Homemade Lathe

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CRAFTY

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11 Jan 2017
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Hello all,i have just started to build my own lathe out of timber,the only problem that i will have is the shaft,i am using 16mm threaded rod and screws,bought two bearings today,25mm inside measure,i have started to grind down a 16mm steel joiner which is 28mm outer measure,it is still a little bit wobbly,but was getting dark,i think it should work,i will put two nuts either side to keep it from shifting,i am using a washing machine motor,it is fairly powerful,does not want to stop when pressure applied,so i will be putting maybe a fan speed controller on it,with a safety stop,everything else is handy work,so if anyone has any ideas on a better way of fitting the 16mm shaft to the 25mm inside diameter bearing? i would love to hear it,thanks very much. (homer)
 
Wow. So many thoughts and so little time to write them! Would love to see a photo to get a full picture (terrible pun) of what you're doing. What sort of turning do you plan to do?

S
 
hay thanks,i am using 18mm plywood,i am actually copying a guy of you tube,as dangerous as it is to make a lathe,i feel better copying this guy,it looks good,if i don't get the shaft correct,i will have one made to fit the bearings,you tube PAOSON WOODWORKING and it is down the bottom,HOMEMADE LATHE and DISC SANDER,take a look and see what you think,i want to make djembe,bowls,lamps,globes,my own turning tools, all sorts of stuff,it will be 32" from jaw to tail and 10" from base to center pivot,fit a nice size log in there hahaha,but will it stay there is the high voltage question
 
hello there cheers,i actually answered your Q in my other thread by mistake like a dope only out of bed,anyway,after searching the local providers i finally found some bearings,so i was not going home empty handed was happy to bring two home and see if my plan i made in the shop would succeed ,if it doesn't work i have a place an hour away to order them thanks for the link,much appreciated,back soon.
 
Just a thought, and probably too late now anyway, but -
Could you get hold of a lathe spindle? This would give you an accurately threaded nose and a Morse taper too. I bought a spindle from a graduate for about £15, and so I can mount it in the chuck of my metal lathe. Then I can mount my graduate accessories on my metal lathe, giving me a very large speed range powered by a 3HP motor - not something I do regularly but useful on occasions ( drilling out largd holes in end grain for example).
In your case, I suppose any spindle might do, perhaps from a scrapped lathe, either wood or metal lathe.

K
 
how are ya,i will get one at some point,but for now i'm focusing on getting the lathe built,i got the base close to finished today,didn't get to do anymore with the shaft,i thinking i might just do it rite and get a shaft made up to suit the bearings,and save any problems down the road,thanks for the thought,so you have a metal and a wood lathe??make me a 25mm shaft will ya,hehe
 
ok just decided i'm gona get a shaft made,i'll drop in to him nxt week,better safe then sorry
 
Hi Crafty,
Yes I have a wood and a metal lathe, the metal one is a Colchester Master, quite a beast. What I don't yet have unfortunately, is the skills to use it effectively. Just too many things to do.
Good luck with your build. I expect once the spindle and bearings are sorted, the rest should be plain sailing.

K
 
Nice,and what do you be turning?thanks it's comming along,just need to make the tail piece,tool rest,curve the cover for the gear housing,I need to get the safety stop and speed control,I went to get my shaft made today and it will be ready on monday,25mm shaft to fit the bearings,tight fit,I like it,I am getting both ends threaded to 20mm to fit a joiner,shape it to grab the timber,the other end will be a disc sander,then the tail piece will have a 16mm threaded rod,I took pics to put up then realized the phones were down,will put them up tomorrow,cheers
 
A morse taper on the inboard side would be useful, if you can get your machinist to do it at a reasonable price - minimum mt2. Also remember the threads on the spindle are to hold the accessories on, but it's the register that aligns them accuragely. Have you discussed this with your machinist?
What thread are you using? A commonly used thread would be a good idea, and M33 seems to be getting more and more common. Might be worth checking what register is used on Jet etc lathes so you can use standard accessories.

Finally, on the graduate, the inboard and outboard threads are the same, except outboard is left hand. Axminster offer a chuck threaded both L and R, so one chuck fits both sides without unscrewing in use. Might be another issue to discuss with your machinist.

K
 
Thanks,I was supposed to ask him what the standard size is fir when I get my jaws/chuck and the likes,and git side tracked,I will ring him monday and find out,I doubt he started it yet,I hope,
 
If you are using a 25mm shaft why don't you get the end threaded 1" x 8 TPI which is one of several standard sizes for woodturning lathes. Chucks come ready threaded in that size & thread adaptors are also readily available.
You may have to add some form of collar for the chuck to register against to maintain concentricity unless you go to a smaller thread eg 3/4" x 16 TPI
 
Cheers robbo,was wondering yesterday when looking at shaft sizes,what is 3/4 by 16,is it 3/4 " thick ,sorry spot the noob,ha,can you tell me what figures are for what please,would be very nice to know since I nearly have a lathe now hehe,hang on I will check what tpi means lol,
Ok got it,I was rite in guessing thread per inch,just wasn't sure,so thanks for that,just learnes about tpi,pitch gauges,so now that I think of it i'm not sure what tpi the engineer is putting on my shaft,so I will ring him early monday morning and ask him to put the most common one on it I think,thanks great help.I will ask for 1" by 8 tpi like you said,cheers.
 
CRAFTY":17mfe0j8 said:
........ I will ring him early monday morning and ask him to put the most common one on it I think,thanks great help.I will ask for 1" by 8 tpi like you said,cheers.


If you intend using standard turning faceplates and chucks then the spindle nose needs to be made to some very specific dimensions.

The thread is the means of retaining the faceplate or chuck and providing the drive but it is the Register diameter and depth that provides the accuracy of alignment, relying on thread alone is likely to allow movement under turning cut loads.

See Here


Have you read through the Safety and help Notes at the top of the section?
 
CHJ":1n4ylsbr said:
CRAFTY":1n4ylsbr said:
........ I will ring him early monday morning and ask him to put the most common one on it I think,thanks great help.I will ask for 1" by 8 tpi like you said,cheers.


If you intend using standard turning faceplates and chucks then the spindle nose needs to be made to some very specific dimensions.

The thread is the means of retaining the faceplate or chuck and providing the drive but it is the Register diameter and depth that provides the accuracy of alignment, relying on thread alone is likely to allow movement under turning cut loads.

See Here


Have you read through the Safety and help Notes at the top of the section?

Ok cheers CHJ, I will have to play it by ear and see if he has started working on it yet,I have a feeling he has not ashe said he was flat out so thats a good signe anyway,once it holds any jaw/chuck/face plate that will do me,ill be honest I did jump the gun a little bit,but I had intended building the lathe out of timber and threaded rod/nuts n bolts,and just the other day decided to just get a shaft made up,should have done mor re search but hay,i'll make it work,it's a learning curve,so thanks for the input,no doubt I will have Q's hereand there in the future for my new hobby,thanks
 
not much done today,but got most of the tool rest done,and realized half way through that i don't have as much a diameter as i expected,but only took me ten mins to wipe the tears,still have 14 1/2 " i could push it up to 16" if i really wanted,but my main aim was to make the djembe which will be 12" so i think i will leave it as is,also don't want to go to full height as it will be at it's weakest part of the tail stock,i am working on the pics now,cheers.
 
nearly there,it is telling me there are to few characters? ok now were getting somewhere
 

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had to raise the housing to get 14 1/2 " diameter
 

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