Is there anything useful that can be done on a wood lathe? I've heard of some aluminum spinning for small stuff and maybe turning neoprene bushings, but other than that, is there anything that can be done? I've got this wood lathe taking up valuable space in my garage that I can't seem to get rid of, so if there's something useful I can do with it someone clue me in...
I have bought teflon rods and turned them into bushings on a wood lathe. Used them in the neck tube of all the mini bikes I have built for the grand kids. Other than that, I have no ideas.
I've used my metal lathe to make things from wood occasionally...so you could use it for that kind of stuff...or go into the table leg business
haa! Every time I look at, or should I say trip over, that thing the first thing I curse is wooden table legs! Anyone tried metal spinning small stuff on a wood lathe?
There is no precision feed tool post, just a rest to hold a chisel against. Sell it to a woodworker and get a metal lathe, which can also be used with wood.
Depends on what motor size and gearing you have for it. If it's got a big enough motor and you can slow it down enough, you can spin metal with one. The little direct drive hobby ones won't do it, but I've got a 40's vintage Delta with a 1.5 HP motor on it. When I get more shop space, I'm going to swap some pulleys and try to spin some stuff. If you don't have any other way to hold stuff on centers or index by degrees, they're handy. The drive head on my Delta has indents at regular intervals, and I have a four jaw chuck for it, so I can mark things off at 30 or 22.5 or 45 degree angles, for drilling a bolt pattern or whatever. I also have a jacobs chuck for the tail support so I can center mark something that I couldn't otherwise with the steel-rule-mounted type of centerfinder. I also mounted my grinder to the ways to get it off my bench and have more workspace.
yes, it would be hard to convert it for turning metal with no tool post or chuck...you might be able to do some light aluminum spinning not to hijack this thread , but a heads up on a lathe on ebay. it's for doing armatures , but i think you could use it for turning small projects. if i lived there i would buy it just to play with,, not that i need another lathe auction # 110060246987
It's not a good idea to turn wood with a metal lathe. The sawdust gets into nooks and crannies, attracts moisture and the rust devil gets a start. If it has a chuck you could use it for polishing things. A lathe file - or regular file - some 3M abrasive cloth, several grades of emery paper and you'd have aluminum pieces ready for buffing. It could be a nice addition to a metal lathe dedicate to metal turning. Bad part about polishing, 3M cloth etc. on a metal lathe is, if the ways are not covered you'll end up with an abrasive slurry that wears the ways every time you move the carriage. If you can get a degree wheel accurately bored, you can clamp it to the threaded lathe nose behind the chuck, set up a pointer and use it to mark items for indexing. Not quite as accurate as a dividing head or rotary table, but it will suffice for things like degreeing in a harmonic dampener and the like.
I would never use this for anything that should be done on a metal lathe. I just have thing thing sitting there and was thinking maybe there was something creative I could do with it. We bought it real cheap and never used and now we just can't seem to find a hobbyist to buy it to start a wooden table leg company! I figured if there was something nifty I could do with it other than just "give" it away then I should play... I will have a metal lathe someday, but I will never try to make something out of metal on this thing... now using it for polishing would be cool! I don't really have anything that needs polished though... Oh well, I'll just keep trying to get rid of it. Anyone in the Vegas area want to make baseball bats, railing spindles and table legs? I've got just the set-up for you!
Make yourself a little club. Take the lathe out to some high-school shop cl***. When you miss your lathe, wack your shin with the little club. It'll be like having it right there.
HAA!! I love it!! I have tripped over that damn thing so many times trying to get to my Model A! I almost pushed it over last night!!
It's got a 12" swing and it would be super easy to rig up. I could do a disc sander on the back side and a nice drum sander on the front side. Clamp a bed to the front and back.
It could be set up to do metal spinning. Using wooden bucks you could spin hubcaps, airfilters, covers, cans, headlight and taillight buckets, cups,......lots of stuff. Probably couldn't do heavier aluminum or steel, but light sheet would be workable.
Hey N.O.M.A.D. why don't you shut the **** up and just read for a while? You have yet to post anything intelligent or intelligible here.
what the **** kind of way is that to treat a FNG? you are right about one thing, someone needs to shut the **** up....and it ain't me or FNG.
...here's what you do with a wood lathe. one in the bedroom, one somewhere else. both solid oak...hammer is for size reference only
When we bought our fire alarm system they gave us one like that to put in the bedroom incase of fire to break a window to get out. I keep it by the bed for breaking things. Hopefully I will never get to use it on a window tho. You could make a lot of equalizers out of old pallets and sell them to slide under a seat for emergencys. Funds could go towards your ride. Gumpa
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