Anyone build a small lathe?

[colonel]

Thinking of building a small hobby lathe and wondered if anyone here had already built one? Willing to share pictures of it?
I have been looking at this sewing machine and thinking of a way to make useful tool out of it. It has a motor, speed control, belt drive and bearings in the upper shaft. Get rid of the up-down transmission part and add a tail stock and head stock.
Any suggestions?

[Ruger]

Sounds like an interesting project. Have you ever been to CNCzone.com? You can find a lot of home build lathe and mill projects there. A lot of info for anyone interested in machining, as a hobby or a profession.

[Ruger]

By the way "Colonel" any idea when we lose our "newbie" rank?

[colonel]

I will have to check out the cnczone.com. Never heard of it before. Thanks!
I have no idea when we get rid of the newbie title. Got to earn a new title somehow to get that moniker off there.

[ShockTherapy]

If you have a star you can change your title.

[Ruger]

Originally Posted by ShockTherapy

If you have a star you can change your title.

Got'er done.

[rex cars]

Originally Posted by colonel

Thinking of building a small hobby lathe and wondered if anyone here had already built one? Willing to share pictures of it?
I have been looking at this sewing machine and thinking of a way to make useful tool out of it. It has a motor, speed control, belt drive and bearings in the upper shaft. Get rid of the up-down transmission part and add a tail stock and head stock.
Any suggestions?

Possible? Definitely. Practical? questionable imo. it can be done
look here http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/series/index.html
btw is it an old singer?

[Jkelley]

Harbor freight has some not to bad a prices either.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93212

hard to build one this nice for the price, but if you are just interested in building something dont forget to post pics.

[Tanis]

My older brother is part of a Casting club, and he cast all the pieces to build his own small lathe out of aluminum. Pretty cool really.

[WarMachine]

Just going to throw this out as an idea....

A couple of years ago I made a variable speed medium size lathe for a wood working friend of mine. I ran across a working treadmill being given away, so it donated a hefty variable speed DC motor and controller board. Being belt driven, it was easy to adapt the motor to a spindle shaft. The spindle shaft was simply a 3/4" shaft keyed on one end (for the belt pulley) and had a plate to mate up to a small 4 jaw chuck I found locally for cheap. I used pillow block bearing assemblies to support the spindle shaft. I also made a simple bed and tool rest using 1"x1" cold rolled square, so he could use a live center for longer wooden spindles he was working on.
All in all, maybe $50 bucks into it, and my friend uses it often for wood and metal alike. I added a cheapie magnetic pickup tachometer (referenced off the spindle) to allow him to see what rpm it was actually spinning.

Just putting this out to let you know a homemade one can be done with a little creative use of readily available items...No where near the precision of a high dollar unit, but not as bad as a few of the Harbor Freight units out there either.

[colonel]

I don't feel I need a lot of precision. I no longer work in DOD material so my tolerances are pretty wide. I am going to give this a try. Being on disability means not much money and a lot of spare time. Looking for something to center drill some delrin rods, etc..
This machine was an operating sewing machine until it sewed my thumb to a piece of cloth. It will never sew again. hehehehe revenge. Upon its first disassembly via the wall I noticed a lot of bearings and precision looking supports. If nothing else, it will never attack me again.

[rex cars]

check this out
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html
other info here
http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by rex cars

check this out
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html
other info here
http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/

That's the same design as my brother built, using Gingrey's method's and advice.

It works fine for small stuff, but he did end up buying an 8' 4000lb one this summer for bigger stuff

[BigRocks]

Originally Posted by colonel

Upon its first disassembly via the wall I noticed a lot of bearings and precision looking supports. If nothing else, it will never attack me again.

hahaha lot quicker than dealing with those pesky bolts huh?

Originally Posted by Tanis

It works fine for small stuff, but he did end up buying an 8' 4000lb one this summer for bigger stuff

mmm......big machinery
I still kick myself for letting my Dads mill go when he moved

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by BigRocks

mmm......big machinery
I still kick myself for letting my Dads mill go when he moved

Ya, big machinery is fun....until you have to move it by hand
He picked up a 42" mill 2 months ago to compliment his lathe and shaper.....now when I go visit I can make some really cool parts

[Fastball]

Build or buy is always the question but I have found that building it yourself rarely is cheaper than purchasing one. If your hobby and interest is in building the lathe itself then go for it. If you are already thinking about the parts you are going to build with it then just save yourself the time and buy a lathe. I highly recommend both the Taig and Sherline units. The Taig is cheaper with not as many options. Ther Sherline is very versatile but is much more expensive. Personially I have a long bed Sherline and have had it for 12 years without looking back. I also have a large gear head Grizzly lathe for the big stuff but I would not trade my Sherline for anything. One thing to keep in mind with the small lathes that Enco, Harbor Freight and everyone else carries is bed length. Take a 3" long part, a drill chuck, and a reamer and you will find out real quick that you are out of bed length. If it was me I would prowl ebay until I found a used Sherline.

Fastball

[Metal Militia]

i'v been contimplating making a small lathe in my machine shop class but i haven't had the time due to other projects. let us know how it turns out if you decide to go forward with it