Long Bed Wood Lathe................Build?

[Ian Lerner]

Hello All,

I have a Shopsmith Mark V 110 but it does not have the length between centers that I require for a new project. The head instructor at the local dojo asked me if I could make wooden dummies for the school. The dummies traditionally are 5 feet tall and 9 inches in diameter......just a smooth cylinder with a few holes cut through for the arms and leg.

Now making a small wood lathe is no big deal but making one 7-8 feet long is a different matter. Specs for dealing with the extra weight are unknown. I don't think a treadle lathe would be strong enough.....or shall I say I don't think I have enough power to make something that size turn...electric has much more appeal to me. Plus it's warm here in Mexico and I would be spending more time wiping sweat off my glasses than I would be spending actually turning. The only appeal is the ability to safely turn that log slowly. So electric it is.

I've shopped the net for lathes of that length and anything that comes up is pricey. With the Shopsmith ways being tubes, extending the bed is not an easy thing to do so far as I've been able to imagine it.

I can't seem to find any decent plans to build from and I can't afford to buy another lathe.

I need input as to how to construct the headstock with regard to bearings. The ones I've seen built use pillow block bearings that don't take into account the lateral stresses. I think a thrust bearing of some type should be incorporated but don't know how or of what type to use.

Any suggestions or advice will be highly welcomed or if you happen to have a source for a plan would be great also. Annnnd any suggestions on how to slow things down enough to safely rough out that large a piece from a square lamination. thanks

Just thought of something else.....shaft size. What would be the most common shaft diameter and threading to later take advantage of some common accessories such as face plate, chucks etc. as well as tail stock considerations?

[Dennis Ford]

In my opinion, this is the right type of machine to make yourself. Small lathes are very common and mass production makes them inexpensive to buy compared to building. There is no mass production of long spindle lathes, so your choices are: build it yourself, buy an old industrial machine (if you can find one) or buy a current model and purchase bed extensions.

I would not be afraid of using pillow block bearings on a home built although tapered roller bearings would be more durable. Actually you can purchase very robust bearings mounted in pillow block housings but they are expensive. If you use pillow block bearings, consider welding threaded blocks such that you can use bolts or long set-screws to push the pillow blocks side to side for fine tuning the alignment.

#2 morse taper is by far the best choice for tail-stock and I would recommend the same for the head-stock shaft. 1-1/4" x 8tpi or 1" x 8 tpi are common enough that accessories are readily available for either.

[Dwight Rutherford]

Must the " body" be a single piece of wood? Would it be acceptable to make it in 2 sections? Only need a lathe with a 36" bed. Or 3 sections if you use a 24" bed.

[Brice Rogers]

Ian, since you are contemplating a special machine that will probably be for a single purpose, I don't see a real problem using your Shopsmith power unit for the headstock and then making a bed and tailstock of sorts. If it were me, I would figure out how to mount the power unit onto your long bed. I would separate it from the tubes but use the four through holes to support it. That way, when you are done, you still have a "stock" Shopsmith. For a one-time use, you could make the bed out of wood (perhaps a pair of 4 x 4's). For your banjo, perhaps you use a stout angle iron and span the entire length of the 5 foot long "spindle", with two or three supports along the length. The tailstock could be from your Shopsmith, using the same mounting technique as on the headstock.

While you could make the single purpose lathe out of wood, if you have the equipment, you could also weld it and make it out of steel. In fact, if you can find some steel tubes of about the same diameter as the stock ones, you could just do that. If the tubes are stiff enough they could even be smaller than the original ones if you made some sort of adapter (wood?).

Take a look on Youtube with key words like long home made lathe. There are a number of videos that might give you some ideas.

Keep in mind though that on a long lathe like this that it probably won't be as rigid as your shopsmith. So you probably want to take light cuts and use very sharp tools. Also keep in mind that there will be a lot of rotating mass, so give your SS some time to spin up and also to slow down.

[David Delo]

Ian,
If you have all the lathe accessories for your SS and know how to use it as a lathe, I'd look into getting a set of tubes made to the length needed. Another idea is to pick up a second SS on the cheap and use it for tailstock purposes. Also, I'd do a little inquiry over on the SS forum. This type of stuff has been done before. To bad one person with alot of experience doing stuff like this (Bill Mayo) recently passed away. Here's a link to one such discussion. http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=14600

[David Delo]

Upon further checking, here's a response from a guy's 2 replies on how he turned 6"D, 8' long piece. Hope this helps.

Paul, the unregistered guy above is me. Shopsmith's computer has an evil sense of humor and does that
to me every now and then. I don't know about max weight, but I've turned a 6-inch-diameter, 8-foot-long
porch post on my Shopsmith with no problem...I should say, no more than the usual problems.
(Don't ask me to show you guys how I turned an 8-foot piece on a machine with a 4-foot capacity.
As Lord High Executioner here at the Academy, I'm supposed to be the model of safety and a paragon of
common sense. I turned the post back in my reckless youth, about three years ago.)

Of course, I...ahem...would never be so dumb as to do this myself, nor so irresponsible as to recommend
that someone else do it, but if someone were to hold a gun to my dog's head, I might suggest that they
(1) bolt the tailstock to the barn wall at the appropriate height, (2) slide the headstock on the Shopsmith
all the way to the left, (3) position the Shopsmith so that there is an adequate amount of space between
centers, (4) sandbag the legs of the Shopsmith so it can't move, (5) mount the stock between centers and
turn 1/2 half of the shape, (6) then turn the stock end for end and turn the remainder of the shape.
This is only theoretical, of course. Except for the dog.

[Reed Gray]

I would guess you are talking about the Wing Chun Muk Yan Jong dummy with the 3 arms and one leg. I have spent a bit of time with one and was looking into making one as well. There are a couple of You Tube clips up, but none are done by turners. My main worry with the Shopsmith is, if I remember correctly, they have a very high minimum rpm speed, some thing like 750 or so. For a spindle that size, and I think 6 inch would be minimum diameter, that would be very fast for start up if you have any roughing to do at all. If the piece is perfectly centered and balanced, you could get away with it. Not sure I can suggest any easy solutions unless you are within driving distance from me, or some one else with a long bed lathe.

robo hippy

[M Toupin]

Think outside the box; a router jig will accomplish the same thing, be quicker to build and make it perfectly straight too.

Mike

Here's a example i found on the internet.

[Olaf Vogel]

Hello All,

I have a Shopsmith Mark V 110 but it does not have the length between centers that I require for a new project.



There are ways to build an old fashioned post & beam lathe.
However, it would really help if you described what your project is and what you are trying to accomplish.

[roger oldre]

356473
This turning is 14 feet long turned between lathes lol. I have made a few of the dummies in the past. They were constructed staved and the rectangular holes were made prior to gluing the staves together. Then the pillar was turned round.

[Ian Lerner]

Thanks Dennis, your points you made are all things I have considered and hence arrived at the same conclusion. I'm considering using two sealed ball bearings, one on each end of the spindle shaft with a Timken tapered bearing similar to what Chevy used to use in the front end wheel bearings to accommodate the lateral stresses from the tail stock.

The spindle I going to try to find a machine shop capable of turning one for me that will include #2 MT and 1-1/4" x 8tpi or 1" x 8 tpi like you suggested. As I'm now retired and living full time in Mexico, going down to the local hardware store is no longer an option to find these things but labour to have them made is really cheap. I will probably go with the 1"x tpi as I believe they might be more common than the 1-1/4.......correct me if I'm wrong here.

[Ian Lerner]

Must the " body" be a single piece of wood? Would it be acceptable to make it in 2 sections? Only need a lathe with a 36" bed. Or 3 sections if you use a 24" bed.

Hi Dwight, I've rolled this over and over in my mind wondering if it could be feasible. They in turn would have to be made solid into one piece again after turning before they could be used. When the arms or leg was struck they could rotate out o alignment from one another. I have thought about making a portable dummy where it could be taken apart to transport........this then could be an attractive feature to be given more thought.

[Jamie Buxton]

Ernie Conover used to build and sell wood-bed lathes. They were more like kits; he supplied the moving parts, and the buyer supplied the structural stuff. The buyer could just as easily build a long-bed lathe as a shorter one. He's no longer in this business, and used Conover lathes turn out to be somewhat spendy. But you might look around the web for his machines for ideas for your own.

[Ian Lerner]

There are ways to build an old fashioned post & beam lathe.
However, it would really help if you described what your project is and what you are trying to accomplish.

The original post read "The dummies traditionally are 5 feet tall and 9 inches in diameter......just a smooth cylinder".

I'd like to hear more on the post and beam lathes.

[David M Peters]

Another "outside the box" idea: could you construct the dummy from several shorter pieces of turned wood? You would join them with a mortise & tenon joint.

[Ian Lerner]

Think outside the box; a router jig will accomplish the same thing, be quicker to build and make it perfectly straight too.

Mike

Here's a example i found on the internet.

Great idea if I had a router..............the cost of a decent one would pay for all my materials. Thanks

[Ian Lerner]

Thank you everyonefor your replies so far,


I have received somevery interesting ideas that if I were still living in the USA orCanada I might consider utilizing but being retired living here inMexico makes those options unfeasible. And I should clarify somewhatfor others;


The Muk Jong dummieswhen made out of hard wood can weigh upwards of 200lbs in the roughbefore turning. The biggest problem with the Shopsmith is it'sinability to go slow enough for this project as it comes stock. Speedreducers are available but crazy pricey. Plus I don't like the SS'slack of rigidity for small pieces even much less something of thissize.


Anyone who has everdone any renovations in his/her home knows that if you had to do itone way or the other that building from scratch is always easier todo than to redo it and make changes after the fact. So trying toadapt the SS power head with tubes etc. will be more effort and timethan what it will take to build an actual wood lathe.


Since the instructorof the dojo asked me to build these wooden dummies for the school,every time a student wants one it will be another for me to make sothis lathe I'd like to build will not be for a one off type project.I really think that if built well with proper hardwood materials thatit will perform as a “lathe” better than my Shopsmith which is a510 Mark V.


For the cylindersI'm thinking of gluing up 6 pieces of 2x10 hard maple or elm for thecylinder of the body if I can locate those species…….failing thatI will probably use oak. I'll cut off the edges using a skill saw ortable saw to get as close to round as I can before mounting them inthe lathe. The spindles being as heavy as they are could cause the SSto bounce all over the shop floor. I need something more substantialfor this build. If I can make a good build out of this, I see noreason to ever need to use the SS as a lathe again and can leave itset up for boring or sawing etc. and use the wooden lathe foranything lathe related.


I think for a couplehundred dollars worth of materials I should be able to build a veryfunctional heavy duty wood lathe with an 8 foot bed overall. Similarto this;

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/39t4yE9_9YU/hqdefault.jpg

[Marvin Hasenak]

Use 2x4s for the ways, screw 2 together in a T shape. Headstock a block of wood, drilled for a 1" piece of all thread, 2 nuts on each side of the wood to hold it in place, but loose enough to turn with a handle that will be turned by hand. Tailstock, another block of wood, drilled and tapped for another piece of 1" all thread, with a nut on each end to lock it on in place. Collet chuck with a lag bolt for the spur drive. Collet chuck with homemade dead center for the tailstock end. That's your lathe.

For the cutter, build a plywood box to mount a trim router at centerline of the turning. A round nose bit is what I would use, I done it and it was satisfactory.

This will explain it better. https://youtu.be/qGyMBkYgQsQ The above is a simplified version that can be made in any home shop. For more ideas Goggle "router lathe turning" and "router lathe duplicator" then look at the images.

It takes one person to crank the blank on the lathe and another person to guide the router cutter. Take it slow, the router will want to bite the wood and take out chunks, that you probably won't want to be removed.

[Reed Gray]

Some thing like this:

https://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/woodworking/turning/20827-let-s-say-lv-was-to-start-making-conover-lathes

Ernie Conover doesn't make them any more, but the idea does work.

robo hippy

[Olaf Vogel]

The original post read "The dummies traditionally are 5 feet tall and 9 inches in diameter......just a smooth cylinder".

I'd like to hear more on the post and beam lathes.

sorry didnt see that.

Traditional lathes were used to turn the columns on the front of houses. Often 12" or more diameter and easily 8' long.
The "blanks" were not solid wood, rather glued up lengthwise, hollow in the middle.

a few examples:

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?ID=2624
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?ID=7395

This is a close relative to my own and a great example
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?ID=10302

typically they are just a head and tailstock, on two large wood beams as a bed.
Belt drive to an external motor. Easy to build.

So almost any length is possible.
not terribly user friendly or accurate, but does the job.

[Brice Rogers]

There is a local professional Wood turning shop (Roger's Woodturning, Inc., Vista Ca. - - no relation to me) and they turn a lot of unique items, including some long columns. I was fortunate to have been given a tour of their facility.

What I found interesting is that on one of their long lathes, they turn the wood slowly - - maybe 60 -100 rpms and remove the wood using a radial arm saw with a carbide blade. They would make a couple of roughing passes taking off perhaps 1/2 inch at a pass and then a final "clean-up" with minimal removal - - maybe 1/8". Then they sanded with a large power sander and fairly coarse grit paper. The results were impressive.

Here is a picture from their website - the saw is on the left end:

http://rogturning.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/DSC01875.10122402_large.JPG

[Brice Rogers]

I took a video, but am not sure how to post it without uploading it to something like Youtube. But here is a still or two of the machine I saw in person:

356646356647

One thing interesting is how the machine was made to be re-configured for whatever particular job was required. They even had it set up to do copying. It isn't elegant but it is a workhorse that turns out lots of columns. Perhaps this may serve as an inspiration to the OP.

[Ian Lerner]

Very interesting stuff Brice. Did you notice the long set up had the headstock and the tailstock on separate tables all held together with clamps to keep the alignment?

I have an area separate from my enclosed workshop where I could put a second lath of similar nature. Because I don't have a router I was thinking about how I might incorporate a circular saw on a sled like you would using a router and then have one person turn the material and a second person manage the saw. At least that way a person could keep the rotational speed down to a safe level without going to such an elaborate belt and pulley system.

I've been seeing a lot of saws used in this manor. Seems the saw blades would last far longer than router blades would under the same setup.

[Michael Mills]

Along some of the same lines...
Something like in this video. Don't use a chainsaw. Note the movable tool rest starting about the 3:30. Should be fairly cheap to have a block made to accept the post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydDQQQww1AA

Now I get crazy (or stupid).
Tailstock. Have a base to mount to a table (12X12?) and upright to accept the screw from a used landing leg from a trailer. Most shops just throw the legs away (scrap them) and replace the entire assembly.
IIRC they are about 1.5 diameter and 16+" long. Part shown here page 275 #27 or page 276 #53. Even better if the gear box worked because you would have a high/low that can lift up to 70,000 pounds.
Headstock. Your build of spindle assembly. Not sure what the rpm is but a 6 hp garden tiller is pretty slow, probably less than 100 rpm. I know mine has about a 1.5" pulley on the motor shaft and about 12" to run the tines. It would be noisy.
OK, time for a more logical person.
http://www.newlifeparts.com/newlife/catalog/oldnl/section17.pdf

[Ian Lerner]

Olaf, ideally I'd love to get my hands on a headstock and tailstock like those to simply build a bed and stand around. It would sure simplify things. Then you could simply replace the ways to a set of different length ways and away you go for a different size. My wooden one that I'll build will be very similar but the head and tail stocks will be made of hardwood with imbedded bearing in wood rather than metal.

I think the biggest obstacle to overcome will be in slowing the rotational speed down enough for roughing out the dummy blank. I may have to mount a very large pulley off the outboard side so as to avoid mounting one within the framework thus possibly encountering size/space limitations.

[Olaf Vogel]

Along some of the same lines...
Something like in this video. Don't use a chainsaw.

Yeah...please don't!

My risk tolerance levels are pretty high, but the idea of using a chainsaw on a running lathe...scares the $%^&* outa me.

(and if the saw doesn't kill me, my wife certainly will)

[Brice Rogers]

Yes, I noticed that (the clamps). I think that they configure the components depending on the particular job that they're doing. When I was there, they weren't doing a 20' long spindle but were set up for something shorter - - maybe 6 feet long. When they had something longer than their lathe, they just mated them together "butt-to-butt".

I was fascinated watching the fairly simple components working together.

I guess that it boils down to doing whatever you need to do to get the job done.




Very interesting stuff Brice. Did you notice the long set up had the headstock and the tailstock on separate tables all held together with clamps to keep the alignment?

I have an area separate from my enclosed workshop where I could put a second lath of similar nature. Because I don't have a router I was thinking about how I might incorporate a circular saw on a sled like you would using a router and then have one person turn the material and a second person manage the saw. At least that way a person could keep the rotational speed down to a safe level without going to such an elaborate belt and pulley system.

I've been seeing a lot of saws used in this manor. Seems the saw blades would last far longer than router blades would under the same setup.

[Doug Rasmussen]

Ernie Conover used to build and sell wood-bed lathes. They were more like kits; he supplied the moving parts, and the buyer supplied the structural stuff. The buyer could just as easily build a long-bed lathe as a shorter one. He's no longer in this business, and used Conover lathes turn out to be somewhat spendy. But you might look around the web for his machines for ideas for your own.

In case anyone is looking for a Conover lathe there's one on the Seattle craigslist. It's been listed quite awhile. Seems like the last price was around $750. It may just be the metal kit so it'd need the wood for the bed which shouldn't be a problem.

[Ian Lerner]

Ok, well I am making headway finding parts for the beast. I have an old washing machine motor that I believe is 1/3 HP which might be able to do the job slowly but I think it would be really underpowered for turning something more than 9 inches in diameter and 5 feet long.

What size motor should I be looking for that would do the job easily. I don't mind spending on the motor as it can always be used for multiple things later on or at the same time/shared. tnx

[Adam Herman]

Treadmills are good sources of variable speed and motors, you can use the existing electronics and such and the motors are usually around 2 hp. Large industrail fans and similar are also good sources for bearings, shafts, pulleys and belts.

[Olaf Vogel]

Ok, well I am making headway finding parts for the beast. I have an old washing machine motor that I believe is 1/3 HP which might be able to do the job slowly but I think it would be really underpowered for turning something more than 9 inches in diameter and 5 feet long.


For a 9" OD, you wont have to slow the motor down much. Since speed is a factor of the OD, not the weight.
IMO, 1/3 hp is not enough. Assuming you have a clutch mechanism (a simple loose belt will work), then you "might" be able to get this up to speed. But even small cuts are likely to stall that motor.

2 hp or more would be better. Treadmill motors are not really suitable. They offer 2 hp PEAK, and wont run long at that level.
You need big ole industrial motor, a cast off from a workshop. Look around industrial companies.

Your head and tailstock should be solid and heavily bolted down. IMO the Shopsmith is not strong enough for something list this.

If you take a lathe like this http://www.olafvogel.com/uploads/4/7/6/2/47621777/5839145_orig.jpg
and break it down into its components, its really simple. Note: all these pieces are from ~1880. You might actually find such pieces around in Mexico.

The ways were originally wood beams, so easy to DIY. When I bought my lathe, I was told that it originally had wooden ways, 25 feet long. I have to assume they were laminated. Angle irons can be added to harden the ways. This was all standard practice....about 100 years ago. :)

For speed reduction, you can use traditional v-belts. A small pulley on the motor and a LARGE pulley on the headstock.
You will likely want a reduction to about 300 rpms or lower. So for a standard 1750 rpm motor, you need about a 5:1 reduction. Ex. a 3" pulley at the motor and a 15" pulley at the headstock. The 3" pulley is easy to source commercially. The 15" pulley is one you can turn yourself on your lathe (you can see mine in my pictures). That allows you to create any reduction ratio you want.

If you want even lower gearing, then a 2 step pulley system, called a jack-shaft.

Keep in mind that the speed reduction will create an increase on torque, effectively multiplying your power and allowing heavier cuts.
(But I would still use about 2 hp)

There are multiple options for tool rest and if you can find someone with welding experience, they can create it.

For a DIY headstock, something like this is as simple as it gets:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?110548-Source-of-Headstock-and-Tailstock-Spindles

Here's a step by step: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=1058

I'm partway down the road of creating something like this, using a concrete base. For a 200 lbs turning, it wont need to be that massive and a wood-only headstock solution (like above) is feasible. Here's another example: http://www.isobevel.com/woodlathe.htm.

Some food for thought....

[Jeffrey J Smith]

If you only need it for a particular project, why not try the Ellesworth approach. A while back the AAW Journal had a shot of David turning the legs of a canopy bed he was building at his summer place. Lathe wasn't long enough, so he attached a live center to the wall and moved the lathe as far away as he needed. Drill a hole in a 2x4. Nail it where you need it...just a thought. Sometimes, simple can be elegant.

[roger wiegand]

Here's just the ticket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGUYY6KVZxE

I've seen this beast, but not in operation.

[Ian Lerner]

Olaf, thanks for the ideas......many of which I am already heading down those roads of thinking. I will keep my eye out for shop cast offs. There are a couple pump shops here I will check out for just that. I think something like a continuous duty swimming pool pump would suffice nicely.

Spindle setup - I plan on using flange block bearings mounted on the faces of the headstock with the spindle running through the verticals rather than across the top of them through pillow block bearings. I'm looking at finding a 1 inch shaft about 18 inches long for the headstock and I'll have it threaded 1"x8 tpi and a number 2 morse taper bored and reamed for aftermarket items like spur centers etc. The tailstock shaft will be done the same way for a #2 MT.

Frame - similar to this - https://i.ytimg.com/vi/39t4yE9_9YU/hqdefault.jpg but I'll make the tailstock a solid block rather than the "U" shaped design of this one.

Speed control - I've thought of various ways to get the speed down to what I think would be appropriate for a chunk of wood that size ie under 200 rpm and of course multiple pulleys to obtain higher speeds once the roughing out is done and things fairly balanced. A jack shaft will be needed and possibly two of them depending on the size of pulleys I can find here. I've even been wondering about using the Shopsmith power head somehow as I then could start with a slow speed of about 700 rpm at it's slowest setting and then to the jack shaft from there but I think that will be a royal pain trying to set up the two to work together, I'd sooner have a separate motor and use two jack shafts if needed to get the speed down. I'm currently dreaming of a dual setup that could be swapped from on to the other quickly having one drive for the slow rough out phase and then a second drive with multiple step pulleys for higher speed......all using one motor and a sliding motor mount to go from one to another similar to the one in the lowest link of yours above to isobevel.com.

[Ian Lerner]

Couldn't agree more, but materials make the difference and down here only stone, brick and concrete are used for most construction along with steel for bearing loads. Makes pounding a nail into anything not so easy. No, I want to build this lathe if for no other reason than to say I did. I think I'll get great satisfaction out of using it for many years to come.

[Ian Lerner]

Here's just the ticket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGUYY6KVZxE

I've seen this beast, but not in operation.


Haha yes, now ur cookin with steam!!!! I've dreamed of similar methods using non router cutting such as a table saw or radial arm saw and a few others. The lathe still seems the better ticket especially as I won't be making a lot of these dummies.......perhaps 3 a year?

[Brice Rogers]

Ian, you may want to check with Grizzly for buying things like the spindle. You can get the spindle for the G0766 for about $65 and about $46 for the G0733. It is a 1-1/4x8 thread w a #2 MT. If you look around the different models that Griz has perhaps they will have one with a 1" thread or one that fits better with your plans. But I bought an adapter from them that converts from 1-1/4 to 1". They sell two different ones that do the same thing. One costs under $20 and the other is around $40 IIRC.

The spindle for my G0766 is about 15-1/2 " long.

For $46 USD, I suspect that you would have a challenge finding a machine shop to make one from scratch or you may be disappointed in the quality of a one-off machining.

BTW, in WW1, the US needed metal lathes and a guy named Yeoman invented a "concrete lathe". I also recall reading an article (I thought that it was for ww2) where they were making a LARGE concrete lathe in an eight hour shift. The spindle bushings were cast or grouted into place. If you google it you'll find a variety of links. I bring this up because I know that you'll find concrete in Mexico.

[Brice Rogers]

Here is a link to a Youtube video on making a concrete lathe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxqxlexybqE
I give the guy an A for creativity but a D for all the voids in the concrete. Apparently he has never "rapped" a form or wiggled a piece of rebar in the concrete to get rid of the air bubbles. Some people will even use a big vibrating sander or a sawsall with a long rod in it to get out the air.

His mix seemed a little stiff (it needed a little more water) which is another reason he got voids. Voids can be filled with a trowel and mortar mix.

[Ian Lerner]

Ian, you may want to check with Grizzly for buying things like the spindle. You can get the spindle for the G0766 for about $65 and about $46 for the G0733. It is a 1-1/4x8 thread w a #2 MT. If you look around the different models that Griz has perhaps they will have one with a 1" thread or one that fits better with your plans. But I bought an adapter from them that converts from 1-1/4 to 1". They sell two different ones that do the same thing. One costs under $20 and the other is around $40 IIRC.

The spindle for my G0766 is about 15-1/2 " long.

For $46 USD, I suspect that you would have a challenge finding a machine shop to make one from scratch or you may be disappointed in the quality of a one-off machining.

BTW, in WW1, the US needed metal lathes and a guy named Yeoman invented a "concrete lathe". I also recall reading an article (I thought that it was for ww2) where they were making a LARGE concrete lathe in an eight hour shift. The spindle bushings were cast or grouted into place. If you google it you'll find a variety of links. I bring this up because I know that you'll find concrete in Mexico.

The spindle I need will have to be 18" long shaft. Because of the lesser thicknesses of a metal bodied wood lathe I doubt I'd find one 18 inches long. And actually you can have pretty much anything made down here for cheap because labour is so cheap. The problem arrises in finding ''where'' to have it made.