Thread: Metal lathes

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Our friend Ray (walleyeman) used an 'Engine Lathe' (Lathe for turning metal) for making his brushes.

He used metal and Inlace Acrylester. The acrylester came in rectangular pieces. He told me that the three pieces were joined with a small bolt. Here's a few pics that he'd sent me while making a custom brush. Note that he used some kind of a 'jig' to be able to make repeatable pieces--

Attachment 321116

Attachment 321117

Attachment 321118

Attachment 321119

Attachment 321120

Ray said that he used a rag and Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish to finish polishing the acrylic and metals in his brushes.

Roy, I've got that exact same brush that Ray gifted me at the Asheville, NC meetup years ago. What an amazing craftsman! He had a whole table of similar brushes in various acrylester and aluminum or brass configurations. And though I have made a couple of razors with acrylester scales after you turned us on to that supplier, I can only admire the skill of you guys who turn stuff.

Originally Posted by 32t

I have a cheap lathe that works much better than my ability.

It is suppose to be able to cut threads but that is well above my skill level at the moment.

That got me thinking especially at a hobby level how many people actually cut threads?

Me? Its been a while though, and my current lathe is missing the various gears needed to cut a number of thread sizes. Would love a quick change gear box, to eliminate all the sprocket changing needs. But that can cost as much as a new lathe! (current lathe is an old Atlas 10 Atlas 10-inch lathe Catalog)
My advice echos that of every other machinist out there.. Buy the most lathe you can afford. The cheapest lathes have weak headstocks, and it wont take much to bend the shaft while turning something and making a mistake. Bump the headstock with the tool post, accidentally dig into the work too deep etc.
Be sure to read as many online reviews as possible to see if others have had complaints with jaws going out of alignment, etc.
That said, a good lathe, can make almost ANYthing! Bushings, pins, collars, with the right attachments, you can mill too

My brother gave me (on permanent loan) a wood lathe, a big one. It was bigger than the space I had at the time and I never used it. I finally gave it back to him.

Not trying to change any bodys mind but I see that HF is having a sale on their mini lathe! $499.99! My local store is out but hope to have some more in a week and a half! said they would honor the coupon even if the sale was over! Looks like i'll be getting one sooner than expected!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvxrUfvfYw

Hey, Shaun and Mike are you ready to move to Japan with me and fill the places of the masters?

Great video of a guy with about 50000 more hours on the tools than I.
Very cool..
Thanks fir sharing it.
Japan would be an incredible destination.

yeah, don't think I could handle the pressure of exposing 200000 people to radiation. A few more hours of experience would be helpful too

It took me a few hours to become a Master. Tolerances take longer....

Nice Tom. I hope that's yours.