Big Lots Wood Lathe

[Clarence Martin]

Got a new Big Lots Wood Lathe last week . ( Yes , I know it's Big Lots! :eek: ) But, it's just a spare in case the main wood lathe breaks down. Anyhow, the manual says nothing about spindle size. I know it's not a 1x8. It's smaller. How, exactly do you measure it ? I am guessing 3/4 " x ??? Is the last number threads per inch???:confused:

[Roger Chandler]

you should post a pic of that lathe.........I have not seen one from Big Lots, but they do carry close out items from time to time and usually a 3/4" spindle has 16 tpi threads.........but I cannot guarantee that spec!

[Tom Wilson66]

Take it down to the nearest hardware store and find a nut that will fit the spindle. The nut can be used to make faceplates for the lathe by welding a nut onto it, and drilling some holes for the attachment screws.

[Jim Underwood]

If I remember right, that's the one that's similar to the HF 14x40 which has a 3/4" spindle. (No taper though).

http://www.harborfreight.com/14-inch-x-40-inch-lathe-with-7-inch-sander-67690.html

I had one, and turned a few things on it, but I got rid of it and bought a Jet mini. Much better lathe.

If you need to, you can buy adapters for just about any spindle, so that you can mount chucks.

[Jim Underwood]

Actually, the one I had was more like this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/14-inch-x-41-inch-wood-lathe-38515.html

I had to build and incorporate a torsion box into the bed of this lathe, so that the centers didn't separate when tightening up the quill on a spindle. And then I literally screwed the whole thing to a bench top....

[Dave Paine]

I am guessing 3/4 " x ??? Is the last number threads per inch???:confused:

Yes the last part of the spec is threads per inch (tpi).

The diameter is easy to measure, the outside of the threads.

The tpi just needs you to place a steel rule or tape measure with an inch mark at the top of one of the threads. Count the number of threads to the next inch mark, subtract 1 and you have the tpi.

[John Keeton]

Or, measure the inch from valley to valley and count the peaks.

[Jim Underwood]

Huh... I always figured the first one as the Zero mark and didn't count it... After all you're counting threads per inch, and the ruler starts at zero, so why start with one thread at the zero mark?