Thread 2944804

Have you ever tried to build your own lathe from scratch? How did it go?

>>2944804 (OP)
I got a used Atlas 42" lathe for $175 bucks with tooling from a local auction.

>>2944804 (OP)
yah when i was a 12yo sperglet. it didnt go very well so i eventually moved on to a civil war era boat anchor. then upgraded about 10 more times

>>2944809
I'm assuming the Monarch is the final boss, as I shudder to think what 9 other machines are better than it.

>>2944804 (OP)
>Have you ever tried to build your own lathe from scratch?
no
>How did it go?
i just said i didnt do it, why are you asking follow up questions acting like i said yes instead of no?

>>2944846
How would you feel yesterday evening if you didn't eat breakfast?

>>2944804 (OP)
>Have you ever tried to build your own lathe from scratch? How did it go?

No, why would you? Lathes are plentiful and cheap everywhere and even the cheapest one will still be 100x better than anything you will build.

>>2944846
Do your parents know you are gay? (yes/no answers only)

>>2944804 (OP)
People used to make concrete lathes.
I assume with rebar in them.
You’ll probably need your wife to grab the other end if you want to move it.

>>2944975
don't you wanna melt metal though

I saw some japanesse youtuber repurpose a grinder into a bunch of stuff like a belt sander and mini lathe.
Anyone recognise the description?

>>2944975
I saw this movement a couple of years back that was all about using scrap car engines to build lathes in 3rd world shitholes.
The idea was that engines are highly refined angineering and provide a perfect reference surface to build from

>>2945006
Re-using car engines has been around for ever. I've seen some old telescope making stuff from the 30s or 40s that recommends an old engine block to mount a pipe/axel into for a telescope mount, then just tilt the whole thing to the correct angle for your latitude.

>>2944809
I have the dc converter from a monarch lathe laying in my back yard that came bundled with some other more useful tools. Any use other than scrapping the copper?

>>2945006
what kinda reference surfaces do you need for a lathe other than flat and how do you get a flat reference from an engine it's a twisty piece of metal

>>2945272
if its the motor generator set its probably scrap
a complete solid state drive would be of interest to someone if was salvageable
i honestly dont know much about the drives other than the spare tubes i have. theres about a dozen different configurations over the years and theyre all repairable with enough ambition

>>2944804 (OP)
if you read more about homemade lathes they're basically crap all the time. aren't precise or stiff enough to make anything worthwhile, you're better off just getting a cheap chinese one or an older used one.
sure if you wanna get good at sand casting aluminum it might be fun but there are certainly more useful things you can make.

>>2945312
the decks (what the head sits on) are usually machined flat. no idea how you'd make a lathe with that since you need several flat and parallel surfaces to make a worthwhile lathe. just thirdie things

>>2945322
you only need a flat reference to check the high spots on the surface you're developing which you scrape down meticulously to get closer to the reference

>>2945328
doesn't help with parallelism which you need for the ways

>>2945005
I've been thinking about doing something similar with my drill press. 2 inches of throw is really starting to rustle my jimmies. I don't know what it would be good for though considering it only has a 380W motor. It just doesn't seem to be up to any machining task beyond drilling small holes.

>>2945500
i think you scrape the ways as much as you can but for the tool slider and carriages the part that makes contact with the ways is a flat piece of metal that is adjusted for parallel with bolts

>>2944804 (OP)
Those projects are really for bored machinists.

The economy is soft and lathes often sit for weeks on Fecesbook Marketplace. Have a way to move them planned first because that's where many noobs are intimidated and can make needless mistakes.

I've bolted two simple pipe skid/ stabilizers I welded from scrap to my bros lathe we scored him at auction since it had to be winched from his rotting trailer deck onto a wooden deck thence to his cement slab.

For mine and my other, containershop bro's machine tools I made simple castered outriggers we can bolt to any base. That includes the two lengthwise angle sections my Bridgeport sits on so I can easily move it in-shop with a pallet jack. Lots of home machinists fab dollies which beats paying a rigger to move a machine you scored cheap.

Drop deck hydraulic trailers can be rented and dollies work with those too, but I use my dual axle car trailer. Portable winches are cheap. I mostly used my Wyeth-Scott manual pullers. The USMC rigging manual may be useful and it's a free download. Off-road and tow truck recovery rigging videos are good places to learn safely winching heavy objects.

Since auction sites often require business insurance to drive your truck on premises we've used straps and snatch blocks to winch our auction buys out the door. The looks on the auction staff's faces were priceless.

>>2944804 (OP)
>build your own lathe from scratch
>yes

1st decide what you want to turn, wood, plastic, metal. Scour craigslist and facebook marketplace for an abandoned hobby lathe. A small wood lathe will be cheap and can turn most materials even steel (learning curve & right tools). Metal lathes more money & more complex. HF has a decent one at $700 but it needs many upgrades & tuning to get great results. I'd look for something to buy complete if just starting out. That said, have made several. Small ones for specific tasks and high precision. The Gingery system is cool but you have to start with book #1, foundry. You would use that to cast your parts. It's a big time investment but the machines are cool and you would learn a lot. I built mine from off the shelf parts like bearing blocks, linear shafting, metal plate, DC motors, and variable speed controllers. Most tedious is truing so they bore straight and have little runout. I used Swedish SKF bearings in key points. Lathes are dirt simple for free turning with tool rest & hand held chisel. You can even turn steel, YT vids on that. This vid on a very basic lathe using a cordless drill to drive it:

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajLNIQCgeHo

>>2945322
>homemade lathes they're basically crap all the time. aren't precise or stiff enough

If you plan to turn wood or plastic it doesn't need high precision just stiffness. And stiffness only needs to exceed what you turn. For metal if bed made from 16/20mm linear bearing rails and you're turning 12mm (max) aluminum there is no flex.

>>2945504
>similar with my drill press

You should use a table mounted center at other end of workpiece. If you turn with chuck only it might come off. It's mounted (usually) with J-taper and side load may remove it. I'd do it differently but you get the idea.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pc-GiN0RVc

>>2945668
>economy is soft and lathes often sit for weeks

This is fact, craigslist too.

>>2945322
>no idea how you'd make a lathe with that since you need several flat and parallel

Linear bearing rail is ideal for anything needing precision. Use cross-axis clamps to tie them together. Set-up ideally on a surface place & use calipers to track parallels. I used thick piece of plate glass as bed length exceeded my surface plate. It was tedious, lots of end to end checking and tapping with small brass hammer before final tighten on clamps. Used Loctite 242 to keep setscrews set. Other key point is what it sits on. Aluminum plate backed by Corian (or rock maple) is stable. Originally set up with 4-point mounting over thick felt washers and not fully tightened down. Have it torn apart now and going to change to 3-point which minimizes surface deviation. Hope to by end of year, just moved, new house.

>https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/3-point-lathe-mounting-question.85657/

>>2944804 (OP)
>How did it go?

Great, fantastic learning project. 1st one overkill and didn't need to be. 2nd one perfect for task. 3rd one ripped apart getting new direction. They are all small. Max capacity on 1st one only 25mm. But, that's all I needed. This is key, don't exceed the capacity for what you build. A lathe meant to turn steel very different machine than one for aluminum. However, if not trying to do lateral cuts you can do filing and shaping of steel on a small lathe. So the main thing is planning and visualizing the work you want to do, then build the machine with enough strength to do that. Most of what I do is free-turning with a micrometer or center-drilling. 2 different machines, each optimized for what I need to do.

>>2944804 (OP)
Ive read the gingery books.
They are from a time and era where
1. Chinese tools didnt exist
2. High quality scrap stock was plentiful and cheap.

Itll cost quadruple to build a gingery lather than to just buy a chinese one. And the chinese one will be substantially more rigid and precise.

>>2944804 (OP)
I haven't melt one ounce of aluminum

>>2945821
melted aluminum can't cut steal beams

Aluminum melting is fun.
I've casted some stuff mostly from polystyrene covered in fine plaster in a green sand box.