tombardier
Well-Known Member
Greetings,
I have a home-made lathe, wihch I actually acquired from someone else. I think they'd taken it as far as they were going to, and I want to continue to make it better, as I just can't afford a good lathe, and if I can get some use out of this one, then I've got time to save up a bit for a better one
It's got a 750w circular saw motor, and a 4" pratt burnerd 3-jaw chuck, which has mismatched jaws, so they don't meet together in the middle properly (there's one stamped with a one, and two stamped with a two), but if you shim the workpiece up with some cardboard, you can get it to spin straightish The faceplate that it bolts to has been welded to the shaft, so I'm kind of stuck with that chuck or one the same size.
the tailstock and tool post move backwards using threaded bar, and the tool post in particular wobbles up and down like a boat in choppy waters as you wind it in, so it's all but useless really. My idea at the moment is to get some kind of cross-slide from a proper metal lathe and lash up something that I can use to get smooth movement, as the bed on this lathe is about as far from smooth as one can get. I obviously need to try and sort the chuck out too.
So, what I'm after really, is some help building up my chuck. Has anyone got any old cross-slides/chucks or tool posts that they can get rid of cheaply?
Thanks for any consideration
I have a home-made lathe, wihch I actually acquired from someone else. I think they'd taken it as far as they were going to, and I want to continue to make it better, as I just can't afford a good lathe, and if I can get some use out of this one, then I've got time to save up a bit for a better one
It's got a 750w circular saw motor, and a 4" pratt burnerd 3-jaw chuck, which has mismatched jaws, so they don't meet together in the middle properly (there's one stamped with a one, and two stamped with a two), but if you shim the workpiece up with some cardboard, you can get it to spin straightish The faceplate that it bolts to has been welded to the shaft, so I'm kind of stuck with that chuck or one the same size.
the tailstock and tool post move backwards using threaded bar, and the tool post in particular wobbles up and down like a boat in choppy waters as you wind it in, so it's all but useless really. My idea at the moment is to get some kind of cross-slide from a proper metal lathe and lash up something that I can use to get smooth movement, as the bed on this lathe is about as far from smooth as one can get. I obviously need to try and sort the chuck out too.
So, what I'm after really, is some help building up my chuck. Has anyone got any old cross-slides/chucks or tool posts that they can get rid of cheaply?
Thanks for any consideration
or if you're feeling flush a dean smith and grace 
