Replies

1. 
   Curtis | Mar 26, 2003 12:25pm | #1

   Good morning

   I hate the $ crunch.

   before I bought My lathe, I made a jig out of some 2x6s and my router, to make round parts.

   Its pretty bacic  make a box, with two rabbits on the top,( big enought for your router base to slide in, find the center of the box, for your turning points. I used a nail for the dead center,and made a spur and handle for the other side.

   plunge down with a large bottoming bit and turn the handle and you will make round parts out of square .

   WELL it worked pretty well for a while. It cost me verry little money to make, and it is easy to use.

   Good luck

   C.A.G.

2. 
   jako17 | Mar 26, 2003 05:00pm | #2

   Turning on a drill press is very hard on the bearings which are not designed for lateral loads.However lathes are one of the oldest woodworking machines and for a lot of items no great accuracy in machining is required .Look at building a treadle lathe or a pole lathe .I have done quite a bit  of work on pole lathes but they are a best with green wood.A treadle, because of the flywheel can handle dry wood and would be my choice if I were making another one.I remember seeing plans of a treadle lathe in one of Roy Underhill's books. Routers  generally revolve too fast for turning any thing except very small diameter.Iwould hate to see the handle being turned break free and become a missile

     

3. 
   rslatm | Mar 26, 2003 06:16pm | #3

   There's a way to do  template turning sort of work on a router table as well and there used to be a device  that did pseudo turning on a tablesaw. You could do shapes like gunstocks.  I haven't seen it around for a few years.  Also the Legacy Ornamental mill is interesting. I'm not saying to go out and buy one but the principle is of use for your application.  A slow rotating block of wood and a router is far more doable than holding a chisel edge on a block of wood propelled with a hand drill.  You can find some information in some of the better router books. Also a used lathe sells for considerably less than a  new one. They don't have the same high resale values of saws, planers and jointers.
4. 
   forestgirl | Mar 26, 2003 06:38pm | #4

   I Googled on "Roy Underhill" and "lathe" and came up with the page below.  It appears that he published his plans in one of his books, and that several other people have modified his plan to come up with their own.

   http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=roy+underhill+lathe

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

5. 
   Trees2dust | Mar 26, 2003 08:04pm | #5

   Eric,

   For the projects you want to do, you could easily use an electric motor (say 1/4-1/2HP, 1725 RPM, with a 1/2" or 5/8" shaft).  Get a cheap die-cast pulley, about 2" dia to fit the shaft.  Attach a waste block to the face of the pulley using 3 or 4 screws (drill and tap the face of the pulley for the screw threads), with the heads counterbored below the wood surface.  Turn the waste block round and true up the face.  This is your chuck.

   To turn a plane knob, you stick the end-grain blank to the face of the chuck using medium thickness CA (cyanoacrylate or Super Glue) with accelerator.  Turn the knob, part off, then turn the remaining waste away.  Your wooden chuck is then ready for the next project.  Replace when you get close to the screw heads.

   Here's what I would do for small spindles such as chisel handles:

   - Hollow out a hole in the center of the wooden chuck, then remove the wooden chuck and chisel the hole square with slightly tapered sides.  This is your square drive.  Whittle the end of your spindle blank to roughly match the square hole, then wedge it in.  This takes care of the drive end

   - You will have to support the other end using either a dead center or live center of some sort.  I will leave this up to you, but to get you started: a dead center could be as simple as a large center punch bored into a block of wood, then clamped to the bench such that the point lines up with the center of the motor shaft.  For a live center, think of a bearing set in a block of wood; whittle the spindle end to jam into the ID of the bearing.  It can be very simple yet effective.

   You could probably get a used motor and free bearings at a motor shop or appliance repair shop.  If you want to make your own turning tools, there are many ways to do that too- just ask.  Building a simple lathe is fun; using it can be frustrating at first, but very addicting.  I started with simple objectives like you- trying to turn knobs and handles on a drill press at first, then eventually going all-out.  This is fair warning: I am now on my third lathe, and the "flat" kind of woodworking has taken a back seat.  Let us know how it turns out.

   Rick

1. 
   ekarnes | Mar 27, 2003 03:00am | #9

   thanks for your advice..i am very intrigued by your approaches, as it sounds like you were in a similar situation as i am now..any more advice you can provide on making turning tools and supply sources would be great when and if you have a chance! thanks very much. regards, eric.

6. 
   quinbychris | Mar 26, 2003 08:22pm | #6

   Just at thought.  By the time you buy the materials to build a lathe, you'll probably spend at least $100, and you may end up with something that is very limited, maybe even dangerous.  For about $120 you can buy a lathe from Harbor Freight.  These tools are not, I suspect, as good as a Delta or Jet midi.  They are, however, entirely functional.  Over the past five years, I've used one to turn a lot of spindles, a few bowls, and a whole bunch of pens.  If you have the funds, I'd recommend that you buy something better.  If, however, it's a choice between cobbling together something on your own or buying an inexpensive lathe, I'd call Harbor Freight.

   Good luck.

7. 
   JeffKurtz | Mar 26, 2003 11:19pm | #7

   Here are a few more homemade lathe links:

   http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/fea.asp?id=1225

   http://www.inthewoodshop.org/methods/trlathe.shtml

   http://www.mimf.com/articles/lathe/

   Any of these could make a fun project.

   Jeff

   Edit note- second link doesn't want to work, page may be unavailable right now.  If not, go to google and search for "In the Workshop: Woodworking with Howard Ruttan "

   
   

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   Edited 3/26/2003 4:20:35 PM ET by Jeff K

   
   

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   Edited 3/26/2003 4:25:28 PM ET by Jeff K

1. 
   ekarnes | Mar 27, 2003 02:39am | #8

   thanks for all your suggestions...i have looked at the harbor freight lathe, but i am unsure of quality at that price. anyone have any experience with it..could it be modified if my interest in turning grows? i'm thinking a mixture of hf and shop built lathe could work well..thanks again.

   -eric

1. 
   GeeSeaWhy | Mar 27, 2003 08:49pm | #11

   I have a full-size lathe from HF (model 34706) and am satisfied with it. Not exactly precision equipment but it does the job. Assuming that what you want to do is try turning (as opposed to produce some round items by whatever means, or build a lathe), I think their mini-lathe is probably your best bet for getting started at minimum cost.

   HF also have a set of HSS turning tools for $30 you might consider. For that price, I doubt you could buy the materials to make your own, even if you have the metalworking equipment and skills. And if you grind them down to nothing learning how to sharpen, no great loss. Oh yes, you *will* need a grinder.

   HTH

   Graeme

8. 
   rslatm | Mar 27, 2003 03:14pm | #10

   http://www.houseoftools.com/product.htm?pid=169889

   I think the concept is clear enough!