Looking for a small, cheap lathe

[wahoowad]

I'm looking for something I guess like a pen lathe to spin a wooden dowel to burnish the edges of leather straps. The dowel will have grooves and I will slide the edges of the leather straps through the spinning groove to soften them up.

I see Harbor Freight has one for around $220 pre-coupon. Anybody know of a good one at this price point or lower? It's quite possible this method isn't going to accomplish what I want so don't want to invest in a higher end model.

I also see a Wen unit at Home Depot for $165.

 

[jfleisher]

Sounds like a fairly light side load for a drill press?

 

[wahoowad]

Sounds like a fairly light side load for a drill press?

Yeah, thought of that but sounds even un-safer than doing this with a lathe

 

[KenB]

You don’t say where you are, but where I live Craigslist is full of cheap old wood lathes.

Ken

 

[wahoowad]

I checked craigslist, everything is full size. I need a small desktop size one.

 

[Sevenhills1952]

I would buy one if you'll use it a lot otherwise for one thing I would pay someone to make it.
As others have said I've made all kinds of stuff with a drill press.

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[larry_g]

I checked craigslist, everything is full size. I need a small desktop size one.

This is why location is important, some member just around the corner may have one that you could test your process on. For something like your describing I've clamped a hand drill in a vise to spin something to polish. Also search under dental lathe.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Sevenhills1952]

I misunderstood what you were trying to do. What I got for my bench drill press years ago was a cross slide vice. It's been really handy, I use it a lot. With that you could hold a pin or section of pipe for dowel to spin against.
If you were going to use it a lot I would fabricate something easily with an electric motor on it's side mounted to a base, other end a bracket. Dowel end could be glued tightly into a section of pipe, bolt on the end.

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[6PTsocket]

Google: leather burnisher. One guy made a nice burnishing wheel for a Dremel. I think there are wheels for a bench grinder or a buffer, too. They seem to be the tools that are usually used for the job. Just for reference, see what Tandy shows for burnishing. No point in reinventing the wheel.


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[Larryjones]

How about a hand drill in a vise?

 

[wahoowad]

Yes, that is what I'm trying to do. Thanks - I'm seeing a lot of easier ways to do this now!