Shop Built Bowl Lathe

[Michael Poorman]

Hi All,

Just thought I’d share this. I built this lathe while I was restoring my Tannewitz Model FDS (I'll post about that soon, if you can't wait here are photos (http://woodshopmike.blogspot.com/2013/09/tannewitz-restoration-underway.html#.UoEmhPmsh8E)). The motivation to build such a machine was driven mostly by the fact that I couldn’t afford a $5,000+ commercial bowl lathe. The hollow sections of the lathe are filled with sand to reduce vibration and increase the weight.

The head stock is from an old Logan lathe. It has a #3MT in the spindle and the threads are 1 1/2×8. I bought a Vicmarc 120 chuck along with the 9” jaws for the lathe. I love this chuck! The tailstock has a #2 MT. The quill is from an old drill press, and it advances in the same manner as a drill press.

As far as the cost goes, I acquired many of the parts from friends and family for free. I also had unlimited access to a local friends machine shop. My cost was close to $750. Most of that was spent purchasing the VFD, brake module, controls, pulleys, and tooling for the actual machining of the lathe.

To date the largest piece I’d turned is a 19” x 4” platter.

Specs:
54” Swing
18” Between Centers
~1300 pounds
2 hp 3 phase motor
VFD controlled

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[Prashun Patel]

Wow, that hardly looks like a poor man's lathe. Nice!

[Michael Poorman]

Thank! I did have to sweat and bleed on it so that it wouldn't look like a poor man's lathe :)

[Brian Kent]

That's not a lathe. That's a LATHE!

[Sid Matheny]

Wow a lot of work that paid off!


Sid

[Michael Poorman]

Thanks for the kind words Brian and Sid!

[Mike Goetzke]

Wow - that is really :cool:. You should be proud of yourself. I'm a new turner that went from a Delta 46-460 to a PM 3520b and I thought the banjo on the 3520 was huge:eek:. Did you make your own tool rest too?


Mike

[Jon Lanier]

That is super. I wish I had those skills.

[Michael Poorman]

Wow - that is really :cool:. You should be proud of yourself. I'm a new turner that went from a Delta 46-460 to a PM 3520b and I thought the banjo on the 3520 was huge:eek:. Did you make your own tool rest too?


Mike

Powermatic makes supreme equipment. I worked on a M 90 in college. The controls we a little finicky. If you've ever used one you'll know what I mean. I lusted over a 4224B while I was deciding to buy or build.

Yes, I did design and build everything except for the headstock. The banjo is no joke on my lathe. It is very heavy (if you couldn't tell) and it took a few iterations of making the cam before I had enough clamping force. I don't know what diameter the cam is on your 3520, but I used 1.25 4140 rod for the cam in my lathe. It doesn't move when you lock it down! Kinda the point i know. :)

I just noticed you asked about the tool rest and not the banjo. Hehehe. Yes, I also made that. It is has a piece of O1 drill rod welded to the edge that the tool rides against. Tools just glide over the edge and no evidence of dings yet!

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you like it.

[Michael Poorman]

Thanks Jon! Glad you like it :)

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Being able to design, fabricate and source the things needed to build a tool like yours is quite a talent. I can't wait to see the "swing away" gizmo for the tail stock. Congrats on your accomplishment.
faust

[David DeCristoforo]

That's an awesome looking bowl lathe. I especially like the adaption of a drill press quill for the tailstock. Now... if you ever get totally bored and and just wake up one day wanting, for no particular reason, to make another bed/ tailstock like that, I have just the right home for it. Especially with a "swing away" feature!

[Dennis Ford]

I love home-built machines and this one is great.

[Mike Cruz]

Michael, I am intrigued...in many ways. First of all, form someone that LOVES large swing lathes, how can you not drool over this? It looks beefy, and built to last. Which brings me to my first question: What RPM were you turning (first as an out of balance blank, and later as more balanced) that 19" platter? If, BTW, you don't have a digital tach, one can be gotten for under $100 easy. I love mine...but that is beside the point.

Also, while the banjo looks massive and well up to the task, it looks like it might be a bit of a chore to move around. What are your thoughts on that?

The motor, while it might be convenient to have it low...for center of gravity sake and to get it out of the way, could cause some tendencies for the long belt to get fun vibrations in it. Have you experienced that yet? If so, if you had it to do over again, would you mount it higher?

You are using a jack shaft, which certainly helps with torque... I have a 2 hp motor on my lathe (with a jack shaft) and have been able to turn 27 1/2" blanks (one weighed 138 lbs). But I AM wishing I had put a 3 hp motor on it. Not that 2 won't do the job. But 3 would have been nice.

By the looks of your pulley system, if your motor is 1725 rpm, your slowest full speed is what 415 RPM?

I'm a bit perplexed about the source of the power... In one photo, it looks like the power is run though a computer tower with about a 4 foot cord to your remote switch. In another, it looks like you've got about 12-16' of cord.

This is truly a beauty. I love it. I really do. Please don't take my questions as criticisms. They are more curiosities... Thanks for sharing it!

[Michael Poorman]

That's an awesome looking bowl lathe. I especially like the adaption of a drill press quill for the tailstock. Now... if you ever get totally bored and and just wake up one day wanting, for no particular reason, to make another bed/ tailstock like that, I have just the right home for it. Especially with a "swing away" feature!

David,

I'm glad you like the tailstock design. It works quite well.

I assure you that if the inclination strikes me to start fabricating another lathe I'll be contacting you first to be a happy customer. I think I could even manage a tilt away if it was a must have!

Thanks again!

[Michael Poorman]

Mike,

I will say that it is very difficult not to stain the lathe with drool. I can even see it cry a bit when I come home from being out of town (or is that me)?

I do not have a digital tach on the lathe. I had thought about installing one but haven't worried about it yet. As far as speed... It was turning as fast as it could without shaking... I'm not sure if you could tell by the photos, but I have a potentiometer in my control pendant. The lathe is run by a VFD, so I have complete variable speed. Yes, I do actually mean complete speed variability. If I need to turn something really slow I just put the lathe in back gears and don't loose any torque from the motor/pulleys turning slow.

Yes, the banjo is huge. The thing is almost 3' long (if I remember correctly) and is obviously heavy (about 100lbs) so there is some resistance just from the weight. However, I smoothed the bed pretty well and it stays waxed so manipulating the banjo is not to bad. It also helps that the underside of the banjo is smooth as glass.

Interesting you would mention motor placement. I really wanted to mount the motor inside of the main pillar. However, that piece is an H beam with 1" walls and 3/4" web. I didn't even want to think about cutting away any of the material in addition to modifying the headstock. So I was stuck with mounting the motor up high or close to the base. You can see what I opted for and the reason was that I didn't want the 70lb motor that high up. Every little bit of mass at the bottom helps out. The belts do oscillate a bit, but nothing to wild. I've also got the potential lack of hp covered. There is a 5hp waiting in the shop if the need ever comes around. :D

The computer case is just an enclosure to hold the VFD and brake module. The green cable leads to the control pendant as you noted. There are two black cables that exist the rear of the computer box. One goes to the motor and the other goes to the RPC on the other side of the garage. I built the rotary phase converter b/c I was in the process of acquiring two 3phase tablesaws and didn't want to pay big bucks for the power company to run a line to me. Having 3phase also made purchasing a VFD for the lathe a bit cheaper. You can see what I did with the computer case on my blog.

Thanks for the comments and I'm glad you like it!

[Mike Cruz]

Mike, if you do go the route of a digital tach, I've used this on two lathes, now. Work great. Easy as pie to install. You can get their "box" to put it in, but if you have your own, you can save a couple bucks. http://mkctools.com/tachoptions.htm

Funny response on the "as fast as it could without shaking" answer...I figured THAT! ;) I just figured you know your RPMs (at least the fastest for each pulley) because you can just do the math with your motor speed and pulley size. I'm assuming your motor is a 1725 RPM, right?

[Michael Poorman]

HAHAHA. Sorry, wasn't trying to be funny. You just never know, some people are really timid and don't like a piece of machinery even hinting at shaking. Anyways, you are correct that the motor is a 1725 RPM version. The open belt speeds I have are 466, 873, & 1552. I'm not 100% sure about the back gear speeds but I think they are 141, 265, and 470.

BTW, nice job on your lathe. Man, that looks excellent.

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, I like the idea of using an old metal lathe headstock and being able to use the back gears is a great addition to turning slow with great torque. I will have to keep that in mind when I decide to build a "MEGA" lathe for turning maybe up to 8' logs or so! I pretty much build anything and everything and Mr. Cruz has been a benificiary of my creations!

Great job on the lathe and I like the color too,

Jeff

[Mike Cruz]

Michael, thanks for your compliments on my lathe. Jeff built the headstock, tailstock, and banjo!

[John Aspinall]

I just noticed you asked about the tool rest and not the banjo. Hehehe. Yes, I also made that. It is has a piece of O1 drill rod welded to the edge that the tool rides against. Tools just glide over the edge and no evidence of dings yet!



Michael, I'd love to hear more (perhaps in the MetalWorking forum?) about welding the drill rod for a ding-free toolrest. That is something I've wanted to do for a while, but been a little apprehensive about the difficulty of welding it.
Did you harden it after welding?

- John

P.S. Awesome lathe!

[Michael Poorman]

Thanks Jeff! Had I know there was such a benevolent person around I would have tried to weasel a lathe out of you too! I have had to use the back gears on a few recent pieces that were really unbalanced. I was a great feature to have available. I'm glad you like the lathe.

[Michael Poorman]

Michael, I'd love to hear more (perhaps in the MetalWorking forum?) about welding the drill rod for a ding-free toolrest. That is something I've wanted to do for a while, but been a little apprehensive about the difficulty of welding it.
Did you harden it after welding?

- John

John,


P.S. Awesome lathe!

Terribly sorry it took so long for me to reply. I never saw your post until now :confused: From what I understand the robust tool rests actually have that rod epoxied in place. I didn't really like that idea so I decided to try welding it.

This actually worked out better than I thought it would. I used a stick welder and a 6010 or 7014 rod. I grabbed some bar clamps and clamped the drill rod and tool rest (without post) together. I simply spot welded at each end then every few inches. I then flipped it over and repeated. I did not harden the drill rod after welding. I did however have to do a touch of grinding to clean up and I could tell a difference around the areas that had been welded and those that hadn't. I'm quite happy with the tool rest and it beats the $60 you'd have to give up to buy one!

I'm glad you like the lathe! Also, good choice in dogs!

[Paul Engle]

Nice work indeed Michael, the blue is for the Blue Angels ???? :D

[Michael Poorman]

Thanks Paul. I didn't paint it blue with that in mind, but I wouldn't scoff at the semblance!

[Ron Page]

Fantastic lathe, Michael. You did great work. Love home built tools!