homemade wood lathe?

They sell the BIG ones but I’d buy a “small cheap one” and see how I liked turning first. Then if you love it buy the lathe you want, sell the first one to recoup your investment.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Eric dont know if this is big enough but maybe you can try www.manytracks.com/lathe/ – free download how to make a lathe.

-- dave montreal

Take a look at http://www.mimf.com/articles/lathe/ for an electric lathe if the treadle one does not suite your taste.

I am in the middle of building one like this, but specifically for bowls. Got a couple of pillow block bearings off eBay for $10 and had a local machine shop thread the end of a 3/4” shaft for like $30 (parts and labor). If you have a motor and some solid lumber laying around, plus a cone pulley also from eBay for another $10, you should have a pretty solid machine for $50 or so.

Anyone made one along these lines ?

-- Eric in Oklahoma

I started to make a lathe a couple years ago, from a plan in Shopnotes. I got the base done, but didn’t get the rest finished (it’s on my list of stuff to do, I swear). You may want to search the back issues of Shopnotes to find it. If you can’t find it, shoot me a personal message and I’ll look up my issue for you.

Steve

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

If you are looking for an expensive lathe go to Craigslist or Ebay. Many “new” turners put their lathes up for sale after they get frustrated. Some turners upgrade and list lathes as well. Find a local turning club in your area and see if they have members who are interested in selling a used lathe. I picked up a Jet 1442 that had hardly ever been used for $100.00 One other option is to talk to the folks at Woodcraft or Rockler (if there are any near your) and see when they sell their lathes that are used for lessons or demos. Good luck with your search and/or have fun building a lathe.

-- Those that say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

I’d also suggest getting the first and second books in Dave Gingery's Metalworking Shop From Scratch series. Yeah, you can probably build most of your lathe out of wood, but something about reading that series opened up a whole new world for me in how I think about shop made tools and jigs, even though I haven’t built a blast furnace… yet.

I think the router as a motor will make things spin waaaay too fast (remember, you dial back a router for a 3” bit…), but maybe the motor from an old washing machine or dryer? There’s probably some good suggestions in the Gingery book for that, too.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

You might want a bowl lathe. There is a plan for one in an old
FWW book about making your own machines.

You can find bowl lathes at auctions too occasionally. Now if
you meant a seven foot! lathe instead of 7” you’ll look long
and hard for a lathe that big.

Many smaller lathes can turn faceplates on the back of the headstock.
Plant a steel pipe in an old wheel filled with wet concete and you
have a base for a tool-rest.

I’ve read about guys turning massive burls screwed to the wheel
of a model-T Ford.

The lathe is a very simple machine. It could be fun to make one but
you’ll invest a lot of time in it.

-- Would you like to recession-proof your present business using the internet? - my revealing 9-page free report gives you the straight facts: http://copymatch.com/rec/cap.html

Of course you can make a lathe. There are treadle lathes and great wheel lathes and spring pole lathes. all human powered and made by the user. Look up a guy named Brian Boggs. He lives in Kentucky. Try Popular Woodworking Magazine.

-- Thos. Angle

im still not sure if im gonna buy an old used one on craigslist, or make one (and then have to decide on treadle vs. motor).

thanks for all the suggestions!