Home built lathes

[Leonard Niemi]

Anyone out there using a homebuilt lathe ? Can you share some pictures with us ? I have a hankering to make one but would like to get some ideas from others on how you did your creation.

 

[hughie]

do a search of this forum, theres been a few thread on the subject.

http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/showthread.php?t=5340&highlight=lathe

http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/showthread.php?t=6353&highlight=lathe+building

 

[Dennis Ford]

Re: Home made lathe

This is my home made wood lathe. It can swing 22" diameter over the ways. The frame design was inspired by Oneway. The rails were originally a single bar that was part of an old John Deere disk plow. This bar was 2" x 2.75" x 8' and when cut in half determined the length of my lathe. The headstock bearings, motor, VDF and the drive belt are the only parts that were purchased complete, everything else was built in my shop. The motor is 1.5 hp three phase and is powered by a Hitachi Varible Frequency Drive. The VFD and three pulley positions give the lathe plenty of torque and speed choices. Sorry about the poor picture, I am at work now and don't have a good picture with me.

 

[George Clark]

Lathe built by my friend and fabricator extraordinary, John Taliaferro. His other lathe makes this one look like a mini.

George
0032620

 

[Pete Wade]

Here's mine, I call her "Bertha". Built it myself with a little help from my Dad. 2 Hp w/ frequency drive. I went a bit overboard on the beefy side, probably could have used 2" square tubing instead of 4", but the thing is rock solid, and allows me to turn as small as pens, or swing a blank up to 32" diameter.

I'm working on a tailstock for it now. The riser block I fabbed up really works good, but the Delta tailstock is a bit weak for the bigger stuff.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Here's mine, I call her "Bertha". Built it myself with a little help from my Dad. 2 Hp w/ frequency drive. I went a bit overboard on the beefy side, probably could have used 2" square tubing instead of 4", but the thing is rock solid, and allows me to turn as small as pens, or swing a blank up to 32" diameter.

I'm working on a tailstock for it now. The riser block I fabbed up really works good, but the Delta tailstock is a bit weak for the bigger stuff.

I thought that the tailstock looked familiar ... even with the tiny riser that it is sitting on. 😉

I see that the VFD has its own chair to watch the show. I suppose that visitors must stand. 😀

 

[Pete Wade]

Bill - Yeah, the chair was what I had available at my shop. That photo was from my first test when I was still fine tuning everything. She's now found a home hanging on the wall in my basement shop. Much better now 🙂