Julian Tracy
02-10-2011, 7:42 AM
I posted this thread on Woodnet, but figured a few folks here would appreciate seeing such a cool tool...
So I bought this lathe the other day for $50. That was with a stand and motor - nice motor too. It's a capacitor start 1/3 or 1/2HP - I'm actually using that for something else and used a nice 1/3HP open type design I had for this lathe.
I built a new base for it from a couple of rolling cabinets I had hanging around and some plywood for the top and some shelves mounted in-between to join them. The lathe bed is lagged to a pc. of 2x8 lumber.
Anyways, the guy that built this must have been a genius, it's a great design and very well made.
The headstock and tailstock are made of notched, bent and rounded heavy duty aluminum C-channel. I took pics of the tailstock bottom and interior so you can see how it was fabricated. The bed is also made from a chunk of aluminum C-channel, a much thicker, larger profile.
Cool thing is that all bearing surfaces are made with solid brass runners and all wear surfaces are faced with steel. The whole unit is a mix of Aluminum brass and steel construction.
The headstock has a threaded 1/2" shaft that happened to perfectly mate with an old 4 jaw chuck I had that was from an old Craftsman/Dunlop 6" metal lathe. The tailstock has a 3/8" shaft that has a tapered attach set-screwed to it with a live center.
The Tool rest that came with it is about 10-12" and is attached to a 5/8" steel rod and allows for full movement and pivot. I fabricated a smaller 6" rest from some matching steel rod and some 1 1/4 steel angle.
I replaced the tool rest and tailstock tightening nuts with quick action handles I had around.
I fabricated a motor cover that simply lays over it and is open on one end from some 1/16" aluminum.
I've never even used a wood lathe before, but had a set of mini-lathe tools I had bought thinking I might turn some small wood stuff on my metal lathe. Using that set, I actually created a new set of handles for my Grandfather's old chisels after just a day of fooling around on it.
Realized right away that those tools were too small to be of much use, so I also made a set of four home-made turning tools using some spare tool steel stock I had sitting around and some old handrail stock.
Trickiest one was the small fingernail gouge I made. That was made from solid 1/2" square tool steel. I used a radius cutter to form out the hollow on my mill and then shaped the relief on the mill a lot and further shaped it on the belt grinder. Had to use carbide milling cutters to even tough this stuff, and even then my mill didn't really want to do it. (Have a 6x26 knee mill...)
It's got a swing of about 16", though I certainly would do anything near such a size given the spindle size and rudimentary construction. The measurement between centers is about 29". I took off the tailstock and buffed it and polished it to a shine - didn't do that to the headstock though.
Would have loved to meet the guy who made it - he's probably long gone. Must have been a smart feller!
JT
So I bought this lathe the other day for $50. That was with a stand and motor - nice motor too. It's a capacitor start 1/3 or 1/2HP - I'm actually using that for something else and used a nice 1/3HP open type design I had for this lathe.
I built a new base for it from a couple of rolling cabinets I had hanging around and some plywood for the top and some shelves mounted in-between to join them. The lathe bed is lagged to a pc. of 2x8 lumber.
Anyways, the guy that built this must have been a genius, it's a great design and very well made.
The headstock and tailstock are made of notched, bent and rounded heavy duty aluminum C-channel. I took pics of the tailstock bottom and interior so you can see how it was fabricated. The bed is also made from a chunk of aluminum C-channel, a much thicker, larger profile.
Cool thing is that all bearing surfaces are made with solid brass runners and all wear surfaces are faced with steel. The whole unit is a mix of Aluminum brass and steel construction.
The headstock has a threaded 1/2" shaft that happened to perfectly mate with an old 4 jaw chuck I had that was from an old Craftsman/Dunlop 6" metal lathe. The tailstock has a 3/8" shaft that has a tapered attach set-screwed to it with a live center.
The Tool rest that came with it is about 10-12" and is attached to a 5/8" steel rod and allows for full movement and pivot. I fabricated a smaller 6" rest from some matching steel rod and some 1 1/4 steel angle.
I replaced the tool rest and tailstock tightening nuts with quick action handles I had around.
I fabricated a motor cover that simply lays over it and is open on one end from some 1/16" aluminum.
I've never even used a wood lathe before, but had a set of mini-lathe tools I had bought thinking I might turn some small wood stuff on my metal lathe. Using that set, I actually created a new set of handles for my Grandfather's old chisels after just a day of fooling around on it.
Realized right away that those tools were too small to be of much use, so I also made a set of four home-made turning tools using some spare tool steel stock I had sitting around and some old handrail stock.
Trickiest one was the small fingernail gouge I made. That was made from solid 1/2" square tool steel. I used a radius cutter to form out the hollow on my mill and then shaped the relief on the mill a lot and further shaped it on the belt grinder. Had to use carbide milling cutters to even tough this stuff, and even then my mill didn't really want to do it. (Have a 6x26 knee mill...)
It's got a swing of about 16", though I certainly would do anything near such a size given the spindle size and rudimentary construction. The measurement between centers is about 29". I took off the tailstock and buffed it and polished it to a shine - didn't do that to the headstock though.
Would have loved to meet the guy who made it - he's probably long gone. Must have been a smart feller!
JT