Thread: Home made lathe from scrap

You need to be very well versed electrically, or better still have some qualified, to work out the electrical side of things.

The build is unnecessarily complicated.

Steel and aluminium in contact will eventually cause corrosion problems.

I have had no end of trouble over here trying to get a lathe together but that is because of a different set of problems.

Have a look at a thread on these forums by Eduardo in Peru. He built himself a great bowl lathe/. The addition of a bed and tailstock would make it into a good spindle lathe.

If you want to make a lathe you have to look at compatibility of chuck threads to headstock threads. You will need to have #2 Morse Tapers in both head and tailstock spindles. You will need appropriate bearings.

Don't want to turn you off the idea, BUT it is not so simple.

Hi Bongo and welcome to the site,
Ok I will start by saying I have not built a lathe yet. There are a few guys on here who have. This is just my thinking here but I reckon to build a lathe you first have to do a bit of turning and play around with lathes to get an instinct for what will work and what will be too hard for your skill and resources. At a basic level a treadle or a pole lathe would be quite easy for the average woodworker. With a motor added then we move up a bit but I guess you want something like a modern lathe
This particular build you posted looks a bit on the fiddly side. I guess finding something with usable bearings will be the starting point of the design. I have seen good home built lathes on this site and if you search the web you will find lots more. Wood and plywood are often used and this is usually more within the skill levels of home tinkerers. Ad the dutch guy on here did a good wood build. Search back a few years on this site.
There are plenty people on here to help you along so good luck and keep us posted.
Regards
John

unless you have some machine tools and welder and a lot of time its cheaper to buy second hand . that way if you get a branded machine, and you will be able to sell it on . as well as getting to turn wood now! if you build just get some stepped pulleys and do the electronic variable speed later . built a short bed lathe 12 years ago and it took a lot of time fabrication and metal turning especially the tail stock . and has some unique features , may patent it one day, but if you dont have the skills or equipment its a long road . though a lot of fun if you enjoy the work . cheers