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Schtoo
12th Jan 2006, 10:34 PM
Finally got a pic of the thing.

Nowhere near finished, but it is functioning. Still needs some fine tuning, some more parts to be made and more to be aquired, but it is working.

A few folks mentioned interest, so here it is. Not sure why anyone would be interested in my little POS lathe, but who am I to judge? :p

MICKYG
13th Jan 2006, 07:34 AM
Thats great Schtoo, look forward to the finished item.

Regards Mike:D

Wood Butcher
13th Jan 2006, 08:19 AM
Not sure why anyone would be interested in my little POS lathe, but who am I to judge? :p
I think that it might have something to do with the fact that you have cast a lot of the lathe yourself, something that most of us would never consider doing. Schtoo, looks great and can't wait for more photos!

savage
13th Jan 2006, 08:50 AM
Excellent, I made a simple wood lathe and that was fun enough, bought my metal lathe, would not even consider trying to make one, well done!..:)

Andy Mac
13th Jan 2006, 09:14 AM
Good on you Schtoo, looks great! Look fwd to finished photos.

Cheers,

Edd
13th Jan 2006, 09:28 AM
Looks pretty good :)

Schtoo
13th Jan 2006, 10:24 PM
Thanks for the replies folks. :)

It's not finished yet, but as is obvious by the liberal coating of chips, it does work.

Just needs a little fine tuning before I can call it precision, nothing serious, just need to tighten everything up well (now that it seems to have settled in) and add some more bits.

Originally it was intended to be kinda like a Gingery lathe, but it swayed about 5 minutes in.

Unfortunately, it's not as big and tough as I had hoped. Brass and ally it eats up, but has troubles with steel over 2" in diameter. Simply a rigidity problem which shall be solved with Mk.II.

Of course, at that time I will have a lathe to make the parts I need, won't I? ;)

It's been very interesting, learned more than I would have believed and at the end I have a tool I have been wanting for a long time. Pretty happy all up really.

It's sizes are:

Bed to centres, 98mm. Between centres, 350mm. Carriage to centres, 80mm.

Short version, it's a 7.5"x14" lathe.

Even managed to get my woody vise screw in there, and it's 16" long, mind you I couldn't see the tail centre at that time.

Expect pics of the vise Sunday I think. As usual, Mk.II of anything goes much faster. First vise took almost a week, this one only got 3 hours invested so far, plus about $30. :D

E. maculata
14th Jan 2006, 11:31 PM
WTG Schtoo, I impressed, cause it works, I've got a 50+ year old Goodall, and I love it, you've got aright to be proud as hades. And you're right with one lathe you can make another, and then another, and then another:D .

Beerbotboffin
26th Jun 2006, 01:51 PM
Schtoo,

Mate, congratulations on Your results! I'm also building a metal lathe, though mine's much more Gingery based.

You mentioned that You're using lost foam, but what sort of burner are you using??? Someone mentioned they were using a waste oil burner, would love to see one in action so I can do the same. LPG is getting EXPENSIVE...........

Keep up the good work!

Schtoo
26th Jun 2006, 02:33 PM
I use a pressurized kerosene burner, completely hombrew.

Simply put, it's a piece of 2" pipe with 1 metre of 1/4" copper tubing wrapped around it. One end points down the tube with a 0.6mm jet, the other connects to a pressure tank. Half fill the tank with kerosene, pressurize the tank from 20-150psi, preheat the burner and off you go.

I only get a flame that's maybe 30cm long, but it's also 2" in diameter and purple/blue. It's also chewing through about 6 litres of kerosene per hour. Close enough to 200,000btu/h I guess.

The thing is, kero has high specific energy, high temperature flame, high flashpoint and relatively inexpensive. It's also tunable, and when it's burning, it doesn't look any different from gas. Also has relatively low emissions, since it's burns clean.

The burner I use wouldn't work with waste oil, since it wouldn't pre-heat the oil enough.

Problem is it's not exactly user-friendly. The pressure tank and pre-heating is a PITA, enough so that for small stuff I'd stick with propane.

If you have a melt down a few pounds of bronze or brass, then the kerosene does it with ease. :)

Beerbotboffin
26th Jun 2006, 03:57 PM
Cheers.

Someone mentioned a dual kero/waste oil setup in Brissy, but my memory has failed me once more.

Anyway, the other question I was meaning to ask, did you use cold rolled steel for the ways on your lathe?? If so, where didya get it from?

Would appreciate help - I can't find any in Brissy.

Beerbotboffin
26th Jun 2006, 04:00 PM
Sorry Schtoo, just noticed where you are! for some unknown reason I thought you were in Brisvegas as well.....