets, forming a I beam shape. should work pretty well I think. now the timing belt drive was I pretty good snag. popped open a old belt sander and it was right there in the outside of the body, had to press in brass tubing to shim the I.D of the pulleys to match the O.D of the motor & spindle shafts. the motor was easy, spindle tho, not so much. came up with a really neat trick tho that worked awesome. more to come

I decided to use studs and nylon lock nuts on the vertical slides, dur to the fact it makes assembly/adjustment much more simple. the holes are already tapped for 1/4 20 bolts, so I purchaced 4 4" bolts and applied jb weld before screwing them in place. after the jb weld was done I drilled set screw holes and, set the screws lol. cut the bolt heads off and I am good to go.

the bearings and mounts are from a old skateboard wheel. this was a really simple task. I mounted the wheel in my drill and proceeded to cur right down the center with my hacksaw. more progress to follow----------

just finished jb welding the bearing assembly to the base, all clamped solid and waiting to dry. the traveling bed(idk the technical term) is almost complete. all holes drilled and tapped where need be. for being all wood it is pretty sweet. almost no friction. made sure to make the vertical slides ajdustable. getting ready to mock up the leadscrew