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The aim of this instructable is to make a wood lathe from recycled and scrap materials and use it to make some lovely things.
Why a lathe? You can use it to make beautiful birthday and Christmas pressies for family and friends and to craft all manner of things to help in other projects. To make yourself a load of wooden kitchen bowls, plates, utensils, etc. To make arrows, door and draw knobs, staffs, axles, beautiful ornaments, flower pots, light shades... The list is endless.
Making a lathe is fun! Designing one yourself and using free or cheap materials is even better.
This instructable shows how I did it. I got ideas from lots of places on the internet (including other instructables - do a search for 'lathe') and formulated my design as I collected materials.
This lathe is made almost exclusively from stuff other people threw away or didn't have use for anymore, and a big part of the challenge is creatively using these readily available materials. You will probably want to vary your own design from mine, as you will inevitably find you can get your hands on different bits. Don't worry though I will try my best to offer techniques and advice (including where the best places are to get stuff), anyway it is much more exciting when you have a hand in the design process. I would love to hear what you guys use to make your designs.
A more complete and up to date set of instructions for this project and videos of the lathe, and other bits and bobs can be found on our blog at: http://www.floweringelbow.co.uk
I use some basic power tools in making this, and I meddled (carefully!) with mains voltage, so the usual safety precautions must apply. Always wear eye and ear protection when using power tools and lung protection when making dust. Be very careful and get qualified help (if you need it) with main voltage etc.
The lathe itself can be very dangerous, following good practice, and designing in safety, is the best method of staying out of harms way. I will hopefully cover some of these points, but ultimately you're doing this at your own risk, so please take care!
Why a lathe? You can use it to make beautiful birthday and Christmas pressies for family and friends and to craft all manner of things to help in other projects. To make yourself a load of wooden kitchen bowls, plates, utensils, etc. To make arrows, door and draw knobs, staffs, axles, beautiful ornaments, flower pots, light shades... The list is endless.
Making a lathe is fun! Designing one yourself and using free or cheap materials is even better.
This instructable shows how I did it. I got ideas from lots of places on the internet (including other instructables - do a search for 'lathe') and formulated my design as I collected materials.
This lathe is made almost exclusively from stuff other people threw away or didn't have use for anymore, and a big part of the challenge is creatively using these readily available materials. You will probably want to vary your own design from mine, as you will inevitably find you can get your hands on different bits. Don't worry though I will try my best to offer techniques and advice (including where the best places are to get stuff), anyway it is much more exciting when you have a hand in the design process. I would love to hear what you guys use to make your designs.
A more complete and up to date set of instructions for this project and videos of the lathe, and other bits and bobs can be found on our blog at: http://www.floweringelbow.co.uk
I use some basic power tools in making this, and I meddled (carefully!) with mains voltage, so the usual safety precautions must apply. Always wear eye and ear protection when using power tools and lung protection when making dust. Be very careful and get qualified help (if you need it) with main voltage etc.
The lathe itself can be very dangerous, following good practice, and designing in safety, is the best method of staying out of harms way. I will hopefully cover some of these points, but ultimately you're doing this at your own risk, so please take care!
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Signing UpStep 1Acquiring the motor
For this you are either going to buy a motor, or scavenge and reuse one. Favouring the latter and more environmentally-friendly option, this instructable assumes you will scavenge one. The picture shows an old washing machine motor salvaged from a machine my parents were throwing out. These tend to be a good and surprisingly plentiful (keep your eyes out) source of one horsepower series wound commutator motors. It should provide plenty enough power to drive a small wood lathe like the one I am planning.
If you do get a washing machine motor try and grab the whole machine - then in the comfort of your own home you can take your time to work out how the wiring went. If like me you were on a time budget to get it away from your parents sub-Arctic outside shed just cut it out and get as much of the electronics as possible.
To extract the motor, turn the machine upside-down and you should be able to see the motor. It is now simply a case of unbolting it from its mountings.
These motors can be run off both DC and AC making them quite versatile little beasties.
In the picture I am testing the motor with a DC bench supply, made from an old computer PSU (power supply unit - check out Sitnalta's instructable). DO NOT CONNECT THE MOTOR TO MAINS VOLTAGE without any load attached. Series wound motors have no theoretical limit to their speed and the centrifugal forces can fling the motor armature apart! Even with a modest load a direct connection to 240V mains is a bad idea, as the speeds are likely to strain the bearings, brushes and frame - all of which are not designed for unlimited power without a hefty mechanical load.
Another way to test a motor of this sort without a bench-top supply is to attach a 1000W electric heater wire between the brushes. The current passing through the resistance wire should be enough to limit the speed of the motor.
If you do get a washing machine motor try and grab the whole machine - then in the comfort of your own home you can take your time to work out how the wiring went. If like me you were on a time budget to get it away from your parents sub-Arctic outside shed just cut it out and get as much of the electronics as possible.
To extract the motor, turn the machine upside-down and you should be able to see the motor. It is now simply a case of unbolting it from its mountings.
These motors can be run off both DC and AC making them quite versatile little beasties.
In the picture I am testing the motor with a DC bench supply, made from an old computer PSU (power supply unit - check out Sitnalta's instructable). DO NOT CONNECT THE MOTOR TO MAINS VOLTAGE without any load attached. Series wound motors have no theoretical limit to their speed and the centrifugal forces can fling the motor armature apart! Even with a modest load a direct connection to 240V mains is a bad idea, as the speeds are likely to strain the bearings, brushes and frame - all of which are not designed for unlimited power without a hefty mechanical load.
Another way to test a motor of this sort without a bench-top supply is to attach a 1000W electric heater wire between the brushes. The current passing through the resistance wire should be enough to limit the speed of the motor.
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Thanks for the comment - good luck!
I actually lent the lathe to a friend about a year ago now. I have been thinking about making a new one, for turning absolutely massive stuff - one day...
There are mods I would do to this one, if I was building it over again. Like I would build in some kind of 'feedback' into the motor speed regulation - so that I could get better speed control under variable loads - It is quite annoying the way it slows down when you are roughing out a blank with some 'vigour'. And I did always intend to make a digital display of the spindle rpm, using the motor's built in tachometer...
Anyway, your post has reminded me that at some point I should get the lathe back from my friend - It has been away so long, it is now quite difficult to find a space for it in the workshop now ;-)
Are you planning to use scrap for you lathe? If you want any feedback on your metal lathe designs, I would be happy to take a look.
Thanks again, B.
Cheers, B.
Great instructable, too :)
It's great, although I'd also advice people inspired to be cautious, 1hp or 240AC can do a lot of irreversible damage.
Already made some bongos with it ?
No, no bongos yet ;)
Looked like a good instructable. Loving the solid state speed control. My lathe has a belt but the two pulley don't match so I'm constantly having to adjust the motor mount to get an appropriate tension when changing speed. Tedious.
I guess now you need a nice tailstock to turn between centres and you'll be totally versatile :)
Why don,t you read the instructable before shouting your mouth off.
Also cheap tools anneal easily when you sharpen them on the grinder, causing you to constantly have to resharpen the tools.
Making your own lathe is fun and can save you a few hundred dollars but don't screw around with cheap gouges.
Lathes are easily balanced and are often called upon to turn unbalanced jobs. It is called using balancing weights. Beyond that all lathes can be potentially extremely dangerous, it is just physics. So I'm not too sure what your point is with your comment. Personal vendetta against HF maybe?
I agree with Shantinath and Kearney's comments on this, but I would like to know in what way you thought it particularly dangerous? I could think of a million ways it is dangerous, but it is all about assessing the risks and making a considered judgement right? I have lots to learn, so it maybe you have spotted something I missed or didn't think carefully enough about?
thanks for the comments..
I don't often comment, and I suspect (without going back to look at them) that most of my comments have been critical. But I do mean critical in the full sense. I will always attempt to explain why I am writing what I have done. Primarily in an effort to allow an instructable to be improved.
You would notice that I have no Instructables - primarily because I have never had time to properly document any projects at the time. However, as for exposing myself to public scrutiny - that I have done on many occasions in other ways, so I do understand exactly how it feels to have someone comment on your work/concepts/ideas.
It would seem unfair to stop people commenting without having written Instructables as you are potentially ruling out the time earned knowledge and wisdom of people who may want to help, but do not have the time or perhaps the inclination to write their own Instructables.
For an example of the comments I have in mind, see my Instructable on making a new cord for a laptop power supply. People who have submitted no Instructables told me all sorts of reasons why such a project was likely to cause electrical shock or a house fire and should not even be allowed on Instructables. They were shooting from the hip. I finally got one of them to cease when I challenged him to place a glue stick on the hottest power supply he could find and see if it melted after a couple of hours. Meanwhile, I have had that cord plugged into my power supply continuously for almost six months and it works as well and as safely as the original I lost.
It reminds me of a story my mother told. She was a registered nurse. Another nurse who had never married and never given birth to a child thought the women in the maternity ward were just a bunch of whiners who needed to toughen up and quit complaining about pain.
Personally I consider carefully if something is generic enough to be of widespread use or not. I do lots of stuff, but most of it is unique to my situation and would be of no use at all to anyone else just how I did it.
Oh, and I was pfred1 but if you lose your password on this site and have a new email address I do not think it is possible to recover your old account. So even I have more than one Instructible, just not credit for them any longer. Ain't the Internet great?
Anyhow that is my perspective on the matter.
I'm unique, just like everyone else!