semi-Diy lathe machine

[theaigcaman]

First: Disclaimers
1. I don't know where this post should go so I am posting it in general discussion
2. I fully understand that some people are really against diy machines
3. I saw a whole post on another forum complaining about people using grant money to make a crappy machine. Therefore I feel obligated to say that I plan to take on all of the cost of this project
4. Buying a Chinese lathe would probably be cheaper and much easier than making one, I know
5. I don't expect to get super-duper accuracy from this machine

Disclaimers over.

Explanation:
I would like to build a "semi-diy"/"semi-homemade" lathe. What I am thinking of is using a steel tube frame with scraped cold roll ways. (Inspiration from the gingery lathe) Also in a hope to make the machine more rigid I plan to fill the steel tubing with cement. I plan to design my ideas in CAD and post some screenshots later.

I appreciate all feedback and would love to hear the input of the community.

Edit 1 (7 min after posting):
Also when I get a concrete idea of what I'm doing I would love to share my design specifics

 

[bl00]

Looking forward to seeing what you do!

 

[Downwindtracker2]

Who says, chuckle, Chinese lathes aren't DIY projects.

 

[theaigcaman]

Who says, chuckle, Chinese lathes aren't DIY projects.

True that. I seen a couple videos of people making those lathes somewhat acceptable.

 

[savarin]

Have you looked at multi machine? http://opensourcemachinetools.org/wordpress/multimachine/
Might get some ideas there.
The gingery lathe does work but is a bit light

 

[theaigcaman]

Have you looked at multi machine? http://opensourcemachinetools.org/wordpress/multimachine/
Might get some ideas there.

Idk, it looks interesting but I really want just a lathe...

The gingery lathe does work but is a bit light

That's why I plan to make it out of concrete filled steel tubing

 

[T Bredehoft]

You want weight, use lead shot.

 

[Laytonnz]

I'll be following this as I thought about a similar project untill I hit spindle bearings then it became cost prehibitive

Why not use 2 pieces of railway iron as the bed ways?

Do you have any machines already? It will be exeptionally hard without at least a lathe or a mill. .. I don't know how I used to get by without my lathes...


Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[theaigcaman]

You want weight, use lead shot.

What about melting the lead into as many parts as I can and filling the rest with lead shot? Also, don't I need to worry about vibration dampening too?

 

[theaigcaman]

I'll be following this as I thought about a similar project untill I hit spindle bearings then it became cost prehibitive

Why not use 2 pieces of railway iron as the bed ways?

Do you have any machines already? It will be exeptionally hard without at least a lathe or a mill. .. I don't know how I used to get by without my lathes...


Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Like I said, I'm not looking for a super precise machine, and for the parts that absolutely have to be lathed I know someone with a lathe, or possibly someone on this forum would be willing to do it if I mail the stock to them, although I'm super not counting on that.
Also, about spindle bearings I already bought some 1 inch ID tapered roller bearings (small I know).