Home made lathe

[MrWolf]

I was not sure where to put this but I know a lot of folks talk about getting a lathe with price being the primary obstacle - myself included. I do not know how/where I would get the plates cut and do not think this would be the most precise machine but could be used for numerous projects with some upgrades. Of course this is all speculation on my part since I do not have any knowledge in this area and would not be able to do something like this - if feasible - until next year. I figured our experts could offer suggestions or comments for those that may consider a project like this. I will try embedding the video because when viewing posts that works best for me but no promises. The actual link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6a5HTsYCSY . I believe one of the comments stated the cost was around $500. What do you think?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6a5HTsYCSY

[Idz]

A few problems I see if you want to do precision work:
No gear train means no threading and no power feed.
Linear bearings don't like dirt, so they may bind up quickly.
Spindle axis must be parallel to bed rails.
Crossfeed axis must be perpendicular to bed rails.

[Winger Ed.]

Interesting project.

If you set about looking for them, and are patient, used ones on the cheap are out there...

[country gent]

Back in the day if a shop needed a new lathe they were made in house, a lot of machines were. The casting were made and seasoned then roughed in and hand scrapped true. ALot of manufacturers machines were made in house to what they required.

The linear bearing will work but will require exact mounting straight true and parallel. same with the head stock. It will require precise work but is a doable project.

Ive seen a lot of wood lathes made in the shop ( was one of the projects at the trade school I went to). most were set up better and solider than what could be bought.

[john.k]

If you had a good friend with a scrapyard,then maybe you could get the bits cheap enough ......buying new you would be over budget very quick...........

[uscra112]

Building a lathe using carpenter-precision measurement tools. Riiiight. OK for woodworking, I suppose. Forget doing any precision metal-cutting on it.

[sharps4590]

Table top Grizzly's aren't that expensive and they will do a lot of work.

[Reg]

I would look around and try to find a older Logan 200 They measure out about 9 x 24 with a 13/16" bore Often you can pick one up for 7-800 bux. They are a real lathe, very solidly made and many have been used as actual production shops as a second operation lathe for small parts.
With care they can be used for barrel chambering and fitting as long as you can get part of the barrel down that 13/16" bore and many you can do.

[MrWolf]

I knew before I posted that it would not be up to standards. This was more of a DIY project for someone who possibly had the tools and such. Maybe using this a good lathe could be built as country gent stated. I don't have the materials, etc. as I said, so in my case I will be looking for the deal of the century as my garage is not even finished yet. I am still amazed at the ingenuity some folks show and thought this was impressive.

[Bent Ramrod]

You might check with the Olde Tyme Book Store to see if they still have the Dave Gingery books.

His first book was how to build a foundry for melting down beer cans and casting aluminum. The second one was casting the aluminum into components and using them to build a working lathe. Then the series continued with using more castings, and the lathe, to make a milling machine, a shaper, a metal brake and some other things I can’t recall.

Even if you don’t intend to do any of that stuff, anyone even casually interested in self-sufficiency and machine design will find the books interesting. I think there used to be a site somewhere (or maybe it was a column in one of the home shop magazines) where people who had actually done this sent in pictures and descrIptions of their machines.

[rondog]

I'd just buy one from Harbor Freight for $100 more, if I had the space to put one. I mean, they're cheap, crummy lathes, but still orders of magnitude better than "homebuilt".

[EMC45]

You might check with the Olde Tyme Book Store to see if they still have the Dave Gingery books.

His first book was how to build a foundry for melting down beer cans and casting aluminum. The second one was casting the aluminum into components and using them to build a working lathe. Then the series continued with using more castings, and the lathe, to make a milling machine, a shaper, a metal brake and some other things I can’t recall.

Even if you don’t intend to do any of that stuff, anyone even casually interested in self-sufficiency and machine design will find the books interesting. I think there used to be a site somewhere (or maybe it was a column in one of the home shop magazines) where people who had actually done this sent in pictures and descrIptions of their machines.


This is what I was thinking the whole time watching the video. Gingery books and the newsletter that used to come out are/were great. Funny stuff and genius ideas.

[MrWolf]

You might check with the Olde Tyme Book Store to see if they still have the Dave Gingery books.

His first book was how to build a foundry for melting down beer cans and casting aluminum. The second one was casting the aluminum into components and using them to build a working lathe. Then the series continued with using more castings, and the lathe, to make a milling machine, a shaper, a metal brake and some other things I can’t recall.

Even if you don’t intend to do any of that stuff, anyone even casually interested in self-sufficiency and machine design will find the books interesting. I think there used to be a site somewhere (or maybe it was a column in one of the home shop magazines) where people who had actually done this sent in pictures and descrIptions of their machines.

That is perfect. Just the kind of stuff that interests me and others who go the home built route. Thanks.

[skeettx]

NO!!!!!!!!!!
Go get a part time job and in two months you will have the same time in the project and
can BUY a proper lathe
:)

[bob208]

I have the books. now I did not build a lathe but I did build my own sine bar rifling machine and deep hole drilling machine. can't buy them at harbor freight.

[elmacgyver0]

At some point you will want to cut threads, this requires a geared lead screw.
The gingery lathe is made from aluminum castings. It can be made to have change gears.
It is a devil of a lot of work and will easily take a summer or more of your spare time to build.
In the process you will learn a lot about sand casting and scraping ways, you will end up with a small lathe that will do a lot of work but still will not cut threads.
Now you need to build a milling machine to cut gears.
I can guaranty you will end up buying Grizzly, Harbor Freight or preferably a used South Bend or other "Old Iron" lathe.
I built the Gingery lathe but never did get it equipped for threading. I then bought a 9X20 HF, it will thread but no back gearing, I made a hand crank for it so I had more control for threading. The HF did not have reverse for the lead screw, I had to make my own tumbler plate to add the ability to cut left hand threads.
I now have a South Bend 9" with a long bed (4foot), it kind of fell in my lap for $100 bucks. I now also have an old Craftsman with a stack of change gears but it is missing the back gearing, it is another one that fell into my lap for 100 bucks. I changed out the motor for a DC one with a speed control so I could slow it down.
I pretty much run out of room in my basement. Four lathes, two milling machines, metal bandsaw, two drill presses and various other tools grinders, welders, torches and what have you.
You will learn a lot from building but If you are anything like me it won't end there.
Good Luck.

[Moleman-]

Kudos to him for making a lathe, I thought it did pretty well for how light it is built.

[MrWolf]

It is interesting to see the various comments. This site is primarily about self sufficiency when you get down to it. Yes a machine like this would be a lot of work but you would learn a lot about various things. As I said, I personally don't have the skill set and probably won't anytime soon especially with my neck/back. Yes at some point I will buy a metal lathe vs make because of my back, age, etc.. I do appreciate the comments on thinking a bit outside the box or making improvements to what the gentleman created. There are a lot of folks that read our posts but don't comment. I would love for one of the possibly younger members or any for that matter, to try things like this just to say they did it. I am going to buy the books, found them for Kindle on Amazon. Thanks everyone for taking the time to review and comment.

Ron

[Traffer]

This one is very nice. This guy has a lot of good ideas.
With that said, if you want to build a lathe it depends on what you are going to do with it. A lot of functions MAY not be necessary. So you could build something more cost effective.
I had planned on making a lathe type machine for making reloading and swaging dies exclusively. I was going to use the front hub of a car or small truck equipped with front wheel drive and struts. The wheel bearing assembly on the steering knuckle could have been used for the head stock. The stub axle bored to accept some standard taper tool such as a MT3 which then could hold a chuck. Or what I was going to do was to just drill and tap the stub axle to 7/8-14 (standard reloading press die size) Then I could screw a bolt into that hole to machine into a die. The machine would not ways and carriage. The "tail stock" would have been made from the head of a drill press. So the drill bit and reamers would be able to go in and out by working the quill. The steering knuckle/head stock would be turned backwards so the taper on the stub axle would be pushing in as pressure was applied to the work. Then the back of the head stock/steering knuckle would have a "v" ground into the brake rotor so it could be used as a v belt pulley to drive the rig. I still think it would have worked well. Cheap and easy to make. But I opted to buy a Harbor Freight 7x10 mini lathe instead...Fortunately I got if for under $450.

https://youtu.be/Lzytexbrdlg

[Ed K]

It comes down to this: Do you want to spend your time building a lathe or learning how to use it?

I, like the OP and most members of the forum enjoy rolling up my sleeves and involving myself into all manner of self sufficient activities. That being said life/time is short. Most of us here are shooters/hunters/handloaders who got into casting. Now, whether it be for casting, working on firearms or around the home/farm we want to get into machining - great. Do you really want to build your own lathe? Like others when looking into lathes I too saw amazing machine tool restorations and homebuilt projects but wait! - Do you want to spend your time building a lathe or learning how to use it? Got myself a Craig's list lathe and got to work. Now you may have to be patient and look hard and even drive a few hours to retrieve it but you will find one.

Now if you really want to build machine tools fine but you are on the wrong forum. Casting, hand scraping and other needed skills won't be learned here.

[HollowPoint]

If you want to do this go ahead and do it. I think that when you've completed such a project you'll be alot more knowledgeable having completed it than a good number of those who have warned against doing it.

I'd be willing to bet that whoever it was that built the very first metal lathe was also cautioned about this that or the other by knowledgeable well meaning folks. Where would we all be if that particular person or persons would have been talked out of it?

It's your choice to make, not ours. Just weight all the pros and the cons and do what you decide to do. You only live once.

HollowPoint

[country gent]

A machine dosnt always determine accuracy of the part. Its the skill and craftsmanship of the operator also. While that lathe doesn't have any dials a mag base and indicator can be set to make adjustments. It wont single point threads. It doesn't have tail stock so drilling would require using the carriage and tool post. Modern machines have came along ways in development and abilities.

Some of the more accurate machines I have run didn't have feeds or threading capabilities. Hardringe and tag come to mind. Some watch makers / jewelers lathes were very accurate also.

[indian joe]

A few problems I see if you want to do precision work:
No gear train means no threading and no power feed.
Linear bearings don't like dirt, so they may bind up quickly.
Spindle axis must be parallel to bed rails.
Crossfeed axis must be perpendicular to bed rails.

This bloke knows his way about - might surprise you what that machine is capable of - I couldnt fault his build - but think he maybe left out some steps to make it look easy