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Step 3Lathe details - Head and Tail Stock
This step will cover the creation of the head and tail stock for the spring pole lathe project.
To make the stocks themselves, I just bolted together chunks of 2×4 to create a solid head stock. To make access to the piece of turning easier I cut the two side pieces with a 45 degree cut to give it a diagonal access to the area.
The length of the middle piece was determined by measuring above the crossbeams about 83 (the height of what I thought might make a good turning area. (close to 163 diameter turning area seemed more than enough.) The bottom part I picked a sizable tail to it, so I could cut a mortise into it for clamping to the cross bars, and left some below that to give it some strength (I will draw up plans later with exact measurments.) The size and depth of the notches in the uprights gives me a gap between the crossbars that a 2×4 fits into. The two short pieces (83) screwed to the side of the middle, longer piece rest on the crossbars. when I fit a wedge into the mortice in the tail of the headstock, it locks the stock to the crossbars and is quite immobile.
To put the mortice hole in I used Fornster bits a bit wider than the width of the wedge I am using. I used a piece of Maple I had sitting around because I figured it would hold up better being pounded in and out all the time. I made the hole go above the bottom of the crossbars so that the wedge would lock against the underside, and not top out against the stock. I also angled the bottom of the mortise with a chisel to approximatly fit the angle of the wedge. My wedges ended up being different sizes but they both work quite well.
To make the centers I useda 1/23 bolts I found at the hardware store. 1/23 steel rod was expensive, but 1/23 zinc plated steel bolts were about 70 cents for a 43 bolt. The threading didnt go all the way up the shaft, so a quick hacksaw job later, and I had cheap steel 1/23 rod in the 23 length I needed!! I rough ground one end of each center to a vague 453 cone on my 63 grinder, and then chucked the piece into my drill press, and held a metal file to the end to make a pointed shape. It turned out pretty nicely. I got this method of shaping the point from the Woodwrights shop tv program.
Drilling a 1/23 hole in my head stock, and just pushed the center in. I can remove it later if I need to build a new headstock. Locking the head stock in place with a few taps of a wooden hammer to the wedge, I lined up the tailstock right up against the pointy end of the center in the headstock. I locked the tail stock down too, so they were in the exact turning positions they would be in at this point. Then a hard rap to the tailstock drove the face into the headstock cenet point just enough to make a mark. This gives me a pretty much true lined up centers in both stocks, which is important in turning. Drilled that hole, mounted the tail center and voila!
To make the stocks themselves, I just bolted together chunks of 2×4 to create a solid head stock. To make access to the piece of turning easier I cut the two side pieces with a 45 degree cut to give it a diagonal access to the area.
The length of the middle piece was determined by measuring above the crossbeams about 83 (the height of what I thought might make a good turning area. (close to 163 diameter turning area seemed more than enough.) The bottom part I picked a sizable tail to it, so I could cut a mortise into it for clamping to the cross bars, and left some below that to give it some strength (I will draw up plans later with exact measurments.) The size and depth of the notches in the uprights gives me a gap between the crossbars that a 2×4 fits into. The two short pieces (83) screwed to the side of the middle, longer piece rest on the crossbars. when I fit a wedge into the mortice in the tail of the headstock, it locks the stock to the crossbars and is quite immobile.
To put the mortice hole in I used Fornster bits a bit wider than the width of the wedge I am using. I used a piece of Maple I had sitting around because I figured it would hold up better being pounded in and out all the time. I made the hole go above the bottom of the crossbars so that the wedge would lock against the underside, and not top out against the stock. I also angled the bottom of the mortise with a chisel to approximatly fit the angle of the wedge. My wedges ended up being different sizes but they both work quite well.
To make the centers I useda 1/23 bolts I found at the hardware store. 1/23 steel rod was expensive, but 1/23 zinc plated steel bolts were about 70 cents for a 43 bolt. The threading didnt go all the way up the shaft, so a quick hacksaw job later, and I had cheap steel 1/23 rod in the 23 length I needed!! I rough ground one end of each center to a vague 453 cone on my 63 grinder, and then chucked the piece into my drill press, and held a metal file to the end to make a pointed shape. It turned out pretty nicely. I got this method of shaping the point from the Woodwrights shop tv program.
Drilling a 1/23 hole in my head stock, and just pushed the center in. I can remove it later if I need to build a new headstock. Locking the head stock in place with a few taps of a wooden hammer to the wedge, I lined up the tailstock right up against the pointy end of the center in the headstock. I locked the tail stock down too, so they were in the exact turning positions they would be in at this point. Then a hard rap to the tailstock drove the face into the headstock cenet point just enough to make a mark. This gives me a pretty much true lined up centers in both stocks, which is important in turning. Drilled that hole, mounted the tail center and voila!
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