DIY lathe design question

[Stefants]

Just wanted to say that this thread ain’t dead, but I admit it’s not as active as I had anticipated/hoped. I got my hands on a universal milling machine that needs attention and at the moment I’m busy building a swimming pool . But I’ll be back. Here are some bar molds for casting concrete samples just to show my only relevant progress

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[Winegrower]

Normally when I set out to reinvent the wheel, or fire, I have some idea of what I am trying to improve. I wonder if in this time you have some specific goals for the project?

BTW I’m currently trying to improve on fire, using deuterium fusion. I’m leaving the wheel to my superiors.

 

[Stefants]

Winegrower, I do want a functional lathe out of this endeavor. I feel like building accuracy from the ground up is an interesting challenge and a good educational project. But I really want to know if the concrete base idea works. It seems like an attractive lathe for the DIY crowd, but I’ve seen surprisingly few folks take the idea up and run with it (and the ones I’ve seen have seemingly cut corners in a way that kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion). I just get squirreled very easily on this kind of endeavor... too many things to examine. I might be better off just starting in on it (except for the pool who’s season is fading quickly and the mill that’s taking up my parking spot being in the way), but at this point I’m in materials optimization mode. I’m pretty sure concrete for a sidewalk, deck post, or countertop isn’t likely the best bet for a machine tool. So that’s where I’m at


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[C-Bag]

Winegrower, I do want a functional lathe out of this endeavor. I feel like building accuracy from the ground up is an interesting challenge and a good educational project. But I really want to know if the concrete base idea works. It seems like an attractive lathe for the DIY crowd, but I’ve seen surprisingly few folks take the idea up and run with it (and the ones I’ve seen have seemingly cut corners in a way that kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion). I just get squirreled very easily on this kind of endeavor... too many things to examine. I might be better off just starting in on it (except for the pool who’s season is fading quickly and the mill that’s taking up my parking spot being in the way), but at this point I’m in materials optimization mode. I’m pretty sure concrete for a sidewalk, deck post, or countertop isn’t likely the best bet for a machine tool. So that’s where I’m at


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I suffer from squirreling usually in the form of some idea for a DIY tool which I use my hobby lathe or mill for. Those are distracting enough but starting from scratch like that one guy and make a lathe out of reinforced concrete is amazing and I know I don’t have the time to do it. I’ve still got a couple of really good projects I can’t find the time to complete.

There is no doubt it can be done because he did it but he doesn’t seem to be offering detailed plans which would really speed up the process eliminating the trial and error. I’m not sure if he doesn’t want anybody to know how he did it or is expecting some company to come along and give him a bunch $$. But it is an intriguing idea because the major drawback to making a DIY lathe is making the bed. Especially out of cast iron. Good luck with all your other projects.

 

[francist]

Well I have to say those are nice looking concrete bar moulds, that’s for sure. They remind me of the little steel mould trays we used for materials testing of different mortar mixes. They made the most perfect cube shapes — until they sat under water for 28 days cure and half the test batches fell apart! Oooops.

I like figuring things out, or more to the point trying to figure things out. No idea what my batting average is but most of the time I end up getting somewhere. Except for boomerangs — gall dang it my two failed prototypes still hang from my shop ceiling in silent mockery. Maybe one day, I tell myself, maybe one day I’ll figure them.

Good luck with the design, you never know what you learn in the process.

-frank

 

[Choiliefan]

ANY DETAILS OR PICS OF THE MILLING MACHINE?

 

[Stefants]

ANY DETAILS OR PICS OF THE MILLING MACHINE?

New to Van Norman and new to milling

New to Van Norman and new to milling

Hi there, I got a mill that looked interesting at a glance and also dirty cheap so I bought it, the guy had dismantled it for transport and never put it back together again. So it turned to be a sort of weird machine called Van Norman 12, then a further research shown that the collets are as...

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[Stefants]

ANY DETAILS OR PICS OF THE MILLING MACHINE?

Sorry, wrong page. Here’s mine...


New to me Van Norman No 12

VN - New to me Van Norman No 12

I managed to get this as far as my garage last weekend :). Looking forward to ripping it down and seeing what exactly I’ve gotten myself into! I’m a rookie, but I like to think I’m at least somewhat mechanically inclined. Should be fun. It’s eventually going to my basement and likely getting...

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