T124 copy lathe.

[Richard Wolf]

I just wanted to post some pics of my Mini Max copy lathe in action. I'm duplicating some balusters for a short section of outside railings. The material is Spanish Cedar which is a very good choice for outside work.
The lathe is excellent for my needs, short production runs and duplicating custom parts. I can remove about 1/2" on each pass and each one of these balusters takes about 5 minutes to copy.
After they are copied, the details get touched up with lathe tools and the piece gets sanded.
For someone like me, (not overly talented on the lathe) this machine makes this kind of work very fast and profitable.
Like all Mini Max machines, it is very well constructed and a real pleasure to use.

Richard

[Richard Wolf]

Three down, eight more to go. The lathe can duplicate from a template or an orginal. In this case, I free turned the first one and used it to copy the rest.

Richard

[Jim Dunn]

Neat and effective way to do your job Richard!!

[Jamie Buxton]

On a machine like that, what's the actual cutting edge? Is it like a hand-held lathe tool -- y'know, a chisel-like thing? Or is it a rotating cutting edge, more like a router?

[lou sansone]

hi richard

thanks for posting this machine. I have been wondering how they actually worked. like the others, I am interested in the actual cutting tool.

great looking post as well
lou

[Richard Wolf]

The cutting tool is difficult to see in these pictures because it is actual mounted in the back and upside down. It looks like a large v shaped metal lathe cutter.
It is mounted in the back because I have removed part of the copy assembly which consists of a roughing cutter and a following steady rest that makes turn thinner spindles very easy also.
In the picture below you can see the steady rest on the lathe.


Richard

[Steve Clardy]

Copy lathes sure are handy. Heres my bemoth Hempel CH-12

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=2910