what the heck is that thing for??

[holmsy2000]

hi guys,
i just bought a second hand ryobi lathe just to have some fun with but it has this thing on it and i have no idea why its there, so i thought i would ask the wise old interenet sharman. anyway, where the motor housing is, out one side there is the spikey thing that the wood gets put on and sticking out the other end there is like a flat disk, its maybe 5" diameter and it turns with the motor, why is it there? is it a counter weight? maybe i can glue some sandpaper on it and ill have a disk sander? well there you have it, perhaps the stupidist question youve ever read.

thanks,
Brett

[silentC]

You stick a round bit of sandpaper on there and it becomes a disk sander. There should be a little table that mounts on there too.

[Shedhand]

hi guys,
i just bought a second hand ryobi lathe just to have some fun with but it has this thing on it and i have no idea why its there, so i thought i would ask the wise old interenet sharman. anyway, where the motor housing is, out one side there is the spikey thing that the wood gets put on and sticking out the other end there is like a flat disk, its maybe 5" diameter and it turns with the motor, why is it there? is it a counter weight? maybe i can glue some sandpaper on it and ill have a disk sander? well there you have it, perhaps the stupidist question youve ever read.

thanks,
BrettThere are no stupid questions...only stupid answers.;)

[holmsy2000]

There are no stupid questions...only stupid answers.;)

i thought it went, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people!

really a disk sander? thats weird, why would they add that on there

Brett

[Auld Bassoon]

Hi Brett and welcome,

I'm not quite sure, really, how to respond, as I feel I might possibly make both of us look a bit, ahem, silly :p

I'm not a turner myself, but I would have thought that the main elements should be reasonably obvious as to their intended purpose. May I suggest a good browse through this BB and let Google, or similar, do some rummaging for you.

You may even wish to read (or acquire and read) the manual....

[Cliff Rogers]

No stupid questions, only stupid mistakes.


A photo would be good.

It could be a hand wheel.
It could be a faceplate set up for out board turning.

[barnsey]

Given that it's a 2nd hand Ryobi lathe I'd guess that an attempt for outboard turning is a bit beyond the unit's capability. The disc sander concept also has an air of questionability but these types of machine often try and give more uses than would otherwise be expected of them. Use it for whatever you can - if yiu find it stalls or won't handle the use you give it - STOP - you're overloading it.

Otherwise enjoy

Jamie

[silentC]

I have a tin plate lathe with a disk just like the one described and it is a disk sander. Says so in the manual. There's also a little table that fixes on below it.

I wouldn't attempt to turn anything on it because it's probably only held on with a grub screw.