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semi-Diy lathe machine
- Thread starter theaigcaman
- Start date
I thought about building a lathe myself, but it is much easier to start with a basket case. These can often be acquired for a low price. You might even be able to find one for free. Then, you can concentrate on fixing it and making the missing parts. There is a glorious moment when the lathe is working well enough so it can make its own parts.
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2017
- Messages
- 20
Basket case?
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2017
- Messages
- 20
Thanks much for the encouragement!
A lot of my inspiration is from makersize's videos of building the gingery lathe. I built a foundry furnace last summer and proceeded to melt my homemade refractory by trying to melt cast iron...
I'm not sure if I'm right, but I think that the steel tubing will be easier than making it out of aluminum. I also know of some local places that might be nice enough to help me with my project, such as milling some surfaces flat, or lathing a few parts, hence the "semi-diy" name. Really appreciate the moral support though!
I done the same thing, melted my refractory cement I turned it to glass....!
Lathing?
might sound better if you said machined
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- Joined
- Mar 24, 2017
- Messages
- 20
I done the same thing, melted my refractory cement I turned it to glass....!
Lathing?might sound better if you said machined
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'Scuse my vocabulary mr. Picky
If you walked into a shop and said can you lathe this for me ...
If you said can you "turn" this or "machine" this is just sounds better.. well to me anyhow.
Was only trying to help.
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- Joined
- Mar 24, 2017
- Messages
- 20
Sorry if I came off as offended, I was just being silly, and you're right, I was just typing that super fast and didn't really put much effort into word choice.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
- 104
Since you are already set up for casting, I would encourage you to make another furnace in the future. Casting aluminium is an economical (time & money) way to make future projects when you get your "semi-diy" lathe up and going. I'm guessing you will want to make accessories or small parts that can be made of aluminium.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 8,852
Hello @theaigcaman,
I just wanted to write a note of encouragement.
Let me address your original list:
1) this is a great place for this discussion
2) I believe there's a huge amount to learn by building your own machines. You will come out of it knowing every part of the machine intimately. You will be able to understand and debug any problems and invent your own solutions much better than on a machine you buy that starts out as a "black box". You will know the limits of the machine and their root cause.
3) Here (as you've seen) you will get a range of opinions, but no one will be aggressive or abusive. The moderators won't allow it.
I see this build as a privately funded research project. It's your money to spend as you like. To me it will be a fantastic adventure, and I am already watching your thread.
4) As stated above, if you bought a low-end machine you would likely spend a large amount of time fixing, adjusting, squaring, aligning, scraping, replacing bearings, etc. anyway. Some are often described as a "kit" that needs rework. You are just taking it one step back and making your own kit.
5) The accuracy of the final machine is totally in your hands. I believe you are starting out with realistic goals.....but I also expect that you could surprise yourself (and any nay-sayers here). I could also see revisions to the first machine to increase the accuracy.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions, if only for "brain storming" solutions.
Please do keep us updated with ideas and pictures of your progress.
Thanks for sharing this build, it should be very interesting!
-brino
I just wanted to write a note of encouragement.
Let me address your original list:
1) this is a great place for this discussion
2) I believe there's a huge amount to learn by building your own machines. You will come out of it knowing every part of the machine intimately. You will be able to understand and debug any problems and invent your own solutions much better than on a machine you buy that starts out as a "black box". You will know the limits of the machine and their root cause.
3) Here (as you've seen) you will get a range of opinions, but no one will be aggressive or abusive. The moderators won't allow it.
I see this build as a privately funded research project. It's your money to spend as you like. To me it will be a fantastic adventure, and I am already watching your thread.
4) As stated above, if you bought a low-end machine you would likely spend a large amount of time fixing, adjusting, squaring, aligning, scraping, replacing bearings, etc. anyway. Some are often described as a "kit" that needs rework. You are just taking it one step back and making your own kit.
5) The accuracy of the final machine is totally in your hands. I believe you are starting out with realistic goals.....but I also expect that you could surprise yourself (and any nay-sayers here). I could also see revisions to the first machine to increase the accuracy.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions, if only for "brain storming" solutions.
Please do keep us updated with ideas and pictures of your progress.
Thanks for sharing this build, it should be very interesting!
-brino