Tom LaRussa
11-14-2004, 5:40 PM
I've decided I need to start spinning stuff, because I'm making a lot of tools and they are going to need handles.
The problem is, I don't have the dough for even the most basic Harbor Freight lathe.
Solution: Cobble a lathe together out of whatever junk I can find in the shop, and use my drill press to power it.
Process:
I really don't know beans about lathes, except I know that one end has power and the other end is supposed to have a pointy thingie that sticks into the wood but spins freely. (Or something like that, right?)
So, I gather up my stuff:
Some roller blade bearings, a 7/8" nut, and a piece of 5/16" mild steel round rod make up the mechanical parts of the end that spins freely.
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/01.jpg
I drill a hole in a big chunk of wood to "mount" the mechanical components:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/02.jpg
Next, I chuck the piece of 5/16" rod in the drill press:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/03.jpg
Using a file I cut a point on the end of the rod:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/04.jpg
It is no longer just a piece of rod -- it is officially "the pointy thing."
Nice and sharp!
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/05.jpg
I sanded the black stuff off the pointy thing to make it look purty:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/06.jpg
To keep the pointy thing from bottoming out in the hole I held it against the sharp edge of the little "anvil" ledge on my bench vice and banged on it with a hammer until it was deformed enough so the bearings could not slide past that point:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/07.jpg
Next I "mounted" the mechanical parts in the block of wood, i.e., I dropped them down the hole:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/08.jpg
The finished, mounted, pointy thingie:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/09.jpg
(Off camera: I next used two clamps to hold the wooden block / pointy thingie assembly to the little table on the drill press.)
One more mechanical part is a counter-sinking bit that came with a set of drill & driver bits. It is used to transfer the power from the drill press motor to the first victim of this machine. A little piece of scrap maple.
With a little fudging around, I managed to get the wood more-or-less centered and away I went...
WHEE!
I'M DOING THAT SPINNY STUFF! :D
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/10.jpg
The not-so-impressive results of the first minutes of my first effort.
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/11.jpg
Post script:
The pointy thing is way too loose, so the wood wobbles terribly.
The problem is, I don't have the dough for even the most basic Harbor Freight lathe.
Solution: Cobble a lathe together out of whatever junk I can find in the shop, and use my drill press to power it.
Process:
I really don't know beans about lathes, except I know that one end has power and the other end is supposed to have a pointy thingie that sticks into the wood but spins freely. (Or something like that, right?)
So, I gather up my stuff:
Some roller blade bearings, a 7/8" nut, and a piece of 5/16" mild steel round rod make up the mechanical parts of the end that spins freely.
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/01.jpg
I drill a hole in a big chunk of wood to "mount" the mechanical components:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/02.jpg
Next, I chuck the piece of 5/16" rod in the drill press:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/03.jpg
Using a file I cut a point on the end of the rod:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/04.jpg
It is no longer just a piece of rod -- it is officially "the pointy thing."
Nice and sharp!
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/05.jpg
I sanded the black stuff off the pointy thing to make it look purty:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/06.jpg
To keep the pointy thing from bottoming out in the hole I held it against the sharp edge of the little "anvil" ledge on my bench vice and banged on it with a hammer until it was deformed enough so the bearings could not slide past that point:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/07.jpg
Next I "mounted" the mechanical parts in the block of wood, i.e., I dropped them down the hole:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/08.jpg
The finished, mounted, pointy thingie:
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/09.jpg
(Off camera: I next used two clamps to hold the wooden block / pointy thingie assembly to the little table on the drill press.)
One more mechanical part is a counter-sinking bit that came with a set of drill & driver bits. It is used to transfer the power from the drill press motor to the first victim of this machine. A little piece of scrap maple.
With a little fudging around, I managed to get the wood more-or-less centered and away I went...
WHEE!
I'M DOING THAT SPINNY STUFF! :D
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/10.jpg
The not-so-impressive results of the first minutes of my first effort.
http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/lathe/11.jpg
Post script:
The pointy thing is way too loose, so the wood wobbles terribly.