# Treadle Lathe Build



## brianl (Dec 18, 2009)

*Starting the build*

As part of my bowsaw project I ended up building a crude bungee lathe. In doing so I realized how useful a lathe could be and how it could enable my addiction…I mean hobby. Since most of my projects are from the arts and crafts movement I don't see a lot of spindle turning in my future, but I can definitely see some serving implement, bowl, condiment shaker, and box turning happening.

So I started looking around for a way to build a lathe that fit into my "no power tools" lifestyle. I looked at a more complex spring pole/bungee lathe but to be honest the half one way half the other way thing got pretty annoying after a while. Eventually I found plans for Roy Underhill's treadle lathe (pdf) that appeared in Popular Woodworking. They were even nice enough to provide a Sketchup Plan for it. After looking over the plans it looked like a reasonable build so I got started.

My plan is to build the entire lathe from store-bought dimensional lumber - Douglas Fir to be precise. I looked around for the necessary hardware (steel rod for an axle, bearings, and stop collars) and they seemed price prohibitive. The bearings alone were $9 a piece at Grainger! While I'm normally a fan of buying American-made products whenever possible, it seemed like no matter where I looked I could not find American-made sealed bearings. So, I went on ebay and bought 10 of them for $18 with shipping - roughly 20% of the cost from grainger. We'll just have to see how these suckers hold up over time.

I got started building the main frame - Douglas Fir 4"x4" braces make for a hefty base. Cutting the tenons for this took some time but boy were they beefy.










I'm assembling the frame with breakdown hardware - since I live in a rental I have to be able to disassemble this sucker and move it at some point.

I'm also assembling it in reverse of Roy's plans. The configuration he had wasted a lot of valuable space. In my small shop I can't afford to waste space so I'm flipping the lathe around. I'm also reversing the support for the drive pulley. I'm probably going to be using a spade or screw chuck and I wanted the screw to turn in the correct direction.










Now it's time to see about the supports, the headstock, and the tailstock.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

brianl said:


> *Starting the build*
> 
> As part of my bowsaw project I ended up building a crude bungee lathe. In doing so I realized how useful a lathe could be and how it could enable my addiction…I mean hobby. Since most of my projects are from the arts and crafts movement I don't see a lot of spindle turning in my future, but I can definitely see some serving implement, bowl, condiment shaker, and box turning happening.
> 
> ...


This should be interesting, thanks for letting us accompany you!


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## Tomcat1066 (Jan 3, 2008)

brianl said:


> *Starting the build*
> 
> As part of my bowsaw project I ended up building a crude bungee lathe. In doing so I realized how useful a lathe could be and how it could enable my addiction…I mean hobby. Since most of my projects are from the arts and crafts movement I don't see a lot of spindle turning in my future, but I can definitely see some serving implement, bowl, condiment shaker, and box turning happening.
> 
> ...


I'm definitely going to be following this one, since I see a treadle lathe in my future as well


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

brianl said:


> *Starting the build*
> 
> As part of my bowsaw project I ended up building a crude bungee lathe. In doing so I realized how useful a lathe could be and how it could enable my addiction…I mean hobby. Since most of my projects are from the arts and crafts movement I don't see a lot of spindle turning in my future, but I can definitely see some serving implement, bowl, condiment shaker, and box turning happening.
> 
> ...


That's a good start on this lathe and this blog will be very interesting.


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## CartersWhittling (Jan 29, 2011)

brianl said:


> *Starting the build*
> 
> As part of my bowsaw project I ended up building a crude bungee lathe. In doing so I realized how useful a lathe could be and how it could enable my addiction…I mean hobby. Since most of my projects are from the arts and crafts movement I don't see a lot of spindle turning in my future, but I can definitely see some serving implement, bowl, condiment shaker, and box turning happening.
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting I look foward to seeing your progress. I know after I made my spring pole lathe I found many uses for it.


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## brianl (Dec 18, 2009)

*Framing Complete*

I haven't really taken any vacation time this year so I decided to take a 4 day woodworking staycation. Hopefully the late will be complete at the end of it! With nothing else to do today, I made some great progress.

I started the day by finishing up the cross brace on the end. It probably seems like nothing, but cutting mortises in 4"x4" posts takes up a lot of time. Saint Roy's plans call for this brace to be a simple 2×4, but since I am increasing the mass of the flywheel some (and because I had leftovers) I decided to beef up the brace to a 4×4 post. Getting the mortises and tenons for the triangular beams has been the biggest pain in my butt so far on this project. I probably spent a good hour and a half today just trimming and fitting to make this piece. I also went back and but a nice little beveled edge on the top surface of the bottom beams.










With that brace complete, the basic frame was done! So I started working on the tail stock. Again, Roy's plans call for a 2×4 but since I had 4×4 scrap I wasn't doing anything with, I decided to use that instead. The stock has a through mortise that when combined with a tapered peg solidly grips the lathe.










Now that these pieces are complete, the lathe is starting to finally take shape!










Up next, hardware and the flywheel!


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## Tomcat1066 (Jan 3, 2008)

brianl said:


> *Framing Complete*
> 
> I haven't really taken any vacation time this year so I decided to take a 4 day woodworking staycation. Hopefully the late will be complete at the end of it! With nothing else to do today, I made some great progress.
> 
> ...


It's coming together quick! About how many hours would you say you've got in this so far?


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

brianl said:


> *Framing Complete*
> 
> I haven't really taken any vacation time this year so I decided to take a 4 day woodworking staycation. Hopefully the late will be complete at the end of it! With nothing else to do today, I made some great progress.
> 
> ...


I would very much like to build Mr Underhill's spring pole lathe, but I need to clear some space in my shop first.

You are doing an awesome job on this thing.


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## brianl (Dec 18, 2009)

*Tool rest*

Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.

I started by sawing the basic shape - I threw in a couple of decorative curves.










I followed that up by cutting a 1/8" groove in the top and tapping in a piece of 1/8" steel bar stock. I figure that should provide a solid rest for the tools. In Roy's original plans he doesn't mention doing this, but I think it will really add to the life of the tool rest. I sawed the line initially, then widened it with my 1/8" chisel until I could tap the bar stock it. I really didn't want the piece to split so I made sure the fit was just snug.










Afterwards I mounted it to the frame and my tool rest is complete!










The top is secured through the lathe rails and uses a bolt & wingnut to hold it in place. As you can see, I bored a slot through the top to allow for depth adjustments.










As usual, after the build I got to thinking - it would be nice (for more complex turnings) to be able to adjust the height of the tool rest. I'll have to see about modifying it to allow for that.


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

brianl said:


> *Tool rest*
> 
> Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.
> 
> ...


Yes, height adjustment is very important unless all your tools are the same size, mine are not. You are doing great.


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## Jon3 (Feb 28, 2007)

brianl said:


> *Tool rest*
> 
> Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.
> 
> ...


I wonder if you could thead the tailstock where your live centers would go. That might make it easier to apply pressure to the workpiece.


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## CartersWhittling (Jan 29, 2011)

brianl said:


> *Tool rest*
> 
> Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.
> 
> ...


Its looking good, I would recommend trying to find a way to raise and lower the tool rest, but as long as it does not sacrifice strength. A wobbly tool rest will make turning…a little less than enjoyable.


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## Tomcat1066 (Jan 3, 2008)

brianl said:


> *Tool rest*
> 
> Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.
> 
> ...


Still looking good. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about turning to offer anything constructive. Instead, I'll just keep waiting happily for more details on the build.


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## brianl (Dec 18, 2009)

brianl said:


> *Tool rest*
> 
> Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.
> 
> ...


Jon: Great idea - Now I just need to figure out how to build a locking handle…

Carter: that's exactly what I was thinking earlier today. I've been brainstorming a way to do it.


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## mpmitche (Apr 2, 2010)

brianl said:


> *Tool rest*
> 
> Construction of the flywheel and pulleys is taking longer than I anticipated, so I thought I'd skip ahead and show the progress that I made on the tool rest earlier today.
> 
> ...


Looking good so far; can't wait to see the rest!


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## brianl (Dec 18, 2009)

*The flywheel*

The flywheel is based around a 2×12 of Douglas Fir I picked up at the big orange store. Not exactly high quality wood, but it gave me the mass I was looking for. I then added a layer of 3/4" pine boards to increase the mass a bit more.

I cut the flywheel by mounting it in a vise and using the bow saw I made to cut the rough shape. Doing it this way seemed to be a lot faster than cutting rounding by cutting corners.










Once the rough shape was cut, I then trued up the wheel with a spokeshave.










The flywheel has a 5/8" hole bored through the center. There are also 1 3/8" holes bored 1/2" deep on each side to accept two sets of bearings that the flywheel rides on.










Once the bearings are in, the flywheel is mounted on the support and locked into place with stop collars.










To get the wheel to turn freely, I had to sand down the 5/8" steel rod that the flywheel was mounted on. It was just a bit too large and was causing the mounting to drag on the flywheel, greatly reducing it's speed. Once I got it slimmed down, the speed of the flywheel increased greatly. The shine of the right side gives away my work:










Finally, the wheel mounted:


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

brianl said:


> *The flywheel*
> 
> The flywheel is based around a 2×12 of Douglas Fir I picked up at the big orange store. Not exactly high quality wood, but it gave me the mass I was looking for. I then added a layer of 3/4" pine boards to increase the mass a bit more.
> 
> ...


Nice progression.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

brianl said:


> *The flywheel*
> 
> The flywheel is based around a 2×12 of Douglas Fir I picked up at the big orange store. Not exactly high quality wood, but it gave me the mass I was looking for. I then added a layer of 3/4" pine boards to increase the mass a bit more.
> 
> ...


Awesome! I found an old treadle that I used to power a pillowblocked axle. I gave up on mine out of sheer frustration. I don't think my flywheel had enough girth, my vee-belt was too rigid, and my pillowblocks were too crummy. I'll be watching this one! ;0


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

brianl said:


> *The flywheel*
> 
> The flywheel is based around a 2×12 of Douglas Fir I picked up at the big orange store. Not exactly high quality wood, but it gave me the mass I was looking for. I then added a layer of 3/4" pine boards to increase the mass a bit more.
> 
> ...


I can't believe I missed this. Nicely done so far.

Can't wait to see it in action.


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## brianl (Dec 18, 2009)

*Rebuilding the tool rest*

After I finished building the initial tool rest (according to St. Roy's plans) I was not one hundred percent happy with it. It wasn't very adjustable and was a pain when it did. So, I took a look at modern commercial tool rests and tried to come up with my own alternative.










When I looked at this, I saw a series of problems:

It was hard to move and reposition.
It lacked height adjustment.
The tool rest wasn't able to rotate (for work on hollow vessels).

So, I designed a tool rest that was adjustable on all fronts. The bottom flange has grooves that slide along the tracks. The bottom knob tightens the position of the rest base. The rest itself can be moved up and down and rotated by the knob on the front.



















Ok, now onto getting this thing completed…


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

brianl said:


> *Rebuilding the tool rest*
> 
> After I finished building the initial tool rest (according to St. Roy's plans) I was not one hundred percent happy with it. It wasn't very adjustable and was a pain when it did. So, I took a look at modern commercial tool rests and tried to come up with my own alternative.
> 
> ...


Looking good! Very interested in Roy's Treadle Lathe, this is great stuff. Thanks for posting!


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

brianl said:


> *Rebuilding the tool rest*
> 
> After I finished building the initial tool rest (according to St. Roy's plans) I was not one hundred percent happy with it. It wasn't very adjustable and was a pain when it did. So, I took a look at modern commercial tool rests and tried to come up with my own alternative.
> 
> ...


That's pretty cool. The treadle lathe (as opposed to the springpole) is really growing on me.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

brianl said:


> *Rebuilding the tool rest*
> 
> After I finished building the initial tool rest (according to St. Roy's plans) I was not one hundred percent happy with it. It wasn't very adjustable and was a pain when it did. So, I took a look at modern commercial tool rests and tried to come up with my own alternative.
> 
> ...


Did you finish? No turned project entries so did it turn out alright?


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