ive seen all the info on the gingery stuff, but im not too crazy about the casting part. seems easier to weld or bolt it together. seen some cool stuff on the web. with a milling attachment, i think a fella could create all kinds of cool stuff.if youhave built one successfully, please post pics. thanx.
anybody build their own lathe?
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I dream of a shop big enough for a lathe and mill... but that's not in the foreseeable future.
Someone told me once that a lathe is the only machine capable of making a copy of itself. Not sure about that one. :? I've been looking to buy one. Looked at an old South Bend the other day but it wasn't set up to cut threads. Harbor Freight has some small ones for reasonable that would be handy for a lot of bike applications. Gary
B607 said:
You were informed correctly, but milling the bed might take a bit of doing. I've used my lathe to make a few replacement parts for itself though. The small Harbor Freight ones can be pretty good, usually they can be disassembled and poor build can be improved upon and a few better bits added to obtain a pretty nice little lathe.
I understand making basic tools. But Making your own Lathe. You would need too many fine tools to build a real Metal Lathe. I would just buy a lathe and spend my time and energy making the parts that a Lathe create.
Ok I thought it was a mill was the only machine capable of duplicating itself.
I looked at the Harbor Freight ones....they are about a foot long. There is a site about
mini lathes and the cheapo small Harbor Freight one is not as good of a choice. The 8x10
I think was a better one.
I looked at the Harbor Freight ones....they are about a foot long. There is a site about
mini lathes and the cheapo small Harbor Freight one is not as good of a choice. The 8x10
I think was a better one.
I don't have a lathe of my own, but I don't really need one. I have a friend with a lathe and mill in his garage (they were a bugger to move in there, I can assure you). But what's more, there's a well-equipped CNC machine shop right on the other side of the wall from my office. The guy that runs it is an avid cyclist as well...
Depending on the area you live in, Craigslist may be a good source for getting a good production model lathe for an affordable price. Unfortunately for me it is a matter of timing, having the money, space and time. Not always easy to do.
A mill can make most of the parts for a lath, but not all of them. Somewhere down the road, there is a lath and mill for my garage.
I don't know if other people have this problem also... but when I start looking at new laths (Grizzly or Jet or whatever models) I find myself starting at a specific price range, than you look at the features, but the model just above has more depth and longer beds, so you justify the expense in your head... but the model above that one is only alittle more money, so you figure out whether you can afford that... but the model above that is only... and on and on... till you are looking at 3000-5000 for a unit
As for the original post, I have watched videos on Youtube and Vimeo of Gingerly models working, they have a good deal of vibration, it is cool that you can build your own, but there are tradeoffs...
Rich
A mill can make most of the parts for a lath, but not all of them. Somewhere down the road, there is a lath and mill for my garage.
I don't know if other people have this problem also... but when I start looking at new laths (Grizzly or Jet or whatever models) I find myself starting at a specific price range, than you look at the features, but the model just above has more depth and longer beds, so you justify the expense in your head... but the model above that one is only alittle more money, so you figure out whether you can afford that... but the model above that is only... and on and on... till you are looking at 3000-5000 for a unit
As for the original post, I have watched videos on Youtube and Vimeo of Gingerly models working, they have a good deal of vibration, it is cool that you can build your own, but there are tradeoffs...
Rich
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See I'm the exact opposite, I buy the cheap one thinking hey I can make money using it and I can buy the next one before I know it, but I end up buying bikes instead.
I was in a museum in Turin Italy called the Palazzo di Madamma...or something like that. There was a lot of wood work from the 1500's and 1600's and they had a lathe from that time period. Mostly made of wood. I have a pic in my Italy pics...somewhere. So lathes go back pretty far. Gary
Yea, tredle type lathes are the oldest I am aware of, they were basically 2 supports the material being spun, a string and a foot pedal. Can't imagine how far back that would go, Would not be suprised if someone had info that it was used in Sumerian art pre 2500 BC... Egyptians were using plywood back around 1500BC, why not? Cool stuff though, the history of tools and building materials and methods.
Rich
Rich
RIght now the problem with buying a lathe or mill, is that a lathe or mill is not too bad, it is all the accessories you need to make stuff with. My dad has 2 lathes and a mill and they were not to bad in price, but the tooling, is what is eating his lunch, since the best deal is in sets, even if you do not neet them.
yoothgeye
I build stuff.
We turned my dad into a lathe a few years ago, or was it my truck? Maybe both.
Anyway, I wanted to put Isuzu wheels on my '83 Toyota Hilux, the rears fit just right, but the fronts wouldn't clear the manual locking hubs.
We put the truck on jack stands, used washers to space the wheel away from the drum then sat dad on a bucket with his pneumatic rotary tool, put the truck in gear and let it drive.
A few miles on the odometer later and the wheels fit.
Anyway, I wanted to put Isuzu wheels on my '83 Toyota Hilux, the rears fit just right, but the fronts wouldn't clear the manual locking hubs.
We put the truck on jack stands, used washers to space the wheel away from the drum then sat dad on a bucket with his pneumatic rotary tool, put the truck in gear and let it drive.
A few miles on the odometer later and the wheels fit.
