Thread: [repost] Home Made Lathe - Can anyone turn a headstock spindle for me?

Spotted this post in the woodturning section, thought you blokes would be more likely to have input: (BTW, Wands is in Melbourne, VIC)

Originally Posted by wands

I need a spindle machined, the specs are taken from the diagram attached, the only difference will be that it needs to accomodate a five step pully in the middle of it instead of what is shown in the diagram (ie what has the v-belt grooves and the indexing holes).

I got the diaram from an article by Jerry Blanchard, out of a book, The Best Of Fine Woodworking, Lathes and Turning Techniques, 1991 by Tauton Press.

"...
I made the headstock spindle from a 16-in. (mine will need to be longer to accomadate the 5-step pulley) piece of 2&3/8-in.-dia., seamless mechanical tubing with an inside diameter of 7/8-in.
...
I reamed a #3 Morse taper in each end to hold centres,
..."

Naturally I will need to pay for this, thus I need to know
- Roughly how much would it cost for the machining?
- Where would I buy seamless tubing for the spindle from?
- He mentions "Fanfir self-aligning 2&3/16-in. ball-bearing pillow blocks", any ideas as to what may be substituted for these as I can't find any Googling?

I will likely make the headstock similar to the one attached. I have purchased a broken MC1100 for the bed and will add 100mm to the tailstock, making the swing 600mm (maybe a little more)

I have also already purchased a 2hp motor, but it has a short drive shaft (correct me as I know not the right terminology and am making this up as I go along), and I need to attach a four step pulley to it, any ideas as to how I would achieve this would be very much appreciated. I plan it to be 16 speed, and will model it on the pulley setup of my drill press - it has three step pulleys, one on the motor (4-step), one on the spindle (5-step) and one in the middle (5-step).

Any other ideas pointers would be very much appreciated.

Cheers, Steve

Pics are in the original post.