Beginner lathe projects?

T

ttabbal

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I haven't run one for a while and I'm getting close to getting my PM 1127VF-LB making chips. I'm curious if there are some fun projects you might recommend? I have a couple in mind, but I thought I'd see what people thought. I don't have a mill, so please keep it to lathe only. I'd prefer things that are useful as well as good for teaching. For material I have various diameter 12L14 and 6061 at the moment.


Layout hammer. I'm told my 5lb sledge isn't a great choice. :D

Captive nut toy

Scribe (Clickspring has a good video)

Gyroscope

Turner's cube

Fire piston (My son would love this...)

Flashlight/lightsaber handle (again, kids)

Chess set (the knight needs to be different, but still..)

Tailstock tap/die holders

Machinist jacks
 
That is a nice looking lathe. What did you originally have in mind when acquired it?

One thing that is easy to make and I find helpful is a tap follower.

David
 
The idea is to make parts for my rocketry projects. But I want to brush up on my basic skills before I attempt some of those. And I just like running a lathe, and wanted to get back to it. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
I decided to do a scribe first, based on the video Clickspring made.


Notes... My wife happened to have really small needles. Drilling 20 thou holes is not beginner friendly. There are a lot of sizes, I found 18 to work well with a #54 drill bit. It's about 45 thou and much easier to work with. I shortened it with a dremel cutoff disc.

I don't have any brass, so I went with aluminum. I was going for a brushed finish and I'm pretty happy with the overall look. Just sandpaper to 320 grit.

The grooves are decent practice for using the dials to measure. I still want a DRO, but it's not terrible.

The tip was a good intro to using the compound for short tapers.

20180218_213504.jpg
 
That looks really good!
 
Nice job, and glad to hear she's up and running.

May I suggest a tool height gauge for a beginner project? Your compound has a nice flat spot behind the tool post that would be a perfect perch for one. It would allow you to set center height on all your tooling and if faced accurately, it can also help set your parting and threading tools perpendicular to the spindle axis. I would buy some O-1 steel for it, though. PM me if you want details.
 
nice work!

maybe a good project would be a bench block from some 3" diameter material maybe a about 2-3" thick
delrin, cast iron, aluminum,steel whatever you can get your hands on
turn both faces, chamfer the edges
add through holes and grooves if you see fit.
pound away at will, and your bench won't get hurt!
 
Center punch, possibly harden tip with propane torch?
 
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