Build Your Own (metalworking) Lathe - Part I

Step 5 The Carriage

Here's the pattern and casting of The Carriage - it rides back and forth on The Bed (actually, on the "ways" bolted to the bed; more on that later), holding a fairly adjustable mechanism, which ultimately holds the cutting tool that cuts the workpiece.

The top part blew out a bit - I patched it up with that miracle FastSteel epoxy-stuff again. (Note: you can drill and tap FastSteel -- the package says so, and my experience agrees. BUT - you cannot centerpunch it. Well, you CAN - but it'll break all over the place. Finally, there's a good chunk of solid metal under the epoxy to really hold the threads. ;-) Also, I gotta fix that green paint - yuck. (Turns out you really ought to use a metal primer before paint, even though I'm using engine enamel.)


Here's a picture of the bottom side, with the clamps attached. The shims (under the clamps) need some fixing - they're snipped from a beer can, and I finally found some good brass shim stock in various thicknesses.

Note the screw-eyes in the wood pattern. They serve 2 purposes: they give you something to grab onto to pull the pattern out of the sand/mold, and they're handy to rap on to loosen the pattern so it can be pulled out.