Thread: Building a Dedicated Bowl Lathe

I feel a Hughie coming on he makes a mean bowl lathe Jock

That could be interesting Wheelin' .
Hughies a metalman as well as a woodie eh .

We have some 'aussie power poles' about 2.M long out in the yard too About 4 of them I think.
Forgot to mention that in the first post.

'aussie power poles'

Victorian, South Australian, West Australian, Queensland or Tasmanian?

I am assuming you have "Stobies" from SA.

Its' all 'aussie hardwood' to us

We have a Brisbane man in our ranks , I'll ask him if he can id them

Wasn't sure whether they were wood or steel.

Sounds like timber ones. the Stobies are steel.

Originally Posted by

Wasn't sure whether they were wood or steel.

Sounds like timber ones. the Stobies are steel.

Yep, just plain tree trunks . No machining , just been debarked it seems .
We have them all over the country . NZ plantation pines have only been used in about the last 50 years.

You got our kauri , we got your 'hardwoods', for wharf timbers too

kiaora Jock,

this might help

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/diy-lathe-70958/

I use a welded construction as its the simplest to do with minimal machining. If you take your time it will come out square and true, certainly enough for wood turning.
Since this one I have another two on the drwg board, an up date of this one and another smaller one an update on the one below

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/home-made-lathe-53366/

here you go is the sort of thing you had in mind, a decent sized face plate

Tena koe Hughie ,
thanks , thats the ticket .
Some of our blokes come from the metal world , ( there was a huge railway workshop here in Dunedin , some of the older ones served their time there).
I'll run this stuff past then on Saturday

Part of the workshop floor is asphalt , so no problem casting a concrete found into it .

The faceplate won't be a problem , I think there is a a wheeling plate at the Settlers Museum , in the Wheelwrights shop

Nice railway station there too.

Mass is what you are after with torsional strength.

The 3000 headstock is very robust but for big work it needs bracing.

When we turned big stuff on the 3000 we added a 8mm plate that was bolted to the stand and attached to the headstock via bolts through the casting.

It would not hurt to add a further strap from the top of the headstock angled to the frame as well.

A little trap to avoid is putting the headstock in the centre of the frame. You need access to the back of the work as well sometimes and there is nothing worse than having to try and work around a lump of concrete or steel.

Originally Posted by Manuka Jock

...
Any and all ideas on the design , construction , materials , weight , anchorage etc for the building of a bluddy big dedicated bowl lathe will be appreciated.
Obviously all ideas will be considered , but only a few will be used....

I built mine on a piece of truck chassis on the end of a 14" diameter steam pipe from the scrap metal yard.
Pics here.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/mot...21/#post223456

If you want a big bowl lathe have a look at this one


The Big Bowl

Barry

It is a beauty isn't it, I have seen it working.
More pics on this page.
Turnout 2002

Originally Posted by

Victorian, South Australian, West Australian, Queensland or Tasmanian?

I am assuming you have "Stobies" from SA.

Turning them South Aussie Stobie poles sorts out the men from the boys

Cheers

Tim

Originally Posted by Bazza

If you want a big bowl lathe have a look at this one


The Big Bowl

Barry

Yeah , I wanted to steal that one , but the club were a bit weird about smashing a hole in the wall to get it in