My Lathe — Emcomat 8.6

I bought the Emcomat 8.6 a few years ago.

To be honest, it looked rather small when I first inspected it. Compared with the machines I had used during my training—including an Emco Maximat V13—it almost looked like a toy.

On the other hand, it literally fit in the trunk of the car.

I did not have a specific project in mind at the time. To me, a lathe simply belongs in a sensible household—just like a welder and, eventually, a milling machine.

I did not buy it as a restoration project, nor did I plan to rebuild it completely.

I wanted to use it.

The modifications came later.

Compared with the large machines I had used during my training, the Emcomat initially looked almost like a toy. It did, however, actually fit in the trunk.

What kept bothering me about the Emcomat

After the first few jobs, it quickly became clear that the small Emcomat was capable of more than its initial appearance suggested.

Its compact construction also came with several details that repeatedly occupied my attention while working:

the bed adjustment strips
the sometimes awkward speed selector
the short tailstock quill
the EMCO factory-standard spindle nose
the compound slide
the half nut and feed-screw nuts
the lack of an unambiguous X- and Z-position readout
the relatively high minimum spindle speed
and many small details that are handled more elaborately on larger machines—or exist there in the first place

Not all of these points needed to be changed immediately, or at all.

I wanted to improve some of them. Others first needed to be understood more thoroughly. And in a few cases, I simply had to decide whether I could—or wanted to—live with them.

None of these points was particularly dramatic on its own.

Taken together, however, they were enough to make me say:

There is still room for improvement.

The first modifications

The first jobs were not major conversions.

I initially completed a few manageable projects, including:

Vertical slide for the lathe — adapter plate for the vise
T-nuts for the Emcomat 8.6 — made from C45 without a milling machine
and various smaller adjustments

Not all of them were strictly necessary.

Often, a part was made simply because something seemed unnecessarily awkward while I was working, or because I wanted to know whether it could be solved differently.

Most of the ideas did not originate at a desk.

They developed directly at the machine—while measuring, clamping, turning handwheels, or being annoyed by some minor detail.

Finally owning a machine that can make a large proportion of its own improvements is a rather pleasant thing.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Emcomat with one of the first homemade parts, such as the four-way tool holder or carriage stop]

Caption: The first modifications were still fairly manageable. Many of the later projects developed directly from working with the machine.

I only wanted a simple position readout

The larger conversion began with a comparatively simple wish.

I wanted to read the positions of the cross slide and carriage more easily and unambiguously.

At a minimum—or according to the original idea—a modified digital caliper would have been sufficient.

Until then, much of the work relied on:

graduated dials
stops
a dial indicator
counting handwheel revolutions
and a fair amount of mental arithmetic

That works in principle.

In the long term, however, it is tedious and prone to error. Calculation errors behaved surprisingly often like businesspeople are sometimes accused of behaving:

They worked against me with remarkable consistency.

While I was considering different ways to add a position readout, the idea gradually became larger.

Naturally, it did not take long before I arrived at CNC.

That was not what I wanted, however. Partly because of my nonexistent programming skills, and partly because of the additional complexity.

I also wanted to continue operating the Emcomat conventionally—or at least retain the ability to do so.

Electronic assistance where it genuinely makes the work easier—yes.

A fully CNC-controlled machine—no.

That was when the ELS4 from Rocketronics entered the picture.

So I bought the ELS controller and drive package—and the originally planned DIY super-simple digital-caliper position readout eventually became a fairly extensive conversion, at least by my standards:

None of this was planned as one complete project from the beginning.

One part led to, required, and demanded the next.

The project grew.

So did I.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Current state of the Emcomat with visible components of the ELS conversion]

The planned super-simple position readout therefore became a conversion with drive units on both axes, a spindle encoder, and its own electrical system.

Projects surrounding the Emcomat

STP four-way tool holder

One of the first larger parts made for and with the Emcomat was my own Solid Toolpost with a four-way tool holder.

I wanted to keep several frequently used tools directly on the machine and change between them without constantly removing and setting them up again.

Solid Toolpost, modular base plate, and four-way tool holder for the Emcomat 8.6

Carriage stop

I made my own stop for the carriage to provide repeatable lengths and defined positions.

Carriage stop for the Emcomat 8.6 — made on the lathe used as a slow-motion shaper

Chuck backplate

I needed a suitable backplate for the EMCO spindle nose to mount another chuck.

So this part was also made on the machine itself.

An “easy” backplate for a 125 mm independent four-jaw chuck on the Emcomat 8.6

Electronic leadscrew

What began as a simple position readout developed into an electronic leadscrew with motorized axes, a spindle encoder, a control cabinet, and dedicated wiring.

Cross-slide leadscrew ruined

While building the X-axis drive, the original cross-slide leadscrew seized inside an extension adapter.

What initially looked like a thoroughly failed machining operation eventually led to a complete conversion to a TR10×2 leadscrew with a new bronze nut and a homemade nut carrier.

(2) Cross-slide leadscrew ruined — rescue and conversion to TR10×2

Not a finished project

For me, the Emcomat is not a completed restoration or conversion project.

It is a machine I work with.

New ideas continue to emerge while I use it.

Some of them are implemented. Others remain on a list. And a few exist only because an earlier attempt did not work.

Not every first solution is good.

Sometimes the second one is not either.

The machine does not need to reach some final, permanently finished state for me.

It needs to work, suit the way I use it, and remain free to develop whenever I think of a better solution.

The small lathe that once fit in the trunk has therefore become both a tool and a project.

And it became the starting point for a large part of what can now be found on WerkstattDenke.

Emco Emcomat 8.6

Table of Contents