# A new life for a 1/4HP motor... is going to be a diy lathe!



## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*first steps*

Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.









Now I decided to recycle it and use it to power some diy machines at the tiny shop.

First I got a drill chuck, and a friend with a metal lathe made an adapter for it:



























Looking good, but the paint job is lousy …

So I decided to clean the motor and paint it, while sanding it I found a tag with the motor specs. well buried behind some paint layers, that's how I knew it's a 1/4HP motor hehee.

And it looks like this is the fourth time this motor is recycled judging by the previous paint layers in it:

Original color: militar green

crappy silver paint job

crappy blue paint job

and finally, red!

Sanding done:








Primer layer done:








Paint finished:









Now it looks better, but as always, murphy law comes in…

I tested with a drill bit and found out the motor shaft oscillates almost 1mm, not good to be used with the chuck installed in it and doesn't look like there's an easy way to replace the bearings, or find new ones anyway.

So, I'll go with a couple of ball bearing pillow blocks, another shaft and some pulleys to work around this, at least this way I'll be able to do some more machine adaptations, here are some ideas:

- the original idea, spindle sander, a friend told me it may not be a good idea as the bearings are made for horizontal use, not vertical, any thoughts?

- Small wood lathe, which could have some extra jigs to work as any of the next ideas

- Disc sander

- Horizontal drum sander

- Horizontal drill for mortises

Any extra ideas are welcome!

A little update:

The cover plate for the wire connections was missing so I made one, and replaced both plates screws:


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## JL7 (Apr 13, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


Hey Freddy - I have a similar motor setup and use it for buffing and sanding…...details here.

Jeff


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


Hi Jeff, buffing and sanding added to the list


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## stilldking (Jun 20, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


You could use it to turn a flex-shaft. (A little less than portable, but that would take away the wobble from your work.)
Nice work on the motor BTW.

JC
Glenburn, ND


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


Argghh Murphy.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


A word of caution. We were taught in the air force that you don't paint motors. It supposedly makes them overheat. Just what they told us. Of course they probably told us cleaning latrines was fun too!


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## peteg (Sep 2, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


Locking screws on the shaft adaptor means that you have a "sloppy " ( I mean 000's") fit meaning the smallest movement will translate to oscillation of some sort, transpose that thru a screw thread & a chuck thread all from differing scources and you will undoubtably have movement thru 3 mechanical fixings / attachments, this is probably why the old guys used to run thru a double ended bearing set and transfered the drive to a balanced shaft, might be worth a look at ))
BTW, good ventilation thru the winding should negate any "paint job" the casing, ost motors came with a coat of paint from new


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tip Grandpa, I think I'll be safe as the motor appears to have good ventilation, and will be used only in hobby levels… unless I get more obsessed with woodworking hehee.

Hi Pete, yes, I didn't thought about the oscillation until I found it, I 'll go with the balanced shaft so it should not be a problem in the end.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


- the original idea, spindle sander, a friend told me it may not be a good idea as the bearings are made for horizontal use, not vertical, any thoughts?

Nonsense! I have a vertical drum sander like this that I've used for years. I'll see if I can post a picture later. The only problem I have with it is that sawdust tends to drop directly into the motor. I just blow it out with the compressor once in a while.

Oddly enough, I just used an drum sanding adapter on the motor shaft for it too. No detectable wobble. I just had to shim the mounting bracket to get it exactly perpendicular to the table.


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *first steps*
> 
> Hi everyone, so I got this motor from a friend like 15 years ago, it was adapted to work as an airbrush compressor but it was not used any more.
> 
> ...


Hi EEngineer, nice to know, please post the picture 

The wobble in this case starts from the shaft itself, I guesstimate this motor is at least 20 years old and some wearing is showing, or maybe some hard hit made the shaft unbalanced.

"I just used an drum sanding adapter on the motor shaft for it too", can't be simpler than that isn't it? I went with the drill chuck so I could replace de drum sanding pieces easily, maybe I should try anyway .


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*

Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:









So far I got some of the parts needed to build the lathe, here are some photos:



















All put together as a test:










I had some free time so I went ahead and did the drive and cup centers, the friend who showed me the magazine also has a metal lathe so he helped with the center points:



















This was the easy part, now I need to adapt some parts of the plan to work with pieces I got.

I foresee some fun weekends!

Cheers!


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## bigike (May 25, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*
> 
> Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:
> 
> ...


wow definatly keep us posted, i wanna make one too.


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## RichardMu (May 17, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*
> 
> Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:
> 
> ...


Very interesting. Can't wait to see the finished lathe.


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## EMVarona (Aug 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*
> 
> Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:
> 
> ...


Another work of a genius. Thanks for the idea/s. Keep them coming.


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## jaxonquad (Apr 20, 2011)

FreddyS said:


> *change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*
> 
> Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:
> 
> ...


Interesting, Ill have to keep an eye on this one!


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*
> 
> Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:
> 
> ...


Really cool, cant wait to see the rest of the tour!
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## murch (Mar 20, 2011)

FreddyS said:


> *change of plan, now a diy lathe and some parts for it*
> 
> Hi everyone, after some thinking and a lot of recent lathe work posts in a local forum, I decided to go for a mini lathe like the one in shop notes 73:
> 
> ...


You're off to a good start anyway. Keep us posted pls. Looks very interesting.


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*Small work on the lathe bed and a case for the power switch*

Hi everyone, this weekend was raining all day long so I could only work enough to cut the plywood for the lathe bed:










1.- crosscutting plywood to length, the TS is too small to cut big plywood sheets 

2.- ripping lathe bed parts

3.- all cuts done

4.- gluing the late bed ply sandwich

5.- gluing the lathe base ply sandwich (I have to buy more clamps!!!)

6.- checking how it will look

Then the rain started again so I went to change the main wire on the motor and did the wiring for the power switch, as you can see I deviated a little bit from the magazine plan, gotta make it look pretty!, and painted red too, as the motor 









Hopefully rain will be gone next weekend so I can finish the bed and start with the head and tail sections.

Cheers!


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## KayBee (Jul 6, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Small work on the lathe bed and a case for the power switch*
> 
> Hi everyone, this weekend was raining all day long so I could only work enough to cut the plywood for the lathe bed:
> 
> ...


Looking good so far, very pretty. Can't wait to see your first turning.


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*The lathe bed is done!*

Hi everyone, rain was almost gone this weekend so I could finish the lathe bed, it nearly catches me distracted and a few drops got into the top of the bed, luckily I noticed and saved all before any damage was made hehe, here are the photos:

1 & 2.- marking the plywood, that's where the grooves for the vertical supports will be made.









3.- setting the router bit height for the grooves, I did the 3/8" groove in two passes, and the router bit is a special one with the same thickness as the plywood, slightly less than 3/4" thick.

4.- one groove is done, second one is ready to be made.









5.- Both grooves done in the bed base.

6.- Testing fit, everything fine!









7.- Grooves made in the top, testing fit again, all nice!

8.- 20º beveled cuts done in the top, also starting the aluminum straps work.









9.- Ready to drill and countersink 28 holes in the aluminum straps.

10.- Aluminum straps attached to the bed, lathe base corners rounded with a 3/4" roundover bit.









Last photo shows how it looks before gluing it all together, I also did the small aluminum locking straps for the 
headstock, tailstock and tool rest.









Next weekend I'll build the headstock and tailstock I hope 

Cheers!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

FreddyS said:


> *The lathe bed is done!*
> 
> Hi everyone, rain was almost gone this weekend so I could finish the lathe bed, it nearly catches me distracted and a few drops got into the top of the bed, luckily I noticed and saved all before any damage was made hehe, here are the photos:
> 
> ...


looking good!


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *The lathe bed is done!*
> 
> Hi everyone, rain was almost gone this weekend so I could finish the lathe bed, it nearly catches me distracted and a few drops got into the top of the bed, luckily I noticed and saved all before any damage was made hehe, here are the photos:
> 
> ...


Looking good so far. I'll be looking for your finished lathe and some things you turn on it.


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## murch (Mar 20, 2011)

FreddyS said:


> *The lathe bed is done!*
> 
> Hi everyone, rain was almost gone this weekend so I could finish the lathe bed, it nearly catches me distracted and a few drops got into the top of the bed, luckily I noticed and saved all before any damage was made hehe, here are the photos:
> 
> ...


You're making good progress. Best of luck with the rest of it.


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*Small update, locking strips done*

Hi everyone, this weekend I decided to build the locking strips, the design calls for hardwood so tzalam wood it is, they ended looking great but it took me a little bit more than planned as I needed to adapt to the wood thickness I had at hand(1") hehee:









1.- Some strips cut and grooved to accept the aluminum straps.

Only the front strips needed the groove but I went thru all the wood, small mistake but it wont affect the result as I'm flipping the back strips so the groove ends on the external side.

2.- drilling a 3/8" hole, counterboring for the T-nuts, all the strips are cut to proper length already.

3.- The studded knobs I got are 5/16" x 7/8" so I had to counterbore 1/8" on the opposite side so the screw does his work fine.

4.-Testing how all fits, looks good.

5.- 20º cuts done, T-nuts installed, aluminum straps installed.

6.- testing how it fits into the lathe bed.

Hopefully I'll be finishing 3 bases, the headstock and tailstock the next weekend.

Cheers!


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*Lathe bases done!*

Hi again, this weekend I managed to finish all the bases for the headstock, tailstock, tool rest and an extra horizontal drilling table I will add to the mix, some photos:










I changed the tool rest arm design to match the hardware I already had (threaded knobs and JCBC allen bolts) and to make it a little bit more versatile, here is my version:










Tool rest base and arm close up:










So far everything looks good:










There's a lot of table saw work to be done the next weekend for the remaining parts, see you later!


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## yougbuckwoodworker (Sep 29, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe bases done!*
> 
> Hi again, this weekend I managed to finish all the bases for the headstock, tailstock, tool rest and an extra horizontal drilling table I will add to the mix, some photos:
> 
> ...


looks good ive been waiting to build mine saving up, keep the posts coming


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe bases done!*
> 
> Hi again, this weekend I managed to finish all the bases for the headstock, tailstock, tool rest and an extra horizontal drilling table I will add to the mix, some photos:
> 
> ...


Interesting build here. Please keep posting your progress. We are watching with anticipation.


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe bases done!*
> 
> Hi again, this weekend I managed to finish all the bases for the headstock, tailstock, tool rest and an extra horizontal drilling table I will add to the mix, some photos:
> 
> ...


Following along; keep slugging away building and photographing


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe bases done!*
> 
> Hi again, this weekend I managed to finish all the bases for the headstock, tailstock, tool rest and an extra horizontal drilling table I will add to the mix, some photos:
> 
> ...


You really do a wonderful job on that lathe, thank you for letting us in.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*Lathe uprights parts ready*

Hi everyone, I spent this weekend doing all the plywood cuts needed for the uprights and the rest tool, the photos:








1.- headstock parts, waiting to be glued and screwed
2.- tool rest, waiting for the 45º cut to mount the steel wear plate
3.- tailstock parts, waiting to be glued and screwed
4.- tailstock locking wheel
5.- the magazine says to use epoxy glue to join the wheel to the coupling nut, in my experience it does not work fine all the times so I added a couple of home made set screws (screw cut to proper size, groove made so I could drive it thru the previously tapped holes in the wheel), it worked really well 

Everything looks like this so far:









As coupling nuts have some play when screwed into the threaded rod I'll have to rectify the center points so the tip does not offset from the center when the coupling nut is tighten, hopefully the lathe will be finished the next weekend.

Cheers!


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe uprights parts ready*
> 
> Hi everyone, I spent this weekend doing all the plywood cuts needed for the uprights and the rest tool, the photos:
> 
> ...


It seems almost any tool has a home made version. I don't have a lathe yet, but I don't think I would make it….I spend most of my time already just making shop stuff, which I really enjoy. This looks fun however, so will be interested in how it comes out.

My father made an electric lawn mower out of an old washing machine motor. My brother and I cut the grass with it for years.


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe uprights parts ready*
> 
> Hi everyone, I spent this weekend doing all the plywood cuts needed for the uprights and the rest tool, the photos:
> 
> ...


Looking really fine, now we are really close to see a running lathe.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## JL7 (Apr 13, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe uprights parts ready*
> 
> Hi everyone, I spent this weekend doing all the plywood cuts needed for the uprights and the rest tool, the photos:
> 
> ...


Hey Freddy - I've been watching your posts and I am most impressed with the inspiration that has come from this little motor….....keep posting!

Jeff


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe uprights parts ready*
> 
> Hi everyone, I spent this weekend doing all the plywood cuts needed for the uprights and the rest tool, the photos:
> 
> ...


Jim: yep, I'm more into square/simple/minimal furniture and stuff so I'm building the lathe mostly for the fun of doing it, don't really need it but I bet I'll have lots of fun turning things for gifts anyway 

Also, even if it was needed, I can't buy locally a ready made one with the amount of money spent on this one so I prefer to indulge the hobby before spending twice or more than you would if buying one in the US.

mafe: yeah, I'm getting there… thinking about it I could use some help with the lathe tools, fly over the pond and come over sometime to the tiny shop my friend 

Jeff: thanks, the little motor led me to a fun road indeed, I wont end the blog series until I have my first turning, I promise!

Cheers!


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Lathe uprights parts ready*
> 
> Hi everyone, I spent this weekend doing all the plywood cuts needed for the uprights and the rest tool, the photos:
> 
> ...


Pls ask away!


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*Almost done, and a test*

Hi everyone, I was too busy the last couple of weeks to post an update, but here it is, small one though:










Added a little handle to the hand wheel to ease the tailstock spindle adjustments.










1.- A live center my friend with a metal lathe made for me, works great but I lost 1" between points so right now it is 17", I guess I wont miss it anyway.

2.- The only thing I had at hand to use as a lathe tool was a 1/2" chisel, I know, I know… I'll get proper tools later. It worked fine though .

I went to youtube to watch some lathe tutorials before starting the tests of course.

3.- the lathe doing his thing.

4.- Final result, as you can see I used the first scrap wood I found, and missed the center on both sides a little 

Later I turned a dowel to measure the spindle runout with more accuracy, previous eye measuring showed 0.5 mm, digital caliper showed 0.4mm(almost 1/64") runout.
I think I'll pay for a proper made spindle to get rid of the runout, and I'm thinking to go with shopsmith machines method (5/8" spindle too) to attach accessories instead of the thread, should be easier to keep the accuracy while changing plates and all.

Something like this:









What do you think?

Conclusion:

Lathe turning is so fun and I'm glad I did it! I'll show the finished lathe in the next update and final chapter of this blog, it's been a great journey so far.

Cheers!


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## joeybealis (Jul 16, 2011)

FreddyS said:


> *Almost done, and a test*
> 
> Hi everyone, I was too busy the last couple of weeks to post an update, but here it is, small one though:
> 
> ...


It looks great and i hope it cost alot less then the $1500 i spent on my first lathe.


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *Almost done, and a test*
> 
> Hi everyone, I was too busy the last couple of weeks to post an update, but here it is, small one though:
> 
> ...


Hi joey:
thanks for the comment, indeed a lot less than that but I guess it won't work as nice as yours hehee.
So far I spent like $100 in everything(had some stuff at hand already though), not bad considering the cheapest wood lathes I can buy over here start at $500 , Let's see how it turns out with the lathe tools.


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *Almost done, and a test*
> 
> Hi everyone, I was too busy the last couple of weeks to post an update, but here it is, small one though:
> 
> ...


Freddy that is so cool.
It is really a nice little lathe you have made there, and you have learned so much on the way there.
Thank you for sharing this with us all.
Look at the local junk place for a old accu drill, from these you can get a chunk, they come out quite easy.
And yes then you can start looking for extras.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

*The first turning... an awl*

Hi everyone, my lathe is not finished yet as I didn't take the spindle drawing plan to the metal lathe guy, but I couldn't stop thinking about using it so I went ahead and turned an awl:

A smaller tool rest was built to ease work with smaller wood pieces:









The finished awl together with an old awl with the more usual handle shape, couldn't copy it as the wood length was too small to maneuver, and a small wood blank the same size used for the awl (1×1 x3"):









Awl closeup, the wood is Tzalam:, I love this wood! Is quite hard but easy to work with:









Another closeup, went with a broken tip concrete bit for the awl spike and used an old fuse cap as a ferrule:









Closeup on the back of the awl:









Everything worked out really fine even with the small oscillation in the spindle, so I'll call it done for now!, but I'll change the spindle anyway as I need more precision for the extra accessories, and already found out where to get a lathe tool kit locally, probably cheap-o chinese but should work of for a while.

Cheers!


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *The first turning... an awl*
> 
> Hi everyone, my lathe is not finished yet as I didn't take the spindle drawing plan to the metal lathe guy, but I couldn't stop thinking about using it so I went ahead and turned an awl:
> 
> ...


Wonderful!
Now it really is a reality, it has been fun to follow.
Impressive work.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## FreddyS (Oct 21, 2010)

FreddyS said:


> *The first turning... an awl*
> 
> Hi everyone, my lathe is not finished yet as I didn't take the spindle drawing plan to the metal lathe guy, but I couldn't stop thinking about using it so I went ahead and turned an awl:
> 
> ...


Hey Mads, thanks for the words, it's a pleasure have you as a friend in this great woodworking adventure


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

FreddyS said:


> *The first turning... an awl*
> 
> Hi everyone, my lathe is not finished yet as I didn't take the spindle drawing plan to the metal lathe guy, but I couldn't stop thinking about using it so I went ahead and turned an awl:
> 
> ...


I'm acually by the lathe these days making handles and stuff.
Big smile here,
Mads


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