Robust mod

[George Clark]

I had Brent English (owner of Robust) procure and machine an 8" hand wheel for the tail stock for my American Beauty. Aesthetically, I think it looks like it belongs on the lathe rather than the little "girlie" wheel that came with it. Actually, I do a good bit of drilling on the lathe and I find that the additional size and leverage of the larger wheel makes drilling easier and more precise.

George

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks George, that really does look nice and I can see how it would make a difference. I am interested in this mod.:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

George - that looks like a great wheel! What size was the stock wheel? Looks to be about 6" in the stock photos.

[alex carey]

go big or go home.

Nice new hand wheel.

[George Clark]

Steve,

The stock wheel was 5 inches in diameter.

George

[Jim Kountz]

Man Id love to have a wheel like that on my 1642, I always thought the handwheel on it looked like a GI joe toy. That looks great George!!

[Duff Bement]

IMHO it looks like it belongs on there. It appears to fit the lathe real nice.

[Steve Mawson]

That looks to be a super addition.

[Bernie Weishapl]

George that looks like it will work great. I am having my machinist friend see if he can engineer a 6" wheel for my Nova. Drilling is the pits with a small wheel.

[George Clark]

Bernie,

Wheels of all sizes with unmachined centers are available from McMaster-Carr. http://www.mcmaster.com/

A machinist can drill the center to the proper size and add the appropriate retaining feature, usually a key way, to match your lathe.

George

[Steven DeMars]

I realize the tail stock does not turn , so my next comment does not apply to it . . .

Not all hand wheels are created equally . . .

If you need a hand wheel for your headstock, buy solid, not spoked, machined, not cast . . . Years ago I built some 20lb peanut roasters. I included a hand wheel assist to position the drum for rapid unloading. Since the proposed mounting shaft was the same as the motor, for some dumb reason I decided to mount it on the motor (curiosity kills the cat) . .

Playing . . . .

. . I now know a poor quality cast hand wheel can fly apart at 3000+ RPM . . .


Steve