Metal lathe to wood lathe?

[rons]

I was looking at pics 1 & 2 for post 1. See the big nut underneath the four step pulley.
If the head could be swung around to face the other direction you would have outboard turning.
Might be easy to make adapter plate. Probably the best made is the Graduate.

Graduate lathe, a great machine for bowls, though not without faults.

The Graduate lathe has some weak points, but remains a great machine to use. The short bed version is very good for bowls and large work.

turnedwoodenbowls.co.uk

For me the outboard operation requires a left-hand thread so that a face plate does not spin off.
I use a 6" face plate that is threaded for both right and left-hand. I can use it on both sides.

 

[krhoover]

I was looking at pics 1 & 2 for post 1. See the big nut underneath the four step pulley.
If the head could be swung around to face the other direction you would have outboard turning.
Might take an easy to make adapter plate. Probably the best made is the Graduate.

Graduate lathe, a great machine for bowls, though not without faults.

The Graduate lathe has some weak points, but remains a great machine to use. The short bed version is very good for bowls and large work.

turnedwoodenbowls.co.uk

yes, I see the bolt, thats a good idea. I've got a couple of people interested in buying it, if they fall thru I'll get into the conversion a little deeper. If it sells, I'll look for a regular wood lathe.
Thanks for your help

 

[mike44]

I have some gouges that my dad had made out of files for me in the tool room where he worked at 50 yrs or so ago. will probably machine some type of tool rest.

Be careful using files , they break easily. If you can anneal the files and temper them they will work fine. You could skip the gouges etc and use sharp HSS cutters. Tool rest not needed this way.

 

[rons]

Buy tool shanks and make your own handles out of wood.
For long and strong get a hollow pipe and fill it with lead shot.

Robert Sorby

Craft Supplies USA is your headquarters for everything woodturning including tools, chucks, wood lathes, and sharpening systems, shop supplies and much more. We also offer a full range of woodturning project kits including pen kits, pepper mills, bottle stoppers and more backed by our 100%...

www.woodturnerscatalog.com

 

[rons]

yes, I see the bolt, thats a good idea. I've got a couple of people interested in buying it, if they fall thru I'll get into the conversion a little deeper. If it sells, I'll look for a regular wood lathe.
Thanks for your help

The best thing to do is extend the spindle out to the left with a left-hand thread on the end.
With that pillow block design you have easy access to do whatever you want.

 

[krhoover]

Be careful using files , they break easily. If you can anneal the files and temper them they will work fine. You could skip the gouges etc and use sharp HSS cutters. Tool rest not needed this way.

Thanks for the info, I just dug those out, I have a pointed, a round, a flat with bevel he made. Also an old,old, dished one that believe was with the lathe when I took it out of my grandmothers basement way back then. All the flat pulleys were made out of wood. The whole thing may have been homemade.

 

[mike44]

Thanks for the info, I just dug those out, I have a pointed, a round, a flat with bevel he made. Also an old,old, dished one that believe was with the lathe when I took it out of my grandmothers basement way back then. All the flat pulleys were made out of wood. The whole thing may have been homemade.

My wood lathe is made from construction lumber and Bubinga for the rails. This lathe is heavy duty, 5'-0" long now but was 14-0 when I first built it. I had a job that required eight fluted columns 11'-6" high. These were structural columns and were not available at a cost I could fathom.
I removed the long rails and added the 5'-0" ones when the columns were finished.
Also traded the 5 HP motor for a 1 HP when done.
I made a maple cone pulley that is still on the lathe. I glued up 4 pieces of 5/4 stock and 1 piece 4/4 for the hub. Sawed them first, then bored the stock 1" . Mounted on a mandrel., turned to dimensions and then made a form tool to cut the pulley grooves. I added screws to the stock in case the glue did not hold.
I bought a set of turning tools from Penn State Industries , the set was called " Benjamins Best " . These are economical and as good as my more expensive tools from Henry Taylor or Robert Sorby.
I looked them up and a set of L&S ( long & strong) Benjamins Best was $79.00. They also have small turning tools if your work is small like pens and such.
There are many good publications on turning. Learn to sharpen your tools . One method I came about by accident and cannot explain , Turn the grinder on, then turn it off, now grind the tools til the wheel stops. This gives me a single facet on the tools, almost every time. When I was a boy my boss taught me to turn. He was lousy at grinding the tools correctly and had me do it. I was decent , not really good until the electric went out while I was grinding a skew. I kept on grinding til the wheel stopped. I noticed the grind was perfect. When the power came back on I continued to grind, I turned the motor off and ground a 1" gouge. The grind was perfect, tried other tools, same result.
Showed Mario the tools and told him how I did it . He gave me a raise, from 45 cents an hour to 55 cents. This was in 1958 , I was 14 years old and this was big money to me.
Good luck with Dads lathe.
mike

 

[krhoover]

My wood lathe is made from construction lumber and Bubinga for the rails. This lathe is heavy duty, 5'-0" long now but was 14-0 when I first built it. I had a job that required eight fluted columns 11'-6" high. These were structural columns and were not available at a cost I could fathom.
I removed the long rails and added the 5'-0" ones when the columns were finished.
Also traded the 5 HP motor for a 1 HP when done.
I made a maple cone pulley that is still on the lathe. I glued up 4 pieces of 5/4 stock and 1 piece 4/4 for the hub. Sawed them first, then bored the stock 1" . Mounted on a mandrel., turned to dimensions and then made a form tool to cut the pulley grooves. I added screws to the stock in case the glue did not hold.
I bought a set of turning tools from Penn State Industries , the set was called " Benjamins Best " . These are economical and as good as my more expensive tools from Henry Taylor or Robert Sorby.
I looked them up and a set of L&S ( long & strong) Benjamins Best was $79.00. They also have small turning tools if your work is small like pens and such.
There are many good publications on turning. Learn to sharpen your tools . One method I came about by accident and cannot explain , Turn the grinder on, then turn it off, now grind the tools til the wheel stops. This gives me a single facet on the tools, almost every time. When I was a boy my boss taught me to turn. He was lousy at grinding the tools correctly and had me do it. I was decent , not really good until the electric went out while I was grinding a skew. I kept on grinding til the wheel stopped. I noticed the grind was perfect. When the power came back on I continued to grind, I turned the motor off and ground a 1" gouge. The grind was perfect, tried other tools, same result.
Showed Mario the tools and told him how I did it . He gave me a raise, from 45 cents an hour to 55 cents. This was in 1958 , I was 14 years old and this was big money to me.
Good luck with Dads lathe.
mike

I enjoyed your post. Not sure where you’re located, but I don’t know what “Bubinga” is. Maybe a misspelling or spellcheck butchered the word? Yes, I think that old lathe was homemade, it’s still around, last I knew my cousin had it, I’ll have to check with him. I have considered building one,just need to get the other projects out of the way.

 

[krhoover]

Buy tool shanks and make your own handles out of wood.
For long and strong get a hollow pipe and fill it with lead shot.

Robert Sorby

Craft Supplies USA is your headquarters for everything woodturning including tools, chucks, wood lathes, and sharpening systems, shop supplies and much more. We also offer a full range of woodturning project kits including pen kits, pepper mills, bottle stoppers and more backed by our 100%...

www.woodturnerscatalog.com

Thanks for the info

 

[Bill D]

Bubinga | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

Bill D

 

[krhoover]

Bubinga | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

Bill D

Thanks for the info

 

[mike44]

I enjoyed your post. Not sure where you’re located, but I don’t know what “Bubinga” is. Maybe a misspelling or spellcheck butchered the word? Yes, I think that old lathe was homemade, it’s still around, last I knew my cousin had it, I’ll have to check with him. I have considered building one,just need to get the other projects out of the way.

I'm in Mays Landing NJ . Bubinga is spelled correctly. Beautiful very hard and dense . I believe. it comes from Africa. I am sure you could make your own lathe if you want to.
Probably the easiest shop tool to make.

 

[rons]

I would have gone this route if I knew about Conover.

CONOVER H.D.WOOD LATHE - US $2,250.00 (Oakland, NJ) | VintageMachinery.org

 

[Bill D]

AS. a kid my dad made us boys a wood lathe. Washing machine motor with a home made spur drive that was bored to fit over the motor output shaft. Bed was made of 2x4s bolted together. Tailstock was a piece of 4x6 with a long bolt in. a flange nut. End of the bolt was tapered to a point as a dead center. Only small diameter work was rpm was fixed at 1450. or so.
Bill D

 

[holtzapffelFan]

I would suggest some rust remover first...All that rust would make me crazy. I just bought Evaporust for a trial run for an accessory I just bought online. Quart was inexpensive at HF for my test.

Husband has a Delta DL40 with speed controller (I think the controller needs some help) and I have Jet Mini wood lathe with Variable speed that he surprised me as a gift. Look at the rpm in the new machines for clues... you will change the speed of the lathe depending on what size of wood you are turning, how the wood is behaving and your own comfort zone with turning a chunk of wood. There are many variables.

One thing to consider is the accessories for the spindle... Every wood turner needs a faceplate, and you already have a spindle chuck, but once you expand your wood turning experiences, you have to buy more accessories...

Our two Wood Lathes have a reverse feature - that you might need.... It seems like I reverse when I'm sanding if I don't like how the wood appears, but I haven't used reverse that frequently, so I would not let that stop you.

To reverse a metal lathe, I had to reverse the motor in the case, and then it doesn't work for metal - due to tool bit geometry! I have a Dayton motor on my desktop metal lathe, and I use this lathe the more frequently. Instructions are easily found online for Dayton Motors. Since I'm right handed, I prefer my switch for a lathe is on the left hand side...mounted at the front of the work surface.

Sometime, I like having a cross slide for wood projects. I rather duplicate with a dial indicator... I think it just depends on your experience though.

Lots of YouTube videos of woodturning projects on metal lathes.

Let us know what you turn... some of my happiest days begin standing at a lathe, but its not my job. I really enjoy turning metal and wood.

Tamra