Updating(?) a wood lathe

Bi11Hudson

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It seems that I am sort of “out of place” here since this is a metal working site. But metal work is what I am having to do to make this into a viable machine. In explanation, my wife likes to make pens. A fairly well followed hobby these days. And her lathe is functional, although a bit large. She has a ShopSmith (Mk 5, hers), with an older Craftsman(~1939, mine) as a fall-back machine. I have made several adapters for the ShopSmith, for the 5/8” nub on the spindle.

I stumbled across this small “antique” machine one day while prowling around on eBay. It was sorta costly for what I got, but as the only person interested, not that bad. I have no idea if it is of any value, beyond being a useful size for pens. What caught my eye was the small size. Quite usable for her pen-making. If any of her tooling could be made to fit. And there-in lies the root of the project.

The spindle is a length of 1/2” steel, likely drill rod. With a spur tip and drive dogs on the business end. And a pulley on the other. Most of her tooling has Morse Taper #1 or 3/4-16 threads. No way to cut down the drive dog collar to fit 3/4-16 thread. It's only 1/2” inch thick. And the big end for MT-1 is so close to 1/2” that it would never hold up to any use. The steel spindle runs in cast iron, no other bearings. It is this that led to my use of the word “antique” above. I have read of such ideas in old books. Pre-1940's books. Apparently it was fairly common way back then for “slow speed” shafting, under 2000RPM.

So my first attempt is to replace the spindle with an extension with a larger hub for mounting a chuck and having a MT-1 recess. There is a “Plan B” if that doesn't work out. But a bit more complicated as it involves re-boring the head-stock casting and reaming to 5/8” or so and making a bronze bushing. I have included a sketch of “Plan A”, as it stands. Subject to modification as I think about it. And sleep on it......

Comments aren't that important, constructive criticism is. Any useful ideas will be appreciated.

HeadStock.jpg
NewQuill.jpg
 
Nice project. I do like seeing an old piece of iron given a useful second life.

I would leave the extension at 0.75in rather than turn down to 0.625.

I would also consider using an MT1 - MT2 adapter and turning down the MT2 shank to 0.5in. For me, this would be easier than machining an internal MT1 taper.

MT1 - MT2 extension at Victor Machinery.

I hope you post progress pictures.
 
I would simply make a new spindle as you show, only I would provide a shoulder for accessories to thread up to. You could get a M.T. reamer to finish the taper accurately.
 
One possibility that may work for you is to purchase an ER collet chuck with a 3/4" shank. I have one that is 6" long that could be held in the bearings of that machine and retained with locking collars. As I recall the pen mandrels are really a small threaded shaft on which a set of bushings is placed to turn the pen parts. Collets can be obtained in many sizes so Im sure one can be had in the shaft diameter necessary for her work.
 
To all of the responses, thank you VERY much for your thoughts. I like the idea of posting on a project of this sort to garner the thoughts of others. And while some of them don't necessarily fit the immediate needs, they may be useful in the future on other projects. I am not by any means a machinist. Just an artificer making do with what I can get my hands on. In any case, thank you.
There are a few points I need to touch on.
First off, if I was going to spend any money, the half inch spindle would work fine with a MT-0 taper. I have, on hand MT reamers for 0, 1, 2, and 3, the sizes used by my machines. Well, I did sell the small Craftsman metal lathe a while back, but still have the reamers and cetra. The choice of MT-1 was to make use of her existing tooling for the Craftsman wood lathe. It has a 3/4-16 nose as well, hence the choice of a larger threaded spindle.
Second, I a have a 3/4" rod about a foot long to make this part. It's pretty rusty, but usable at the depth of a 16 TPI thread. I think......
And lastly, the 5/8" section was where I started when I was thinking of reboring the headstock. The drawing was reduced to a half inch later, but I was half asleep and didn't increase the step. Thanks for the thought, it joggled my memory there. By the way, I saw the adapter you linked to. I believe it would work well, but the vendor has a minimum purchase. Then also, I would need to cut off part of the tang so I could get the through hole.
Then there is the matter of "Plan B", reboring the headstock. I had figured to bolt it in place of the toolholder on the cross-slide and run the reamer in with a collet on the drive of the big machine. Is this the most valid method, and what is the best way to align the current bore so the tailstock is usable? Any thoughts there? Thanks;
Bill Hudson​
 
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I would make a new headstock with Pillow block bearings.
 
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