Odd project

[slammed87d21]

Not sure how to describe my idea, but I'll try my best. I know how lathes work, and are set up, but I'm wanting to build a "mini-lathe" basically.

My idea is to use a vintage all metal B&D drill for the motor and chuck, and then use possibly a 4x4 for the bed. Stll thinking of how to make the tail stock moveable. The tool rest could possible be a solid piece that is "u" shaped to fit over the 4x4 bed, with a thumb screw or 2 to hold it in place.

In theory, this design would work pretty well for turning knobs, and other small parts.

What I am wondering about is what about a chuck for it? I've never really seen any small lathes in person, so I don't know what to even look for. Anyone have a chuck they could part with? Lol.

This is a really short explanation of the madness I consider ideas, but does this sound like a sound design? I wonder this because I want to practice turning a couple knobs, for a project, without purchasing a full sized lathe since I'll be going to school next year.

Feel free to comment or change my idea as you please.
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Andy



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[Dave Allen]

[Dennis H.]

I've done a bit of turning myself and I agree with Dave Allen 100%.

[Rich, W3HWJ]

A DC drill motor ought to be a good start for a small lathe. You can easily change the speed without gears or belts.

Using a 4 x 4 wooden bed has to be a big challenge. It will change with humidity and temperature.

I turn knobs on my little Harbor Freight metal lathe. It's much like turning wine bottle stoppers. You will find lots of ideas from the Web.

http://yoyospin.com/stopper/

You can buy a nice 3 inch metal-turning chuck from Enco or LittleMachineShop.com. Woodcraft has lots of wood-turning chucks.

My advice: look for someone selling a small metal lathe (used). They are about $400 new

Rich

[Colin A.]

Slightly off topic, but your plan reminded me of something my dad did when I was a kid. Our bathroom had a cord operated pull on - pull off light switch, and one day it failed. Dad took it apart and there was a shaft in there, about 1" long, 1/8" diameter, which had broken. Instead of replacing the switch, my dad came home from work the next day with a length of steel rod of the correct diameter. He put his trusty Black and Decker in the vice, chucked up the piece of steel and, using a very small file, turned the snap ring grooves in the rod. Put the switch back together and it worked for many years after that.

Colin

[butch]

i have 2 small lathes both are small metal turning lathes one however i converted to a wood lathe and it works great for turning knobs.i bought these at garage sales for under 20.00 bucks at that price it isn't worth trying to fabricate something.these are just old small lathes with no feed system except a hand turned affair which makes it only useful for turning down metal not making threads or anything like that.i also could have bought a big atlas lathe with all the features even though it was an older one for 100.00 bucks but i had nowhere to put it.butch

[wrnewton]

I'm thinking that the chuck of an electric drill may not be stable enough to act as a lathe: on many drills you can grab the chuck and wiggle it sideways just a little as if the bushings are worn. Another problem would be speed control under load. One idea might be to lock the switch on the drill "on" and run it through a variac. Another problem: centering the workpiece. For a radio knob, perhaps predrill the wood piece and insert a setscrew collar as suggested before, then insert a piece of 1/4" rod and chuck that in the drill. If you look in the unfinished wooden parts bins at a hobby store like Michael's, you may find some candidates for turning into knobs. Some are almost knobs right off the bat.

Reece

[panther]

I made a wood lathe years ago, and what I used for the bed, was two pipes fastened to a piece of 4" angle at each end, about 6" apart. For the tail stock I placed 4 collars over the two pipes, laid 4" X 4" piece of 1/4 stock on top[ of the collars, and welded them to the plate. this allowed the plate to slide back and forth on the pipes. You could make the same basic design using smaller pipes, say 1/4" pipes.
The drawing is very crude, and not drawn to any scale just to show the basic idea.
Dan


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"The More People I Meet, The More I LOVE My Dog"



panther@mei.ws

[radiorich]

Hello Andy,
I would use a peice of scrap I beam for the bed or angle
Far as the motor a drill is not the greatest idea but a dc motor will work.
Find your self a old working treadmill they are cheap and have a varible speed dc motor that is heavy duty.
Rich
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[gary rabbitt]

Save up a little and look for a used Unimat lathe.


This is not mine, but I have one just like it.


I paid $95 fot mine box included. IIRC, these are about 18" wide.
You can choose 2 types of chucks just like a full sized lathe.

You will be time and trouble ahead if you get something already made, and that is stable. These have a cast iron bed and are pretty heavy for their size.
There are several models the newer ones most easy to find, check fleabay and CL.

Made mostly for metal but I have turned a knob on it once for fun.

[Ken G]

Buy one . I bought a small Sherline for 100$ .

[gary rabbitt]

I just looked at the Epay prices and they are a little high for the DB200 which I have. You will have to watch for an estate tool auction or a regular auction to find one for a good price. The later models will be a lot more affordable.

I'd have paid double for this little setup, and there is great support on the Yahoo groups.

Andy, not to deride your project, but think along the lines of reliability and ease of use. Something made for the job might be the way to go.
JMO

[slammed87d21]

Thanks for the input everyone. Most comments are to just buy one, but I like to build as much as possible.

I've got copies of books from the 1800's of woodworking tools, and that's sort of what I'm going for, but on a much smaller scale, and electric.

My original post was rather vague for the idea, but I'll try to explain it better now.

The general idea of building it fro wood is the same. My idea of using a drill for the motor came from that's what I've got, and simplicity. I would get rid of the trigger, and power it from my variac until I could find a pot that could handle that work.

I'm going to try sketching what I'm thinking so it's easier to see what I'd like to do.
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Andy



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[gary rabbitt]

Hi,
You would have your choice of motors, pulleys for changing speeds. Remember at low drill speeds, your torque will be lower and trying to turn some wood might slow the speed too much. So, the Variac idea might not work too well.

Get something with torque, then use a simple pulley setup.

Keep an eye out posibly for one of those boot polishers. They have a pretty good motor in those.

Electric mixers, which are already geared may work good.

Vacuum cleaner motors probably too high RPM. Blender motor... you get the idea.