Home Made Table Top Lathe????

[Radio Joe]

Hey everyone, FOr some time now I have wanted to build a small tabletop lathe to do small parts with... Mostly radio controls, shafts and parts. Definitely dont need to do anything bigger then maybe a hammer handle... even that may be too big.

I was thinking of building it from some old drills but am unsure how to build the tail stock to hold the part. Not alot of experience with Lathes, but I usually cut my controls and such using a drill press and some small saws and files... works good, but I want to step up to something a little better. Anyone have any plans or ideas how to go about it?

Thanks
-Joe-

[Rubes]

Harbor Freight mini lathe (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=33684)

[Radio Joe]

Thanks Rubes... That is a sweet looking Lathe, but I am looking to have some fun Building one myself. Cost isnt really the problem, just thought it would be more fun to build it myself.

I may have to break down and buy one though... just for the better precision.

[David Pozzi]

You need something to act as a bed and a carrage to hold the tool post. It's better to buy something like the HF lathe and do your inventing with attachments and tooling. You will find many projects you can do with one.
There are some home machine shop web sites on the net.

[Radio Joe]

Hi David... been a while since we've talked.

Yeah I have looked online and found some stuff. I think you guys are right, I should just buy a nice one and experiment with other things. I couldnt get the precision doing it myself that I could with a purchased one. BEsides, $400.00 for a lathe is a pretty decent price I think.

Thanks Everyone
-Joe-

[JamesD]

if you're still interested in building your own lathe try this:

http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/series/index.html

i have the book on how to build a metal foundry, had alot of fun, and it worked great. here's a link to a guy who build one himself, http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html

[Radio Joe]

Yeah I have seen the books and a few websites on stuff people have built from them. I am going to buy the book on makin gthe chrcoal foundry because there are some things I want to cast from Aluminum and steel.... I would love to do it myself!

[Rubes]

Thanks Rubes... That is a sweet looking Lathe, but I am looking to have some fun Building one myself. Cost isnt really the problem, just thought it would be more fun to build it myself.

I may have to break down and buy one though... just for the better precision.

I understand wanting to do something yourself, I'm like that too. You'll still spend a bit of time making that lathe a "precision" tool though. If you want to piece one together, you can get bits and pieces from Little Machine shop (http://www.littlemachineshop.com). Check here (http://www.mini-lathe.com) for some stuff relating to the HF lathe I posted above. By the way, that lathe goes on sale for about 350 pretty often.

Rubes

[indyjps]

buy the membership to harbor freight, pm me if i still have a current membership ill give you the number or place the order for you if you go that route. i bought a lot of stuff from them when remodeling my house. small stuff you may only use once or twice anyway doesnt have to be top notch, or precise.

[Matt@RFR]

These days, you'd spend more than $400 just in materials to build your own. Last month, steel was exactly double the price it was one year earlier. Aluminum isn't as bad, but stainless is worse.

A good lathe is only good if it is rigid. Rigidity is the quickest path to accuracy and good surface finishes, which means even more steel (and preferably iron for the base to keep harmonics down).

While I'm not a fan of the little "bargain" lathes, it's a whole lot better than not having one at all, and is an excellent way to see if you have the knack without a second mortgage.