homemade wood lathe?

[CRB]

When i saw how much the post grinders are I did (still am) consider selling it.
The aldi ones are no good. I looked at them but apparently they have an odd ball thread making faceplate/chucks etc hard to find that actually fit.

That nice DoubleBoost could sort out a face plate thread......easy peasy.

 

[MattH]

When i saw how much the post grinders are I did (still am) consider selling it.
The aldi ones are no good. I looked at them but apparently they have an odd ball thread making faceplate/chucks etc hard to find that actually fit.

But your saying you just want something ultra cheap to try and see if it takes your fancy. The Aldi one is going to come with at least a chuck to get you started.

I built a little CNC lathe a few years back. It was a bit of a scrap bin project but I did buy a small headstock as it needs to take a considerable load. Even in a wood lathe it needs to be stiff. You are going to spend more on bodging something together than a cheap lathe will cost.

I'm sure a great DIY wood lathe can be built but not for peanuts. So what do you really want?

 

[Maker]

I would say go for it.
I've got a sip 14" swing lathe and while it is just enough for my very light use (Only use it three times, other than playing with bits of broom handle), I know I could build a better one.
I would start with a nice heavy I beam for the bed and go from there. I drew one up on sketchup a while ago but I have a habit of starting with a simple idea and slowly building it up to an all bells and whistles monster that will cost hundreds in materials alone.

 

[Wedg1e]

I've made and used a pole lathe before and they virtually free to construct and super fun to use. Highly recommended

I was talking to an 'artisan turner' at a local museum a couple of years back, he was using an improvised pole lathe that used bungee cords for the 'spring'

 

[eSCHEn]

I was talking to an 'artisan turner' at a local museum a couple of years back, he was using an improvised pole lathe that used bungee cords for the 'spring'

That's exactly what I had on mine. I couldn't get hold of a suitable ash pole so improvised. It actually works really well and you don't need masses of room behind you like you do with an ash pole. Head height was about 10' IIRC. Cost me under twenty quid to make it all and it was a blast to use.

 

[Maker]

That's exactly what I had on mine. I couldn't get hold of a suitable ash pole so improvised. It actually works really well and you don't need masses of room behind you like you do with an ash pole. Head height was about 10' IIRC. Cost me under twenty quid to make it all and it was a blast to use.

Got any pictures?

 

[eSCHEn]

Got any pictures?

Unfortunately not as it was many years ago and I didn't own a camera at the time

I think there's still a bat I made for our lass to keep in the car somewhere. Shall see if I can retrieve it.

Strangely enough I'd not thought about the pole lathe for years but am going to make another this year. Fancy doing some bowls and furniture now that I have access to plenty of green wood again.

 

[Wedg1e]

Got any pictures?

Just do a Google image search for 'bungee cord pole lathe', there are loads of pics about.

 

[pedrobedro]

My wife does craft hobbies and was into lace making and used what they call bobbins. She needed lots and they were a couple of quid each so we bought a length of Ramin dowel and I made them in the drill chuck with riffler files as tools. It was interesting and did the job adequately. We went to the wood fair at Elvaston castle and had a go on a pole lathe powered by bungee cord and saw quite a few using them to make really nice quality items.

 

[eSCHEn]

Just having a look at a few images online and this german design showed up looks interesting and compact. Might have to give that one a go

 

[ibrooks]

What thread are the Aldi ones? Most woodturning chucks have an adaptor in the back so surely with access to a clever bunch of people like you have here getting adaptors to fit the Aldi lathe at sensible money wouldn't be a massive problem.

 

[monkeymark]

What thread are the Aldi ones? Most woodturning chucks have an adaptor in the back so surely with access to a clever bunch of people like you have here getting adaptors to fit the Aldi lathe at sensible money wouldn't be a massive problem.

Ill have to check what the thread is.
When i looked at them before I did a little research and came across a woodwork forum where this exact topic had been raised.
Someone on the forum made up an adapter of some sort but i remember it being a little strange as the original shaft projection was short and the two threads too similar to have them back to back (ie one inside and the other outside if that makes sense) so it left the faceplate a couple inches further out than normal.

 

[brightspark]

i got a decent clarke wood turning lathe offered for nothing and i couldnt be bothered to pick it up .wish i had now

 

[ibrooks]

Found it - apparently the Aldi stuff is 18mm whereas the standard hobby size tends to be 3/4UNF so no you can't put one thread inside the other on a simple sleeve adaptor. However the industrial standard is significantly bigger (M33 from memory) and any decent sized chuck will usually have an adaptor to bring it down to 3/4UNF - all you would need to do is get a replacement for that adaptor.

Do you have a local wood-turning club? They could be useful as new members often buy a cheapo lathe and then upgrade when they are getting into it therefore the cheapo lathe can be passed on even cheaper. I think Dad's first Clarke went through three members before it was finally sold to someone who disappeared from the club so we lost track of it. For that matter our local club does hands on days and has 6 lathes that will be running most Wednesday nights - could you maybe practice and have a go using club gear? You said in the original post if you like it you would buy a lathe so how about try before you make rather than try before you buy?

Iain

 

[Master-of-none]

I bought an Aldi wood lathe the other week, they had 3 of the pre-Christmas ones left, reduced from ~£90 to £69.99. I asked the manager if they were likely to be reduced further and she offered a further £10 off!
I can confirm that the drive spindle is definitely 3/4" x 16TPI
Comes complete with a faceplate and drive spur plus 3 chisels/gouges.

 

[disco_monkey79]

I haven't used the Aldi ones, but they look identical to my Clarke cheapy base model lathe, albeit with a different label and colour-scheme (I normally avoid cheap tools, but I bought it second-hand for £25, with loads of extras included, so seemed worth a punt).

Anywho, if they are in fact the same, then you can get chucks, faceplates etc on Ebay. I've no idea how to measure the thread etc, but happy to measure stuff if it'll help.

Whilst by no means the best tool in the world, I've had some pleasing results. The main issue is it doesn't have the torque to turn above approx 5 inches, so large bowls etc are out of the question. And the steel box bed isn't as stable as a nice cast iron bed.