Lathe from a treadle sewing machine

[Zach Dillinger]

I'm not sure if this should be posted in the Neanderthal forum or the Turners Forum, but since I visit this one more, so here I am.

My father recently gave me the complete (rusty) base for a treadle sewing machine. It has the flywheel / pulley, the treadle itself, shaft, etc. My first thought was to build a small treadle lathe out of it. Has anyone done it? I figure it is, if nothing else, a good jump on building a lathe.

I'd be really interested to see pics if anyone has done this before.

Thanks,

Zach

[Justin Green]

I'd also be interested in the answer to this as I come across complete bases all the time. My only thought is that the flywheel might not be large enough....


Found a picture of one here - looks to be a really old sewing machine treadle, too.

http://jointer.oldetoolshop.com/lathes/treadlelathes.html

[Jim Koepke]

I have the same thoughts on this kind of thing.

The sewing base fly wheel is light, there could be one on the lathe head stock to give it a bit more weight.

jim

[george wilson]

It probably would only be powerful enough for a watchmaker's size lathe. They had watch lathes powered by similar means in the 19th.C.. When we made treadle lathes for the museum,we used an oak flywheel about 2' or more in diameter,and about 5" thick. You should see the crazy looking treadle lathes some German clockmakers used in the Black Forest. They had a misshapen boulder,not anywhere round at all,with a shaft running through it. Somehow,they judged the balancing point and drilled a hole through the rock for the shaft. Probably got it mounted,and knocked chunks off the heavy side until it balanced reasonably.

[Zach Dillinger]

It probably would only be powerful enough for a watchmaker's size lathe. They had watch lathes powered by similar means in the 19th.C.. When we made treadle lathes for the museum,we used an oak flywheel about 2' or more in diameter,and about 5" thick. You should see the crazy looking treadle lathes some German clockmakers used in the Black Forest. They had a misshapen boulder,not anywhere round at all,with a shaft running through it. Somehow,they judged the balancing point and drilled a hole through the rock for the shaft. Probably got it mounted,and knocked chunks off the heavy side until it balanced reasonably.

So the consensus is that the flywheel would be too light to make a really useful treadle lathe, am I right? Perhaps I will mount my hand cranked grinder to it, make a top out of countertop scrap and make a sharpening station out of it.

[Justin Green]

That's a good idea.

[george wilson]

You might be able to use small grinding wheels,like 3" dia..

[Paul Atkins]

We seem to think of mass and power as prerequisites to smoothness and quality when it comes to tools. Sharpness and finesse are just as important. You are not going to turn big bowls on this thing for sure, but I would think you could turn pens or stoppers all day long. If you could get a few pounds added to the flywheel it would make it smoother for sure, but you wouldn't want to pump a whole lot of weight all day. After all you still would have to move the mass of the wheel even if there were no turning in it. What I'm saying is -go for it- maybe make the handwheel a bit larger and thicker for a bonus, but You'll never know what you can do till you try. I remember Del Stubbs using a sewing machine treadle for a little traveling lathe.

[george wilson]

Well,then,he's pretty much at jeweler's lathe size if he's going to turn pens. I definitely agree that he needs to make the flywheel heavier. Some classes of very expensive spinning wheels for the wealthy,which have ivory bobbins,and polished brass parts also had flywheels somewhat the size of the sewing machine,but they had lead rims on them about 3/4" X 5/8" if you sawed one in half. That was just for the power of spinning thread,let alone turning wood. If possible,rig up a jeweler's lathe for a trial before putting a lot of effort into the experiment.

[Zach Dillinger]

Well,then,he's pretty much at jeweler's lathe size if he's going to turn pens. I definitely agree that he needs to make the flywheel heavier. Some classes of very expensive spinning wheels for the wealthy,which have ivory bobbins,and polished brass parts also had flywheels somewhat the size of the sewing machine,but they had lead rims on them about 3/4" X 5/8" if you sawed one in half. That was just for the power of spinning thread,let alone turning wood. If possible,rig up a jeweler's lathe for a trial before putting a lot of effort into the experiment.

Thanks again for your input. I have reels of self adhesive lead tape because in college, I strung and modified tennis racquets for people in my dorm room. Lead is added to make the swingweight of the racquet higer, so I wonder if I lined the inside of the flywheel with several layers of lead tape the wheel would be heavy enough. Might be worth a go. As a bonus, I could balance the wheel with the tape so that it would run very smooth.

[Zach Dillinger]

We seem to think of mass and power as prerequisites to smoothness and quality when it comes to tools. Sharpness and finesse are just as important. You are not going to turn big bowls on this thing for sure, but I would think you could turn pens or stoppers all day long. If you could get a few pounds added to the flywheel it would make it smoother for sure, but you wouldn't want to pump a whole lot of weight all day. After all you still would have to move the mass of the wheel even if there were no turning in it. What I'm saying is -go for it- maybe make the handwheel a bit larger and thicker for a bonus, but You'll never know what you can do till you try. I remember Del Stubbs using a sewing machine treadle for a little traveling lathe.

Paul, I would likely be turning spindles for furniture projects. I'm never tried to make a pen or a bowl. Besides, I do have a electron-powered lathe for bigger projects; I just like the idea of going Neanderthal as much as possible.

Thanks!