Wood to metal lathe conversion.

[Kiwi75]

Thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFKVlJCVAvw

On a side note: The fulla who is giving the tutorial sounds like a mafia boss with an interest in engineering, Hahaha. The camera work is pretty shoddy but he sound's like he know's his stuff.

[hughie]

The question is why would bother?

In Australia here buying cross slides etc will be expensive also your gear box, if any wont up to the work load.The Lead screw and or feed bar will need a mechanical gear box if your thinking of going that far. The whole design of a wood lathe for wood and it lacks the heavy castings etc that is normal in a metal turning lathe.

OK I know its tempting with the idea of gaining a metal turning lathe at low cost that could double as a wood lathe. But the conversion wont be that cheap plus to do it well you will need a fair bit of engineering experience and equipment . Plus the metal lathe cross slides etc do not like wood dust or chips. The silica in the wood dust wreaks havoc with your slides causing premature wear and generally gumming up the works. So it will entail some fastidious cleaning after turning wood and re-oiling of the bed and ways to prevent rust.

[Kiwi75]

Pretty much what I decided. I have a wood lathe I don't need but can barely give it away. It was just a thought, realised pretty quickly that the engineering was well past my capabilities. Cheers for the thoughts.