PDA

View Full Version : mini portable lathe



weisyboy
29th October 2007, 08:47 PM
i am thinking of making a small wood lathe that i can take to markets with me to give demos. pens, spinning tops and the like.

either powerd by 12 volt or foot powerd. it also needs to be made out of sompthing lite. i am thinking either wood or aluminium.

any thaughts?
anyone done this?
plans sketches?
ideas sugestions?
where can i get parts?

theres got to be someone out there that has some ideas.

Canetoad
29th October 2007, 08:56 PM
Carbatec have one for a pretty low price. Put a 12 volt motor on it and bobs your uncle

weisyboy
29th October 2007, 09:06 PM
where would i find this?

woodwork wally
29th October 2007, 09:09 PM
i am thinking of making a small wood lathe that i can take to markets with me to give demos. pens, spinning tops and the like.

either powerd by 12 volt or foot powerd. it also needs to be made out of sompthing lite. i am thinking either wood or aluminium.

any thaughts?
anyone done this?
plans sketches?
ideas sugestions?
where can i get parts?

theres got to be someone out there that has some ideas.


Gidday somewhere in the internet there is a picture of a n excellant little wood lathe made from wood Give me a couple of days and I will try to get back onto the site. It looked very easy to construct and probably could be powered with a wiper motor or a bit more powerful or use an inverter to a sewing machine motor which would give you speed control :2tsup: Regards for now Wally

Canetoad
29th October 2007, 09:22 PM
http://www.carbatec.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=300_14570_14580

weisyboy
29th October 2007, 09:31 PM
thanks toad

it looks good but i would like to build my own.

ss_11000
29th October 2007, 09:41 PM
http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/wood-lathe.pdf
from
http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/wood-lathe.html.

came first up in a google search and looks like an alrite starting point.

hughie
29th October 2007, 09:49 PM
either powerd by 12 volt or foot powerd. it also needs to be made out of sompthing lite. i am thinking either wood or aluminium.

any thaughts?
anyone done this?
plans sketches?
ideas sugestions?
where can i get parts?

theres got to be someone out there that has some ideas.



[/quote]

Weisy,
Its a fair question, I believe its doable but you might need a bit of lateral thinking. I set out to do something similar and it became a little heavy. But Iwas prepared to mount it on its own trolly/transport etc.
Aluminium would be fine although it adds an additonal skill demension

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/blog.php?u=7266&blogcategoryid=-1

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=554470#post554470

echnidna
29th October 2007, 09:55 PM
Theres a few homemade lathe plans etc here (http://theblokeyshed.com/info/woodturning.html)

weisyboy
29th October 2007, 10:33 PM
thanks guys i have thaught about it and will desighn my own out of wood to fit the morse taper bits from my nova lathe. pics and wip to come.

Schtoo
30th October 2007, 01:48 AM
Um, yes it is doable.

I have done it, in a sort of roundabout way.


I used a large, thick ally extrusion as a bed, bolted down some pieces of hardwood with bearing holes cut into the wood and bearings pressed in. A spindle (special purpose in my case) and an old sewing machine motor and foot pedal.

I made it to make toy car wheels, which it does very very well and very very fast. To that end, it's next to useless for anything else. I have made a few wheels with it, and it bought down the time to make a set of 4 wheels from 7 minutes to under 3, raw wood to finished wheel. That includes lopping to size, drilling a hole and cutting the thing to the right diameter. The 4 minutes was saved from using a lathe to using the little machine.


There is no reason why the thing couldn't be scaled up and suitably changed so it would work as a conventional lathe.

Do you want some pictures? It's not a pretty thing, but it works better than I ever thought it wood. ;)

(Oh yeah, it does not have any rigidity problems. Maybe a lack of power, but it doesn't give any other trouble.)

OGYT
30th October 2007, 11:03 AM
Weisyboy, sounds like an interesting undertaking... as you said, please give us a WIP tute on it.
Schtoo, I'd like to see a pic of it, as I'm sure there are others, too. Who cares about pretty... functional is best!

weisyboy
30th October 2007, 01:18 PM
i did up a bit of a sketch last night.

sompthing like this

Schtoo
30th October 2007, 02:42 PM
Ok, dunno when since I am a tad hectic but I'll take some pics and put them up.

Weisy, I'd scrap the wood spindle myself. I'd use wood myself, but only as a temporary means to make up a steel one. No longevity worth speaking of, unless you use something diabolically hard and tough, and even then...

jmk89
30th October 2007, 03:33 PM
weisyboy

Like Stu, I would replace the timber of the spindle with alloy or brass or even steel. Also, what do you propose to use to make the bed and the rails (I assume that the tail can be moved and so there are rails halfway up)? Again, I think that you need at least an alloy extrusion for these to give the required rigidity (I reckopn a box for the bed and angles or channels for the rails).

As an "off the wall" suggestion, why not buy a Taig basic kit without motor from Emco (http://www.emcoaustralia.com/) and put a 12V motor on it.

You can do pens etc on it and also do all sorts of metal lathe operations as well.

Cheers

Jeremy

weisyboy
30th October 2007, 07:16 PM
i am thinking of using
1 1/2"x 1 1/2" spotty for the rails,
4" x 4" spotty for the headstock,
4" x 3" spotty for the tailstock,
and red ironbark for the spindle (these can wearout as fast as they want however they shouldnot as they will be mounted in bearings),

got it all worked out will give it a o if it dosent work out i have not wasted any money, just a little timber and some time.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
30th October 2007, 08:23 PM
Weisy, if you're going to make up your own rails from square stock (or even squared metal bar/tube) give some thought to positioning 'em on the diagonal instead of "flat" as usual.

This slightly reduces vertical flex of the bed at the toolrest and it makes it easier to keep the tailstock centred - 'cos it's resting in a "vee" there's no side slop between the ways. :)

woodwork wally
30th October 2007, 09:44 PM
Hi in continuation of last night The little wooden lathe was a Clisby A very nice looking unit and as far as I can remember it is pictured in the Sherline /Clisby site . appropriate as Sherline were designed by a gentleman with surname Clisby . If you find the picture i'm sure you will search no further. Sorry can not send picture at the moment as scanner is like its owner - useby date at hand but I'm still on the right side of the grass but the scanner aint Regards and good luck Wally

OGYT
6th November 2007, 12:42 PM
Weisy, I'm a mite late on this, but have you thought about Lignum Vitae for the bearings? And/or Spindle? Lignum Vitae was used for many years as the bearings for the propelller shafts on large ships.
Just a thought. :)

hughie
6th November 2007, 07:38 PM
[ but have you thought about Lignum Vitae for the bearings? And/or Spindle? Lignum Vitae was used for many years as the bearings for the propelller shafts on large ships.


darn good idea! Theres an Aussie wood thats very similar. Maybe TTIT can help with the name.

Cliff Rogers
6th November 2007, 10:01 PM
darn good idea! Theres an Aussie wood thats very similar. Maybe TTIT can help with the name.

I swiped this from a page on the history of Windmills.....


COMET WINDMILL - c1910 - 2001+ The COMET is a simple design windmill, designed by Sidney WILLIAMS and his son Arthur. It was built in sizes from 8 foot to 35 foot. Bearings and shafts work in separate weather proof oil boxes. The bearings are of lignum vitae or spotted gum. Over a period of time the hardwood bearings develop a very smooth surface. The head of the 24 ft model weighs 2.4 tonnes

Skew ChiDAMN!!
6th November 2007, 10:35 PM
Spotted Gum as bearing material? This is the first time I've heard of that... but it's serendipitous if true. :2tsup:

I have an old SG telephone pole cross-beam, some 8'x10"sq which I grabbed to turn some hollow forms. Unfortunately, it's severely checked all the way through it's length - and from the left stains around the checks by, I assume, the creosote treatment (or whatever they used) has been that way since shortly after milling. :~

Until now I thought I was stuck with another few hundred pen blanks... [phew!]

Cliff Rogers
6th November 2007, 11:32 PM
Might be worth some homework. :think:

Spotted Gum
Eucalyptus maculata
Janka Hardness rating 11

Grey Ironbark
Eucalyptus paniculata
Janka Hardness Rating 14

Grey Gum
Eucalyptus propinqua
Janka Hardness Rating 14

Grey Box
Eucalyptus microcarpa Maiden
Eucalyptus moluccana Roxb.
Synonym: Eucalyptus hemiphloia F. Muell. ex Benth
Janka Hardness Rating 13

Red Mahogany
Eucalyptus resinifera
Janka Hardness Rating 12

TTIT
7th November 2007, 12:09 AM
darn good idea! Theres an Aussie wood thats very similar. Maybe TTIT can help with the name.I wish!!! :B I know there is an aussie timber with similar properties but I can't for the life of me think what it is. T'was also used for bearing blocks along the drive shafts in shearing sheds. It will probably come to me as soon as I hit the 'Submit Reply' button :~
I reckon false sandalwood (eremophila mitchelli) would work - quite hard with a high oil content. Although the only Lignum vitae I've turned was a couple of pens, I reckon they are alike in many ways.

robyn2839
7th November 2007, 12:00 PM
i know that coachwood used to be used for bearings also ,and its not that hard. bob

Pusser
7th November 2007, 02:12 PM
I think it is the oil content that matters rather than absolute hardness. Lignum Vitae used in packing glands in ships propellors feels quite greasy to touch when it has been in water.

Pusser

weisyboy
7th November 2007, 02:29 PM
i was thinking of using tallowwood for bearings or i might be able to find some bearings lying around.

tallow wood is a verry oily and boudy hard timber with hard grain.

Gil Jones
7th November 2007, 04:07 PM
Here are plans for a very nice treadle lathe.
http://www.manytracks.com/lathe/default.htm