Engineering Lathe

[sainty]

What value would an engineering lathe be for a carpenter/joiner/cabinet maker? I have seen them in action, i've heard people talk about them but what can they do?


rgds



Stu

[engineerone]

well in principal it is a waste trying to cut wood on them, they are not designed for it, except maybe some very dense woods like lignum vitae.

you could make your own hinge pins, turn up scribers and or marking pins. you can drill quite long holes in things, which are square and parallel.

you could make metal handles and knobs for your furniture.
draw pins for m/t joints.

but unless it is really cheap, not sure of its value to you stu

mind you you can also add things like milling capacity, or even surface grinding but frankly if you are going to waste money, buy something for your wife and kids. ;D

paul

[modernist]

You might be interested in this Paul. It's a hybrid wood/metal lathe, designed and made by my old man in his early 80's, and now being installed in my workshop.



As you can see it is basically a wood lathe with a cross-slide but it also has a built in dividing head in the headstock.



The dividing head is intended for spiral turning via a wire and pulley sytem.

The tailstock is a lever, quick action type for wood drilling.

Amazingly, IMHO, the headstock and tailstock are fabricated from 25mm ply . I think I would have used metal.

I am about to use it to turn some cross grain parallel plugs for fixing some large knot holes in some low grade douglas fir.

Brian

[engineerone]

i love it brian, and am never less than impressed by the strange concoctions people built.

you say your dad is in his 80's but not when he built the machine.

i don't get model engineering very frequently these days, but am stunned by what people will spend hours making. never quite sure how often they actually save any money with the time it takes. but the work is always beautiful.

like you were i going to do such a thing i would have preferred to use metal, but it will be interesting to see how it works for you.

thing about a metalwork lathe is the open threads on the lead screw etc and of course the speeds which don't make it really suitable for anything other than metals.

anyway please congrat your dad even in your prayers for such a clever solution.
paul

[jasonb]

I've used mine for the odd metal fitting and where I need several wooden cylinders as its very quick to set the tool to the dia and just engage the autofeed.

Also for precise turning of hardwoods like these feet.

Really depends on what type of work you are going to do and if you are also thinking opf using it for metal work as well.

Jason

PS I've got a lathe for sale

[modernist]

Thanks Paul, he's 85 now and must have finished it about 3 years ago. He has been a lifelong lathe builder having had his first, Drummond based, cast in bronze by the local coal board foundry in the 1930's (try that today for an enthusiastic youngster!). He recently told me that although he finished the lathe he cound not afford a motor so was never able to use it before he went off in to the services.

Not content with making it out of plywood it also has a taper turning tailstock on a bakealite slide and a cam operated spindle brake you can see in front of the dividing head. the spindle is Myford thread and takes collets as well as Burnard chucks.

I've kept the best till last ;D He actually sawed and filed the all the bed plates out of bright drawn stock and the T slot cross-slide is actually rivetted together . It has no lead screw but the rack was also sawn and filed from flat stock.

I think he calls it savage amusement. I call it Luddism.

I'll pass on your kind words

cheers

Brian

[engineerone]

am almost lost for words brian, but it must make you feel good to know he is still interested and prepared to try things at such an age. no lala land for him then. ;D

paul

[sainty]

Ok, thanks for your help, but I think that you've missed the point of my question, let me re-word it for you.

If I was able to get an engineering lathe, for a price (lets say £300) that I know that I can re sell it at a profit (lets say £600-£800), and wanted to use it to have a bit of fun but wanted an excuse to keep it because it has a genuine use but also wanted to use it to make things that are a bit of fun, because I remember using one at school and that was fun, and even if 'i only use it to machine a couple of punches with those knurled bits on because that's cool - what could I use it for?

rgds

Stu

[jake]

Making bits of metal into smaller bits of metal.

HTH

Jake

[mrgrimsdale]

Dec 18, 2008 19:13:58 GMT jake said:

Making bits of metal into smaller bits of metal.

HTH

Jake

And bits of wood too, with some limitations of size. You'd clog up all the mechanics with dust though, perhaps strip it down first.

[stevep]

I've got one sitting in the corner waiting to be brought back to life - in fact it's creeping up the list towards the top quite rapidly. Fantastic for making jigs, clamps etc. A 4 jaw independent chuck is very useful - with a bit of ingenuity you can do all sorts of machining, not just making round things smaller. Find a local scrap metal yard to source materials - aluminium is very useful as it's easy to machine. Plastics like acrylic also machine well - very useful for making things like ring fences for the router table*. You'll find all sorts of excuses to keep it once you've started.
*this sort of thing is a piece of cake:

[woodchucker]

Dec 16, 2008 22:32:38 GMT engineerone said:

well in principal it is a waste trying to cut wood on them, they are not designed for it, except maybe some very dense woods like lignum vitae.

you could make your own hinge pins, turn up scribers and or marking pins. you can drill quite long holes in things, which are square and parallel.

you could make metal handles and knobs for your furniture.
draw pins for m/t joints.

but unless it is really cheap, not sure of its value to you stu

mind you you can also add things like milling capacity, or even surface grinding but frankly if you are going to waste money, buy something for your wife and kids. ;D

paul

Most small milling operations can be done with an overhead mounted, multi-speed router and a machinist's vice. As long as you refer to the manual and use recommended bits and speeds, no troubles.

As to bits, let's put it this way, the TCT teeth on my Elu saw cut a 1/4" into the mild-steel ribs of my Triton table without losing any teeth. (The depth setting slipped!) ;D So, TCT router cutters can cope with brass and ally, no problem with the right speeds. But you can buy milling cutters to fit most collets. It's all in the manual (Elu that is) so I suppose it's valid for any router.

Edit... Not saying you won't find use for a lathe. I have a small Myford myself that must be 60 years old. It comes in most useful for brass, tufnol, plastic and silver-steel gee-gaws on woodwork. And you can make things like cutting gauges on an engineers' lathe.

Jack