Homemade Wood Lathe

[RJF]

I am interested in building a wood lathe mainly for turning bowls. I want to be able to turn 30 inch diameter. Between centers will be expandable with the addition of bed extensions. I have the design done in my head and am currently drafting it on Auto Cad. My plan is to be able to construct the lathe without welding using Channel Iron. My current thinking is to use a 1 1/2 Hp motor. If anyone has information on homemade lathes I would like to hear from you and get any advice from your experience.

[soundman]

Why bother. There are so many lathes on the market at reasonable prices. What you are looking to do would be satisfied by a number of different already available machines. Unless you have access to some prety heavy machine shop stuff It will end up a dog.
Sorry :o

[echnidna]

For that diameter I think there may be too much flexibility without welds.

[Christopha]

As the others said, don't bother.....

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Don't bother? Why turn a bowl/pen/whatever when you can buy 'em with less effort down the street? Don't bother? Ptui! :p

One home-made lathe I've seen, which was made to turn major diameters used an old engine block & crankshaft for the headstock & spindle. I recall the bloke saying he built the whole lathe for under $500-, from memory 'twas driven by a variable speed controlled 2.5HP/3ph motor which accounted for most of the $$$.

Of course, it does help if you have access to that sort of scrap in the first place, along with appropriate tools... ;)

[powderpost]

RJF, I built a machine out of an industrial dust extractor cyclone. The "bed" is welded 1/4" steel plate. The shaft is 2" diameter fitted on two large SKF plummer block bearings. I used this because it already there. The legs are 3" x 3" steel box section, bolted to the "bed". The motor is 1.5 hp and is conected to a "lay" shaft with stepped pulleys so that I can get down to 80rpm. This machine has turned about a dozen bowls up to 2' 6" in diameter. The biggest job was a air diffuser for an airconditioner in a restaurent diffuser. It was 5' 0" in diameter. If you pm me with your email address I can send you some photographs. The experience gained from this one suggests that bolts would be ok.

Jim

[smidsy]

I have to admit guys that I am against home made lathes for anything larger than a pen - I just think that the risks involved are simply too great.

That said RJ, if you were going to build a lathe, you would want substantially larger than a 1.5hp motor for the size of the bowl you plan to turn and you would want a one peice bed - no matter how many bolts you use flex will be an issue.

If you are adamant about building your own lathe, I would suggest you check out this website and possibly contact these guys.
http://www.proserpinewoodturners.com/The_Big_Bowl.html

Cheers
Paul

[Greolt]

I have to admit guys that I am against home made lathes for anything larger
than a pen - I just think that the risks involved are simply too great.
Dunno about that Smidsy. Been using my lathe that I built for about fifteen years.

Bed is two 200 x 75 channels welded face to face (with a gap).

Headstock is 150 x 200 x 6 RHS mounted verticle with 1 1/2" shaft.

Legs 75 x 75 RHS. Two horse motor that came out of the ark. (weighs a ton)

Stronger than any lathes I have seen in machinery shops.

Fair enough a lot of handyman types shouldn't attempt it but some are quite capable of building something pretty good.

Greolt

[hughie]

Hi,
I thought of building one, Mainly because I could do so with my background, [Toolmaker] and would make it primarily for turning bowls.
It can be done with very little welding and with great rigidity etc. But the thing that stopped me was the price..... I could not build one for the price. I bought one, It is Taiwanese copy of Vicmark or Teknatool swing head. Cast iron bed, reeves type variable speed drive, face plate, live and dead centres, 1 m between centres etc
With the swing head I can turn a bowl about 1m in dia. More than that it would be suicidal...maybe 1m is pushing it and I paid $400 as a demo from a woodshow.New they are around 450-500.
Unless your going to turn huge bowls you may well find it cheaper to buy a Taiwanese or Chinese copy. Failing that you can email me and I can send my free hand sketches of what I had contemplated.

regards Hughie

[Greolt]

Hughie

Yeah if you had to buy the steel it would likely not be worth it.

When I built mine I had an amazing amount of scrap and various other steel to use.

Also had the motor, bearings and pulleys so it cost me little more than my time.

Still you would pay a lot of money for something with capacity to match it.

Silly thing is if I did it again I would make one much smaller.

Greolt

[hughie]

Greolt, Yep thats is what I had in mind, we were scrapping an old machine where I work and much of it would have been useful. Plus I have in the shed various motors and bits 'n pieces that could be used to make a substantial lathe. Not sure what Richrads circumstances are in Canada.
hughie


Hughie

Yeah if you had to buy the steel it would likely not be worth it.

When I built mine I had an amazing amount of scrap and various other steel to use.

Also had the motor, bearings and pulleys so it cost me little more than my time.

Still you would pay a lot of money for something with capacity to match it.

Silly thing is if I did it again I would make one much smaller.

Greolt

[gatiep]

I started turning 53 years ago on a lathe that my late father made. The bed was made of two light railway lines ( as was used in the mines in South Africa in those years ) lying side by side. The stand was from the same material. The headstock was a heavy chunk of steel from some old machine. The tailstock was a part off another that was modified. The headstock spindle was hollow. Everything was drilled with a hand powered 'drill press' and bolted as he didn't have a welder.

Originally it was driven off a line shaft driving all sorts of home made machines, by a McCommick Deering Farmall H tractor power take off. The tractor operated on power paraffin. During the week it used to do normal tractor duties on the farm, come weekends it powered the machines. After a few years we acquired a Pfafner single cylinder water cooled ( water was in an open top about 20 gall ( 100l ) drum ) petrol engine with a crank start, to power the lathe so that I could turn during the week in school holidays.

After that I acquired a treadle lathe for doing small things. These were superseded by more home made lathes till I bought my first factory made lathe about 8 years ago.

Nothing wrong with well made home made gear....................most of which will leave the mass manufactured Asian stuff on the scrap heap while they are still going strong.

[peruturner]

I have made a lathe ,please check it out you may like it


www.esarmiento.250x.com

go to shop and see

Eduardo :p

[RJF]

Eduardo,

Thanks for the post. I like your site and especially your lathe. Your motor setup gives you 9 different speeds choices if I understand it correctly. I will do something similar when I build mine. A variable speed motor may come later. I was very interested in the fact your lathe is bolted together and you are able to turn large pieces. You have made some beautiful pieces with some fantastic wood.

Richard...<O:p</O:p


Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Dr. Seuss<O:p</O:p

[Cliff Rogers]

Good stuff Ed.


Anyone that goes for a look at the web site, turn your popup blocker on first.

[Greolt]

Wow thats a pretty good looking lathe for a home built.

The electrics and belt drive being fairly exposed might cause a few peolple concern in this country.

Well done Greolt

[peruturner]

Well thanks and the pop ups ere in the page due to free web ,sorry

[Greolt]

Had to take some photos of my lathe for someone so I thought I might as well
post one here.

Greolt

[dazzler]

Hi RJF


Just came across this thread. Did you end up building your lathe?

I reckon you could save a ton of money building one the size that you are after.

If you hava a ton of space then i reckon an engine block complete with crankshaft and gearbox would be unreal. Really stable, the crankthrows would dampen vibration and the gearbox would allow 4 or 5 speeds.

Run a belt drive to the crankshaft pulley and electric motor off that. Would need grease nipples to the crank mains though.

If your handy with steel it would be a great project.

good luck mate

dazzler

[Mike Jefferys.]

Been there and done that. Just be sure you provide for low speeds. A 30" swing suggests blanks for which you will need an engine hoist or chain block or similar to lift, a lowest speed around 100 to 150 rpm is essential and as much motor power as you can reasonably manage although bear in mind really low speeds offer a considerable increase in power across the step down pulleys (assuming you will have them). I fitted a single phase, cap start, 1HP tefc motor and it hasn't been too limiting at all. Use an industry standard spindle thread so you have access to plenty of bits. I used an 1 1/4" shaft and pillow blocks. I also wound up making my own large diameter pulleys for a standard V belt drive from sheets of 1" ply - quite achievable. Assuming a motor speed about 1400 you will need pulleys around 20 inches or so.
Mike Jefferys

[Anfo]

This is a lathe I built so time ago, at the moment it's being re-built so the motor is temporarily mounted to direct drive the lathe at about 720 rpm. Normally a countershaft is used giving 6-speeds and the single phase 1-hp motor mounted underneath the lathe - in the stand.

The cast iron bed is from an ancient metalworking lathe that was rescued from the rubbish tip, this sits on a stand made of two cast iron printing machine frames, which are topped by a piece of 15'' steel channel. The headstock is fabricated incorporating a Morris Minor starter motor housing, the old lathe spindle runs in two bearing blocks. The spindle, although not from a Myford, had a MT2 taper and a 1-1/8'' x 12 tpi nose thread, which allowed the use of the Myford chucks, face and back plates I have.

Before long the swing was not enough, so the headstock has been raised by 70 mm; this meant that the original tailstock (4'' centre height) had to be replaced by something more substantial. A redundant machine vice was cut in half and an old drilling machine spindle assembly mounted on top of the moving vice block. If required the tailstock spindle (MT2) could be driven.

The only part from a wood lathe is the tool rest from a scrapped lathe, everything else is from stuff I've kept over the years. The piece of wood shown being turned is about the limit for this machine.

.....clickable thumnails -
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/th_WoodTurning023.jpg (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/WoodTurning023.jpg)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/th_WoodTurning019.jpg (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/WoodTurning019.jpg)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/th_WoodTurning015.jpg (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/WoodTurning015.jpg)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/th_WoodTurning013.jpg (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/WoodTurning013.jpg)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/th_WoodTurning011.jpg (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/WoodTurning011.jpg)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/th_WoodTurning001.jpg (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/GeeVor/WoodTurning001.jpg)
This last picture was taken before raising the headstock, the original tailstock is supporting a tool handle which has been sanded, after being turned from a rolling pin - using the other homemade tool, shown resting on the bed.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

That's one nice bit of salvage, Anfo.

The idea behind the tailstock is a doozy... I hope I can remember it!

[TTIT]

This is a lathe I built so time ago............................ The headstock is fabricated incorporating a Morris Minor starter motor housing, the old lathe spindle runs in two bearing blocks. ...................................... using the other homemade tool, shown resting on the bed. I knew I recognized that headstock from somewhere - was wondering about it when you posted your oland type tools on another thread!?! Top work on the lathe - very solid looking bit of gear :2tsup:

[dazzler]

Don't bother? Why turn a bowl/pen/whatever when you can buy 'em with less effort down the street? Don't bother? Ptui! :p

One home-made lathe I've seen, which was made to turn major diameters used an old engine block & crankshaft for the headstock & spindle. I recall the bloke saying he built the whole lathe for under $500-, from memory 'twas driven by a variable speed controlled 2.5HP/3ph motor which accounted for most of the $$$.

Of course, it does help if you have access to that sort of scrap in the first place, along with appropriate tools... ;)


Damn you skew!

I had been sketching this exact thing and was gunna be the smartest most cleverest fella in all of turners land.......

Them sour old turners would a loved me :kissing:

B U G G E R

[rodent]

look at a stubby lathe.

[new_guy90]

just i case this thread isn't dead and people are still interested i have been thinking about how i would go about making a wood lathe. well i started thinking about this while looking at other lathes, some very old basic wood lathes from the 1920's and 30's they were so simple mainly cast iron, brass bushes simply made then i started looking at the sort of newer ones like the record bar bed lathes using box section steel, i thought i could make one of those. i remembered a thread from a metal work site where people were using a gravel, sand and resin mix to add weight and make it more ridged. so for me to make the lathe i would use 2 lengths of 2.5" or 3" box section maybe 4' long filled with this resin granite mix. after that i would use heavy gage steel plate welded up for the head stock and flange bearings bolted on so latter on if they need to be replaced i can do it with out a fuss. machined spindle with a MT 2 and thread so i can use a commercial chuck and fittings. the spindle arrangement would have a left hand threaded out board, rear flange bearing, V pulleys, the forward flange bearing, the threaded nose and MT 2 cut in the middle. now i was thinking about the motor, putting it under the lathe would be hard as i the spindle arrangement would make it hit the ways so the only other way is on the bench, most people mount the motor on on a board thats hinged to the bench, using the weight of the motor to pull it taught. i don't like that idea instead i would mount the motor under a steel plate thats hinged to the bench a handle on top of the plate will help loosening the belts to change speed, the advantages of this configuration is that the more weight better pulls it taught, the chips from the lathe would not fill up your motor, you can also make a sheet metal shield to cover up the other open ends to cover the motor better, the other part of this is that on my lathe (commercial lathe with the motor mounted in the hinged configuration) the banjo thats to long, hits the motor needing more attention to better set the tool rest. i think this way of mounting the motor is a very good idea to avert problems that may be had and it better protects the motor. this lathe i have described i think will be quite expensive and may not be worth it compared to a commercial one but hey if you are going to make one and you take some of what i have put here into it then my job is done (i really do love the motor mount do that)

did you end up making a lathe? hope i could help you with what i have said:U

[orificiam]

Hi RJF.If you think you're capable of building your own lathe go for it.
There's nothing like the satisfaction of turnig on a lathe you've built yourself.
anyway if it does'nt work out the way it should have.you can always go out
and buy one.Happy turning.Tony.:U

[hughie]

Building a lathe, well since I posted my thoughts on this thread I have built two lathes and another on the drawing board.

What I have learnt is this, under the right circumstances just about anybody can build a good lathe. Plus build one for much less than a similar quality available on the market and if enough research is done it will most likely be as good as if not better than many commercial lathes out there.

[artme]

Eduardo:

Wow!!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup: to your lathe

:o:o to to your turning!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[INVENTOR]

RJF, if you are still interested in building a lathe, I would say do it but only if you end up with something that has better capacity than what is available.Otherwise not much point. And if you can do it safely.

One thing worth thinking about?? ( bit of mucking around but do-able.)

To make a headstock, look around for an old large (around 5-10hp etc) electric motor.( industry sometime 'throw' them away) Cast iron frame etc, big spacing between bearings, very SOLID. Provided the bearings are OK you are half way there. Hopefully for 'no' outlay
Talk to electric motor rewinders?

Machine a 'boss' to fit on the shaft ( which would be approx 40-50mm for this size motor) to convert to either a thread ( to suit chucks) or faceplate/adapter ( think about this to get maximum benefit) Get advice from local engineering shop?

With a bit of imagination and 'safe' engineering you could drive the head stock. One option.
If the windings of the motor are no good, get rid of them and cut a whole in the casing for a belt/pulley.


Bolt the motor to your frame.
As mentioned, for big bowls, low speed ( 100rpm etc or less for start up/ out of balance) and plenty of power 2hp etc.

Look at the option of buying a cam lock 'banjo' as a spare part from an exisitng lathe. Imported- cheaper??

Worth a thought??
I am kicking myself I did not go down that path when I built my lathe.(with 3 phase you could also use a AC drive with the motor- industry get rid of them on occassions)

Do it safe or not at all.

[artme]

Great machine Anfo!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[new_guy90]

just wondering how much is it to get stuff cast in iron? maby the local Tafe could do it or specialist shop :?

just a thought could make things stronger but more trouble if you cant mill it latter :((

[artme]

NG90 I think casting in Aus would be quite expensive, but probably not as expensive as the macning to get everything true.

Vicmarc, as far as I know has their casting done in Thailand.

[new_guy90]

really Thailand! didn't know that yeah if you get the headstock cast then all you would need is a average size miller like a Bridgeport and maybe a center lathe, you would only do it if you had access to this gear ........hopefully i will next year :U