Home made lathe

[hughie]

Have been toying with this for awhile and the opportunity arrived to finally complete the project.

Its made from scrap steel with the exception of the banjo and shaft to the head stock. The motor I had on hand along with the switch gear, stepped pulleys and handles etc.

Headstock is 120mm sq SHS 5mm wall thickness, Banjo column 75mm SHS 3mm wall thickness, Bed is 100mm x 50mm channel x 500mm long, Banjo is 50mm x 12mm flat bar 350mm long.Speed 580 -1600 in 4 steps, 1.5kw 240v motor 1400rpm, max bowl dia 700mm...not sure I will be that big ...

Its been made primarily for finishing bowls and as permanent home for a Longworth chuck.I will not be fitting a tailstock to it, the only additon planned at this stage is a shorter banjo around 200mm.
The gray area at the base of the headstock is for a short bed extension of 200mm for the back side of the bowl finishing ,I have as yet to complete this.

[Manuka Jock]

Nice one Hughie ,
I see that it runs on coke :D

[Caveman]

Hi Hughie - nice one.

Really neat!

[rsser]

Schmick! Elegant bit of work.

Hammertone blue ... look out Vicmarc :p

.... [added, oh! Look out Stubby too :doh: ]

[Andy Mac]

Really nice unit Hughie, looks extremely functional!

Cheers,

[DJ’s Timber]

Nice work Hughie, looks like a good setup for hollowing work :2tsup:

[cedar n silky]

Good job Hughie:2tsup: Looks like we are a fairly versatile bunch, woodturners. Lend our hand to welding etc. But my welding is not as good as yours. My welds are refered to as "bird sh_t" by experts!

[TTIT]

Very smart bit of work Hughie.:2tsup: Well thought out and well finished (I weld like Caveman :B ). So have you christened it yet? - would love to see it in use.

Gotta tell ya though, you're a lot shorter than I thought you would be!:;

[joe greiner]

Extremely well done, Hughie. That is one bodacious banjo support.

Joe

[OGYT]

You just continue to amaze me, Hughie. That's a nice bowl lathe. Looks like it'd compete with Vega, too!
That youngster with it is just about the right height! Does he have a gouge? :D

[Fredo]

Hughie, a very nice job and I'm sure it will serve you well.

I know from experience that to make something like this is generally much more complicated and time consuming than it looks. Lots of thought must go into the design before construction can begin. Also, you have to be flexible enough to adjust the design during the build to improve the end result.

Did you do the hands on work yourself? What is your background, engineering? Or just a have a go attitude? Again it certainly looks like a good thing, well done. <O:p

Fredo

[Gil Jones]

Hughie, excellent work/design on your bowl lathe!!!:2tsup:

[hughie]

thanks for all the postive comments, much appreciated, Ta.

This one is a precursor to the one I really want to build. It wont be a bench model and it will have a VSD on a 415v 2kw motor and about a 1.5m bed,and swing around 500m...yehaaa! a beast.

But I must confess, I have been greatly impressed with the Stubby design and have used that as a basis for inspiration. Cheers Ern and Vern


Fredo



Did you do the hands on work yourself? What is your background, engineering? Or just a have a go attitude? Again it certainly looks like a good thing


Nah! Have an engineering back ground going back a few years [30+]. Your right about being flexible, even after I had finished it, variations still come to mind. As to a good thing....well time will tell

~


That youngster with it is just about the right height! Does he have a gouge


Al, Not yet but he seems to be very good with his hands..time will tell

~

That is one bodacious banjo support

Joe,
:U times gonna tell if it will live up to its name.

~
(I weld like Caveman :B ).

Vern, Cedar, Caveman :U :U why do you think I painted it with hammertone!:U :U paint hides a multitude of sins.
Have yet to christen it. Heres some irony for you. I am with out a workshop so I build another lathe. :?.
The assistant is my Grandson 13 months old, I am a tad taller...:U :U

~

I see that it runs on coke

Jock, Its the son and heirs tipple...not mine ...lol.. over granite and through peat :wink:

[rsser]

... re the Stubby design, that's an attempt to have both a spindle and faceplate lathe with the max. virtues of both.

Fredo's post shows a Union Graduate, and the VB36 (sp?) follows that model, so if you can have two lathes and don't need to settle for the limitations of the Stubby, that seems like the way to go.

I have to say, I miss the swivelling headstock of the Vicmarc 175 for getting a good flowing line on the outside of a bowl ... it's a line you can readily get moving through the hips and the legs (not through the arms).

I can sit on the Stubby bed but it ain't the same ;-}
.

[hughie]

re the Stubby design, that's an attempt to have both a spindle and faceplate lathe with the max. virtues of both.


At the end of the day with less resources than the commercial enterprises there will be a compromise. :C :U


Having said that, utilising the tee type bed section as shown in Fredos pic I had hoped to mimic the swivel head set up. I even toyed with a round or radius bed section to swivel the tool post rather than the head.....hmmm a bit more complication than I really was aiming for.. I prefer a reasonable level of simplicity... I gotta maintain the darn thing. :U
A successful swivel head has to be done well or not at all....MC1100 :~ Vicmarc and Leady have done it well. I backed off on it for reasons of the degree of difficulty when using an all welded construction.

I have at my disposal a very antiquated Mitchell lathe circa 1950's thats way passed its use by date. As one observer noted "its flogged to buggery"...:no: Plus a even older semi model makers mill dunno the maker the tag fell off years ago. :? in similar condition as the Mitchell.

As to hips etc I agree, theres a certain rhythm or flow that the arms do not rise to easily.

[ss_11000]

nice work hughie:2tsup:

[Harry72]

Wow Hughie, and I thought I was smart making only the stand for a lathe... you go make the whole bloomin thing!

[scooter]

Nice job, hughie :2tsup:

[wands]

Hughie,

When will you ready to start taking orders? It is rather desirable.

If not, are you willing to part with your plans? (for a price of course)

Or even, if I tell you what I want in a lathe that I want to build, can you design it for me? (Again, for a price)

Cheers, Steve :)

[hughie]

When will you ready to start taking orders? It is rather desirable.

If not, are you willing to part with your plans? (for a price of course)

Or even, if I tell you what I want in a lathe that I want to build, can you design it for me? (Again, for a price)


Steve PM me, I have been thinking about knocking up some drawings etc along with a website and so on.
I have yet to try this one, so it would be a little unfair of me to flog it off. :B But having said that I would be more than happy to help where I can.