Holly Cow, someone turned a bench grinder into a lathe!

[Jack Gaskins]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z65BYu5DxxM

[Mike Stephens]

Looks to me like a high speed grinder. 3200 rpm right out of the gate. Hope he won't miss his teeth when they get knocked out.

[Mike Cruz]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in that room when that thing went! Heck, I wouldn't want to be OUTSIDE...that piece of wood, at that velocity, would probably take out that window and kill ya out there...

[Deane Allinson]

That be cookin'! some serious RPMs. I be scheered of that one too.
Deane

[Russell Neyman]

Whatever happened to that guy who bolted two Shopsmiths together and started turning a 500-pound log with a half-inch bowl gouge? Gotta wonder if that worked out and everyone made it safely to the end of the project.

[Marty Eargle]

That setup and the speed it turns at is a little unnerving, sure....but a catch with that skew is what would worry me the most. I can say that the though of a lathe with a grinder "attachment" is a nice thought.

[Jason Ritchie]

Looks to me like a high speed grinder. 3200 rpm right out of the gate. Hope he won't miss his teeth when they get knocked out.

This made me laugh! .. a lot!

[Jamie Donaldson]

He's definitely not speed roughing with that skew used as a negative rake scraper!

[Joshua Culp]

Whatever happened to that guy who bolted two Shopsmiths together and started turning a 500-pound log with a half-inch bowl gouge? Gotta wonder if that worked out and everyone made it safely to the end of the project.

That project turned out great. He showed up on the Shopsmith forum over at shopsmith.net to answer some Shopsmith-specific questions for us. I would include a link if you're interested to read the details, but I'm typing on my phone and copying and pasting links is a pain.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That looks like a accident waiting to happen.

[Brent VanFossen]

Just because you *can* do something doesn't mean you should. Aside from the speed of the thing, I like how the tool rest is attached with what looks like a single bolt at the bottom. A little push could send it crashing into the turning itself.

[Rick Markham]

The scariest thing about that is the way he is using that poor skew. Can't say it doesn't purr though LOL

[Roger Chandler]

The tool rest is totally flat...........his tool work is nothing more than a scraper............he seriously needs some lessons in turning from someone who knows what they are doing! I guess when you improvise and fabricate your lathe, you improvise and fabricate the way you turn as well...............

This is an accident just waiting to happen.........hope he will come on SMC and see what it is supposed to be like and let someone help him before he gets hurt. :eek:

[Michael Mills]

Maybe he learned his speed setting watching that UK guy that has made lots of popular DVD's. Best I remember, when he demo'ed at the local club he started a winged bowl from a board and started at 3200. After everyone realized there wasn't a Huey Cobra landing in the room things settled down.

[Robert McGowen]

Well, if nothing else, his sharpening station seems very handy........ :)

[Steve Busey]

Well, if nothing else, his sharpening station seems very handy........ :) That was my first impression - had to rewind to see what those sparks were from - ingenious!

[Peter Fabricius]

This is definately an accident looking for a place to happen.. He is using a regular chisel, NOT a SKEW. Holding it at a negative angle and just banging the blank.
Amazing that the inside - out laminated blank is still in one piece. He sure cound use some lessons. All the time he is turning the piece could have been completed easily with a couple of gouges held at their proper angles.
He is also a left handed person and I suppose that is why he put the grinder (headstock) on the right side. (He could have set it up on the left side).
If anyone knows him please invite him to SMC.
Hope he did not get hurt.....
Peter F.

[Bill Bulloch]

There was very little wood removed in that video. It looks like he is using a scraper -- not my choice of roughing tool. Note the window in the back of the lathe; how long do you think it will be before that is broken?

[Jerry Marcantel]

Since the captions to the video are in Spanish, any one of our distinguished Spanish literate members ought to invite him to join SMC and then he can get good advice.. Whether he would use the advice is another story.
The tailstock almost looks like a ratcheting screwdriver or some other weird thing.. You have to admit though, he has an intriguing mind to build that lathe the way he did... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Rick Markham]

Oh for sure it's super creative. It looks like it turns true too. Bet it gets real exciting if anything is off balance, even a little!

[Jeff Nicol]

Crazy folks make the rest of us look good! But at least he is doing something he enjoys and created the lathe on his own. There are millions of people out there who wish to have things and can't afford them so they are forced into making do with what they have, but ggod intentions can still hurt as it hits you in the side of the head!

It takes all kinds,

Jeff

[Mike Cruz]

Jeff, DON'T get any ideas from that guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Wyko]

That's not a lathe, that's a weapon. If that goes wrong, it goes very very wrong. The next youtube video will be him pulling the piece out of his head.