Munty Scruntfundle
Established Member
Hi folks.
I'm in to week 2 of turning now, loving it. Even come up with some bits I'm quite pleased with. Today's first go with a bit of soft saple resulted in a lovely bowl for a friend, couldn't be happier with the AC305WL lathe.
Except... Because I'm sat in a chair hollowing or negative cuts are extremely tricky and bordering on dangerous. Lathe manufacturers get around this by rotating the entire lathe by 90 on it's axis, so the bed is on the opposite side to the turner, therefore there's better access.
I could do this, but it would mean building a sturdy, steel, box section frame which would end up large and difficult to move. Far from ideal. OneWay make one, it's a small lathe but the frame is huge.
So I was thinking, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a swivel for the head, it would only be 2 round bits of aluminium, some holes and some kind of locking bolt. Sadly I don't have the metal tools to make this yet. I'd need to raise the tail stock by the same amount and chop an inch off the table legs, but that's pretty simple.
Has anyone out there done this, or thought about it? Any advice?
Many thanks.
I'm in to week 2 of turning now, loving it. Even come up with some bits I'm quite pleased with. Today's first go with a bit of soft saple resulted in a lovely bowl for a friend, couldn't be happier with the AC305WL lathe.
Except... Because I'm sat in a chair hollowing or negative cuts are extremely tricky and bordering on dangerous. Lathe manufacturers get around this by rotating the entire lathe by 90 on it's axis, so the bed is on the opposite side to the turner, therefore there's better access.
I could do this, but it would mean building a sturdy, steel, box section frame which would end up large and difficult to move. Far from ideal. OneWay make one, it's a small lathe but the frame is huge.
So I was thinking, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a swivel for the head, it would only be 2 round bits of aluminium, some holes and some kind of locking bolt. Sadly I don't have the metal tools to make this yet. I'd need to raise the tail stock by the same amount and chop an inch off the table legs, but that's pretty simple.
Has anyone out there done this, or thought about it? Any advice?
Many thanks.