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Wood lathe conversion

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Frank

02-10-2002 07:59:17




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Having very limited funds, I was wondering if you could convert a wood lathe into a metal cutting lathe. Does not have to be as fancy and heavy as those machines costing thousands of dollars.
Thanks for any replies.




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LynMn

02-11-2002 17:07:14




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 Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to Frank, 02-10-2002 07:59:17  
Years back, Delta sold a metal turning
attachment for there 12 inch wood lathe.
It had compound slide with lantern type
tool post.Also a v belt jack shaft to reduce speed.I had one,when I learned how to sharpen tool bits It did turn metal.



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B.O.

02-10-2002 22:58:44




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 Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to Frank, 02-10-2002 07:59:17  
Lindsay books had a book out a while back about how to turn metal parts on a wood lathe. The guy who did it built little model engines, rifle parts, etc. He used a tungsten engraver, made from a chisel and a carbide tooth brazed on from a circle saw blade for the cutting. If I remember correctly he used the hand tool rest, no carriage. He turned all sorts of mild steel parts with it, and higher carbon stuff when it was annealed first. I've turned down a steel bushing for our sawmill blade in a wood lathe, using a 4 1/2 grinder and cobbled up arbor. With a bit of work, a lead screw and tool carriage could be added to a wood lathe. For turning harder stuff, add a tool post grinder. Just make sure to remember its a wood lathe, feed slow, and don't overload it.

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D. Thomas

02-10-2002 16:36:39




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 Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to Frank, 02-10-2002 07:59:17  
Depends on the wood lathe and what and how much ya want to cut. A patternmakers wood lathe has a compound and can make light cuts in aluminum. Suppose you could attach a small compound table to a wood lathe and turn aluminum. But it hardly seems worth the trouble considering you can buy a perfectly good 12 x 30 or so, old metal lathe, with power feeds and leadscrew for threading, for 500 bucks at many plant auctions (on the east coast anyway)

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tools

02-10-2002 10:15:26




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 Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to Frank, 02-10-2002 07:59:17  
Hey Frank,

I'm not promoting here, just giving my take. Consider a book or two by Dave Gingery about how to manufacture your own metal lathe. Not very big, but really cheap and useful within its capacity. The real advantage to his methods, are that you'll know how to use your lathe once it's done. A very professional looking machine, not hodgepodged at all.

Once you see how he designed his lathe, you might be able to use some wood lathe parts to aid in the making of a metal lathe, depends how creative you are. Myself, I can build anything, but not much of a designer.

Go to www.metalwebnews.com and surf around a few minutes for sites to people who have built his stuff and how to find the books, which are sold by Lindsay Books.

Tools

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kraig WY

02-10-2002 09:21:48




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 Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to Frank, 02-10-2002 07:59:17  
Wood lathe turns way to fast. The max speed on my metal lathe is 1000 rpm but 99% of my work is in the 160 to 240 range. An example from Machinery's Handbook: 1 in. of mild steel using a HHS bit calls for a RPM of 229.

You'd have to do a lot of gearing down.



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snitkawl

02-10-2002 18:10:31




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 Re: Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to kraig WY, 02-10-2002 09:21:48  
kraig, I have a 21X120 Colhester which has a top spindle speed of 1400 rpm, but when that 15 inch chuck gets up to 700 rpm, I have this strong urge to back up. I have had it to top speed but not to work, just to see it go, and not for very long.



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kraig WY

02-11-2002 06:47:16




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 Re: Re: Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to snitkawl, 02-10-2002 18:10:31  
If you have a dial indicater check the spindle with and with out the chuck. Something may be bent. Or the chuck may be out of balance. With out any work attached the chuck should run like a electric motor at top speeds.



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snitkawl

02-11-2002 10:28:54




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to kraig WY, 02-11-2002 06:47:16  
Kraig: It runs smooth as silk, it is just so much mass spinning that it is kind of overwhelming



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kraig WY

02-11-2002 20:46:07




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to snitkawl, 02-11-2002 10:28:54  
Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought there was viberation. With that size of chuck I hope you have a back gear.



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snitkawl

02-12-2002 15:56:25




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wood lathe conversion in reply to kraig WY, 02-11-2002 20:46:07  
It is a gearhead lathe. Lowest rpm is 18. I don`t evev go that slow when I am cutting threads.



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