The Norman comes alive! (Monster Lathe Update)

[David DeCristoforo]

Well, there it is... running!

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Got the motor mounted and fired it up. So far so good. I think I've found a guy to help me build the tool rest and I still have to relocate the motor switch and speed dial to the front of the "tower" where Mark had the foresight to cast a box into the column for just that purpose. That will be simple. But I also have to rearrange the tent to make room for the new beast and that will happen this week. Hopefully, by the end of next week, I can get some wood mounted and give this thing a real "road test".

Here's what the drive system looks like at this point. In order to use the larger pulley on the motor, I need to change the belt to a longer one. So the speed range changes will be a bit cumbersome for now. But I can live with that and someday, I may re-work the whole motor mount and drive setup anyway.

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Onward.....

PS For the time being, I am not going to use the bed or "ballast" at all. The guy who is going to help me with the tool rest is also going to make a brace that will attach to the back side of the tower and bolt to the floor.

[Nate Davey]

That is awesome David!

[Sid Matheny]

Sure looks like a plan coming together to me!

Sid

[Roger Chandler]

Nice work David......that will be a pretty substantial bowl lathe............good to get it up and going.........likely this is an evolving setup, so at least you have flexibility in design and features you can work with. Looking forward to your first project off this concrete monster.

[Harry Robinette]

Nice to see you got her running, that's got to really get you wanting to get wood spinning soon.

[David DeCristoforo]

One thing I can already tell you about this motor is that it takes a few seconds to spin up at whatever speed it is set at. But it stops rather abruptly. I had that big Titan chuck lightly screwed on with no set screws and when I switched it off, the chuck unscrewed itself. Fortunately I had already put my camera down so I had both hands to catch it with! Unfortunately, it's big and heavy and it was spinning as it flew through the air so I got a couple of "owies" on my hands. Very minor but enough to let me know that I don't want to do that again…..

"...that's got to really get you wanting to get wood spinning..."

More than I can tell you! I can hardly wait to get to it. But the ugly head of reality is rearing on a daily basis around here so I am resigned to having to take whatever time I can to make progress. I'm hoping that another week or two at the most and I'll be stabbing wood...

[philip labre]

Looks like its coming together nicely, DD. Looking forward to seeing what comes off this monster. Well, other than the chuck.

[David DeCristoforo]

Mark used some steel hinge straps for the motor mount and he included those with the lathe. If I had all the time and funds I wanted, I would probably get something "more elegant" worked up. Since I'm pretty much working with what I've got, I am using the hinge strap mount. I did make a few modifications. I reamed out the hinge pin holes to 5/8" and pressed in some 5/8" - 1/2" bronze bushings. Then I replaced the clevis pins with a 1/2" stainless steel rod. There are some stop collars in the mix as well to keep the motor from "wandering".

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That black metal part was also included and I used that to mount the very simple belt tensioning "system" which works surprisingly well. The small steel "strike plate" is just stuck on with "heavy duty" double sided tape. If this ends up being a permanent arrangement, I will epoxy it on for good.

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[Jon Prouty]

Hey David,

How about a quick video of that thing running? I am interested in the sound that motor makes. Thanks!

Jon

[Rick Markham]

IT'S ALIVE!!! :D guess you will be using the grub screw from now on ;)

[Tim Rinehart]

I'd say you're making excellent progress for a 'side-project' as big as this. Looking forward to your first experience on it while ...ahem..."stabbing a piece of wood".:eek:

[Allan Ferguson]

David, does the motor have a brake built into it? An abrupt stop with a large blank could be wicked. Take care and good luck on this project.

[Greg Portland]

Is the motor enclosed (i.e. dust can't get in and affect the LEDs / switches)?