Thread: Carba-Tec HM-1A Mini Lathe Advice

Very slick motor adjuster.

I don't think epoxy will hold for your tool rest. It would be best to bite the bullet and buy a proper one. Ask here, someone may have a used one.

The forces at the joint of the upright and cross piece are quite heavy, especially if you have a catch. If the top were to come off and get flung into the turning, a bowl especially, you might find yourself with a mouth full of angle iron.

Check here for sizes and see if one is sold in AU:

Packard Woodworks: The Woodturner's Source: Tool Rests

Having one welded up is a possibility.

Originally Posted by Paul39

Very slick motor adjuster.

I don't think epoxy will hold for your tool rest. It would be best to bite the bullet and buy a proper one. Ask here, someone may have a used one.

The forces at the joint of the upright and cross piece are quite heavy, especially if you have a catch. If the top were to come off and get flung into the turning, a bowl especially, you might find yourself with a mouth full of angle iron.

Thanks for the warning. I had not even considered that as a possibility!

Craig

Originally Posted by Morbius

Thanks for the warning. I had not even considered that as a possibility!

Craig

See my addition to my above post.

Thanks for that link. I hadn't seen those before

There's some very nice tool rests there. It seems that 1/2" shafts on tool rests are kind of rare.

Craig

I haven't even done my first turning job and discovered that my lathe is about an inch too short for it!

I am about to build a custom extension for the bed. Luckily I left plenty of room on that tabletop!

I have some inch thick MDF and some aluminum flat bar that is the right size for the job. So it looks like I'll be posting some more pictures over the coming week or so. I may have to be careful or this mini-lathe may no longer qualify as "mini" any more!

I have also been fortunate in that my tool rest problem has been solved (Thanks DJ's Timber!) by another forum member.

Craig

Tomorrow, I pick up two lengths of steel that a local engineering firm have cut to size for me to create the bed extension. I decided to go with steel to add a little weight and strength. I will have to reshape it with a few mill files to match the profile of the original, but I am a patient fellow

I am only extending the bed by 40cms, but that will really increase the capacity of the lathe, without causing too many problems with torque.

I am ready to cut the template out for the stand, so that I can route out the 28 pieces I need to glue together to make the support for the rails. I'll post more pictures as I make progress. I won't get to the routing until the weekend at this stage.

I know that there are other people who have the same model lathe, so I'll make the plans and instructions (if you can call them that) available for others once I am done.

Craig

Well,

It's been a rough month or so since I managed to do anything serious regarding the extension of the lathe.
I've busted some ribs and cut the tendon on my thumb, so progress has been a little slow. What I am doing is taking photos along the way to document progress, mistakes and how difficult or easy this is to do.

Anyway,

Here's how things are going:

Picture of the lathe - unmodified from the front Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_01.jpg

Picture of the lathe - unmodified from the side Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_02.jpg

Picture of the lathe - unmodified from the front with rough components Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_03.jpg

Picture of the lathe - unmodified from the front with shaped components Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_04.jpg

More to come in the next post...

A few more pictures...

Picture of the shaped components with template Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_05.jpg

Picture of the template Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_06.jpg

Picture of the lathe - unmodified from the front with shaped components in place Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_07.jpg

Picture of the lathe - unmodified from the side with shaped components in place Carba-tec HM-1A_upgrade_08.jpg

I still have about a dozen more pieces to route out on my table (pictures to follow) to fill in the gap, and then drill and countersink holes in the steel to secure the steel rails to the MDF base. This will be a study extension for the lathe when I am done

Of course, I have yet to build the cabinet and drawers for storage, rebuild the lift, now the prototype has proven itself as a concept and then trim and paint the bench. I suspect it is going to take me longer to finish the lathe than anything I will ever create on it

Craig

This is the hardest part of this project so far. Waiting for the glue to dry...

Here's how it looks at the moment... Carba-tec_HM-1a_upgrade_09.jpg

After this, it's a quick sanding job, a bit of routing and drilling so the gutter doesn't fill with sawdust continually and a quick coat of black paint and it'll be ready for the rails to be added

Of course I have picked a day when traditional Canberra weather has struck and it might be days before the glue is dry enough for any of this.

BTW, I have kept the template for making this and am happy to share it with others who may possess this model of lathe. Just PM me and let me know.

Craig

As luck would have it, I can't find the can of black spray paint

However, I wasn't about to let that ruin my plans to get this thing up and running...

Angled view of lathe with bed mounted. Carba-tec HM-1A Upgrade 10.jpg

Close up of DJ's Timber's custom tool rest. Carba-tec HM-1A Upgrade 11.jpg

Side view of lathe with extension. Carba-tec HM-1A Upgrade 12.JPG

Angled view of lathe partway through doing a handle for a tool. Carba-tec HM-1A Upgrade 13.jpg

Yet another gratuitous angled shot of the lathe and tools. Carba-tec HM-1A Upgrade 14.jpg

I've still got some fine tuning to do and also to find a can of black spray paint...

Craig

Once I've fine tuned this set up, the next job is the storage cabinet underneath, lighting and dust collection.
Lighting is a bigger issue than I first expected when I started a topic about it a week or so ago. Lots of good avice to consider and see what is possible to put in place.

Dust collection is simple. It'll be the Carba-tec unit as already decided

Craig

Here we go:

The prototype lift mechanism:

IMG_4189.jpg

The final version, in progress (needs paint and tarting up):

IMG_4877.jpg
IMG_4878.jpg

As you can see (compared to the picture at the top of this post) the mechanism has been modified and simplified to minimise the chance of sawdust getting stuck in it. I've got the whole mechanism sliding along an aluminium rail, and with the UHMWP, there's not too much requiring any oil at all.

IMG_4879.jpg

The action on the lift is fairly smooth and solid, so that if the belt breaks due to age, no damage will occur. All I have to do now is decorative and I've got a functional lathe once again. I've already got the Carba-tec dust hood to mount, once this is done, and to add a light. I also want to add decent drawer fronts and some trimming to finish this thing off.

Craig