Make a Lathe

[SawDustSniffer]

I want a big lathe , and big lathes are hard to come by.
my wish list is a 2foot dia 3.3meter center to center so i can turn Twisted poles for houses and still make 600mm bowls

so i got out my graph paper and started drawing the bed , got a few quote's for the steel and have to change the drawing to suit the steel i can get

ok the main beam for the bed will be 450mm dia 10mm wall steel pipe filled with 60mpa concreate , will have 125 x 75mm 12mmthick weilded to the top with 10mm thick cleats at 300mm centers , then the top will need to be faced ( have a mate with a large Mill )

the steel
450mm dia 10mm thick , 2 @ 3000 at $60per meter ( old pipe line )new stuff was $6747 for a 12m length , lol

100x 75mm angle 12mm thick 8m long $178 for the Bed
450 wide 10mm thick flat bar 6m long $200 for the supports
76mm 5mm thick pipe $250 for legs and braces

so about $1000 for the bed only , no gas , no wire , no time

for the chuck mounts and tail stock , i was thinking about using 50mm axel and bearings but that would make it hard to get chucks to fit , ive heard some lathes use 30mm metric threads ??? might have to make up addapters from 50mm to 30mm and use 50mm face plates both sides to mount the logs , and build in a tailstop lock so drill bits can still be used

so to build this i'll set up the pipes on gigs and get them mm acurate with a dumpy level ,gas axe up the cleats and weildthem up using the dumpy as a gide ( allreay have a 250amp mig & Oxy ) , fill them up with high MPA concrete and then get them milled

dew up another plan where the base was set out like a railway but ends up more expencive

[Wood Butcher]

Sounds like a one big lathe!!

I can't offer much advice but here is a web page with something similar from our own
http://www.ubeaut.com.au/.htm

BTW thanks for the tool, absolutely great to use!

[echnidna]

If yer want a big lathe look at 's lathe

http://www.ubeaut.com.au/.htm

[Slow6]

http://www.ronmack.com.au/clientside/productdisplay.asp?item=764

[baxter]

http://www.ronmack.com.au/clientside/productdisplay.asp?item=764

Why wasn't this posted as a Penturning thread:confused: :D

[arose62]

Do you need a bed ?? (I mean a one-piece continuous lathe bed)

Seems to me that a bed gives you the ability to turn items in the range 0-bed_length, but if you're doing poles for houses, the range is probably 2.0 to 3.0 metres.
So, can you bolt the headstock down, then have a (say) 1 metre long bed for the tailstock to travel on, bolted down 2 metres away, and carefully lined up? It'd mean less steel, easier to move if needed (than a 1 piece 3m lathe).

Cheers,
Andrew

[RETIRED]

Do you need a bed ?? (I mean a one-piece continuous lathe bed)

Seems to me that a bed gives you the ability to turn items in the range 0-bed_length, but if you're doing poles for houses, the range is probably 2.0 to 3.0 metres.
So, can you bolt the headstock down, then have a (say) 1 metre long bed for the tailstock to travel on, bolted down 2 metres away, and carefully lined up? It'd mean less steel, easier to move if needed (than a 1 piece 3m lathe).

Cheers,
AndrewNot enough stability for the tail stock when turning big stuff.

[China]

Are you planing to turn post as a buisness or just for yourself and the odd mate, I was doing this as a buisness, aword of warning this type of item is now being imported and being retailed for less than you can buy the raw timber for, not trying to be a wet blanket, just urging you to make the apropriate investigation.

[SawDustSniffer]

Do you need a bed ?? (I mean a one-piece continuous lathe bed)

Cheers,
Andrew

you still need something to fix your tool rest to and some where for the Knee high stop rail

my first plan was to bulid a railway out of I beam with Motor / head fixed , tailstock using car brake callapers and hand brake leaver to hold it (easyer than 4 bolt points )and a tool rest that can travel between , for a 4.2 m bed it costs more but cheaper to extend to 10m

's lath is a huge lath not a big one , one question for , "where do you hide when it becomes unbalenced ? and would it be safer to run it backwards and have a high tool rest ? (might take a while to get used to ) . at least the log will take off away from you if there is a falure ?

wood butcher > good to see you tryed the scraper i sent you , add a coment to "No More Sharpening Chisels :-)"

[RETIRED]

one question for , "where do you hide when it becomes unbalenced ? and would it be safer to run it backwards and have a high tool rest ? (might take a while to get used to ) . at least the log will take off away from you if there is a falure ?We have had a couple of logs come out but they generally get stopped by the tool rest and flop onto the bed. The worst part is if they fall behind the lathe. Real pain to get out.

Besides I can run like hell when the need arises.:D

I have never been hit by big stuff, chair legs yep. Flying bark is the worst enemy unless you are into being flogged.

[Wood Butcher]

unless you are into being flogged.

Admit it , we know you like it.:p

[fxst]

I tried out the no more sharpen chisel when I got it thursday:D
I am now making a handle for it. It worked well with timber but a bit iffy on acylic
Pete