Copy Lathe or similar

[Johners77]

Afternoon all,

I am looking for a copy lathe or something similar. I would like to reproduce the rough shape of a cricket bat to take some of the hand shaping work out of the equation. They would then be finished by hand. Ive got a Clone duplicator which although seems a great bit of kit (ive set up and not really used) it isn't quite suited to this application so im looking to sell this and get something else. Ive seen cheap copy lathes from Mcallister/B&Q- are these any good? can they work off an odd shaped 3D template or just a basic mdf guide?

any suggestions would be great.

thanks

 

[Max Power]

A normal copy lathe will only produce round turnings , so ok for baseball bats but no good for cricket bats

 

[Chrispy]

Not sure but I think what you need to search for is a rotary copy lathe, or rotary knife copy lathe, these were /are used for axe handles, cabriole legs and suchlike.

 

[marcros]

other than the handle, i cant see where a lathe would be used.

 

[StevieB]

Why not use a bandsaw to rough out the blank? Got to be easier than using a duplicator!

Steve

 

[Fat ferret]

There's a machine that duplicates gun stocks exactly lots of videos on you tube and for sale on ebay. Would do the job, how many you planning on doing :lol: .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TARGET-RI...269?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e8fa22d95

 

[Johners77]

Thanks for the replies guys. The reason I am looking into this is to speed up production and take out some of the initial shaping work. Im aware I will still need to do a fair bit to it but a rough shape would be easier and quicker.

below is a link to something similar. not too fussed about doing more than one at a time but hopefully this gives you an idea. the shaping is mainly to the back of the bat with only minimal shaping to the front.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecXJLhyrbpc

I already have the clone duplicator which I was hoping would part shape the back to a rough shape but whilst its a great machine, it doesn't quite work as well as I would have hoped in this instance. id be looking to sell this to fund the new purchase. If anyone is interested let me know ( sorry if this is against any forum rules)

 

[JohnPW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMwCdqwWvIo

How It's Made, clogs, about 1 min in they show a duplicating lathe, although I would think that's a major bit of kit for high volume production.

 

[Max Power]

Thanks for that Chris, I've seen one of those in action being used to make spokes for carriage wheels but couldn't remember what they were called
About as common as hens teeth to find though

 

[Johners77]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMwCdqwWvIo

How It's Made, clogs, about 1 min in they show a duplicating lathe, although I would think that's a major bit of kit for high volume production.

yes, something like this although id be happy if it could just do one at a time. if its not possible then its not possible, I just wondered what to look for and if they were easily available

 

[xy mosian]

A copy router might better suit your needs. Sorry no links.
xy

 

[Altheo]

A router lathe might achieve the desired result. There's usually a couple for sale on eBay.