Paul Horne
06-03-2013, 11:51 AM
About a year ago I decided that I needed to expand my woodworking horizons and started trolling forums and kijiji for a lathe. I had my heart set on a new delta but alas my pocketbook said no (along with SHMBO). Eventually I found something that was not much but I thought I would look anyway.
The lathe was in really poor shape and I started to walk away. The guy said how much is it worth. I said $75 he said sure and I acquired my very first lathe. A Beaver 3400.
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With little fanfare I brought it home and thought, hey I wonder if it would look better with some paint?
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Soon I was all over the forums looking for hints and tips. I figured that bowls were my objective, so I needed to fix the speed as I learned it was unsuitable for bowl turning and saw many examples of jack shaft setups. That was the ticket and so I continued to upgrade. New paint, wood, fix the stand, new bearings, belts, install a new to me motor and a jack shaft setup. Looked like brand new when I was done:
263670
I started small making wands for the kids...
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And soon progressed into some nice pieces I could actually show my friends....and my wife could justify my investment in tools, sharpening equip, chuck etc.
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I eventually found a 1/2hp motor with a reverse wired. Perfect for sanding!
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With this setup I have now produced many pieces ( my wife has no more shelf space so now they are gifts for friends )
Well my addiction is set...and of course I have recently started to look for not just an upgrade but a replacement...but then...I came across this!
263675
I had been investigating upgrading the lathe to true variable speed but the cost of a 3 phase motor and a variable frequency drive was really cost prohibitive hence my reasoning for money better spent on a new lathe. But this I could not resist...it is a an Allen Bradley 1329i 1hp motor with VFD integrated, operating at 110v. An absolute thing of beauty....and the guy on kijiji kindly took my offer of $150 which was half of his posting. At that price i could afford to play. So this week I set about the upgrade. I wired n a terminal box:
263676
Tested it and it worked! Not a huge surprise but all the same it was a kijiji purchase. Last week I finished wiring it up to the lathe with a hard power cutoff and new link belt direct drive to the motor...and I could not be happier!
263677
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Even took the time to make it dirty! It is quiet, and accurate and I now have a whole new lease on the life of my Beaver 3400...I think I will call it the 3400 Mark II Should keep me from eyeing that Nova DVR for at least another year :0)
Thanks for reading.
Paul
The lathe was in really poor shape and I started to walk away. The guy said how much is it worth. I said $75 he said sure and I acquired my very first lathe. A Beaver 3400.
263666
With little fanfare I brought it home and thought, hey I wonder if it would look better with some paint?
263667
263668
Soon I was all over the forums looking for hints and tips. I figured that bowls were my objective, so I needed to fix the speed as I learned it was unsuitable for bowl turning and saw many examples of jack shaft setups. That was the ticket and so I continued to upgrade. New paint, wood, fix the stand, new bearings, belts, install a new to me motor and a jack shaft setup. Looked like brand new when I was done:
263670
I started small making wands for the kids...
263671
And soon progressed into some nice pieces I could actually show my friends....and my wife could justify my investment in tools, sharpening equip, chuck etc.
263672
263673
I eventually found a 1/2hp motor with a reverse wired. Perfect for sanding!
263674
With this setup I have now produced many pieces ( my wife has no more shelf space so now they are gifts for friends )
Well my addiction is set...and of course I have recently started to look for not just an upgrade but a replacement...but then...I came across this!
263675
I had been investigating upgrading the lathe to true variable speed but the cost of a 3 phase motor and a variable frequency drive was really cost prohibitive hence my reasoning for money better spent on a new lathe. But this I could not resist...it is a an Allen Bradley 1329i 1hp motor with VFD integrated, operating at 110v. An absolute thing of beauty....and the guy on kijiji kindly took my offer of $150 which was half of his posting. At that price i could afford to play. So this week I set about the upgrade. I wired n a terminal box:
263676
Tested it and it worked! Not a huge surprise but all the same it was a kijiji purchase. Last week I finished wiring it up to the lathe with a hard power cutoff and new link belt direct drive to the motor...and I could not be happier!
263677
263678
Even took the time to make it dirty! It is quiet, and accurate and I now have a whole new lease on the life of my Beaver 3400...I think I will call it the 3400 Mark II Should keep me from eyeing that Nova DVR for at least another year :0)
Thanks for reading.
Paul