Not so poor man's lathe

[BrianHayes]

When I was restoring my Craftsman bench top 100 DP, I took advantage of a little-used Ridgid lathe to sand and polish the column.



It spins a little too fast, but I was able to get a good result without damaging myself, the equipment or the column.

No that I'm restoring a floor model 150 drill press, I have a problem: a 62" column won't fit on a 36" lathe bed, or will it...



I removed the tailstock from the lathe, built an extension table, and built a tailstock that mounted directly to the extension table.

This worked well for a while, but I noticed the quill was starting to back out of the tailstock, which shouldn't have come as a surprise since the quill was only friction fit into a hole in the tailstock.

I secure it better tomorrow, but I consider this a successful proof of concept.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Hey if it works!

 

[Maui]

Or just use a metal lathe to do this which would probably be much safer.

 

[BrianHayes]

Or just use a metal lathe to do this which would probably be much safer.

You may have missed the word 'poor' in the thread title. A metal lathe capable of turning a 62" tube would be cost-prohibitive. The challenge is to make do with what you have.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I've been there

 

[tombell572]

That's a good effective improv. I can't tell rom the pictures if you're using a live center in the tailstock. If not, an inexpensive import would be fine for polishing work and should improve stability. You've gotten nice results.

Tom B.

 

[MushCreek]

I had to drill and tap some 10 foot long rods. I used a piece of pipe and a couple stands to support the things while I (carefully!) machined them on my lathe. You make do with what you have.

 

[Roberts210]

Good job! I once made a "lathe" to turn and sand 8 foot long octagonal beams for a large tapestry loom a lady ordered from me. The beams were glued up from straight, clear, 2X8 material, then chamfered heavily on a table saw, and sanded on the lathe. Only used it once, but it paid for itself since I made it on the cheap.

 

[MushCreek]

I've seen sailboat spars turned on a 'lathe' consisting of a cordless drill turning the blank, and a router running on rails up and down the length of it. The rails were just plywood, and the router moved by hand on a wooden sled.

 

[BrianHayes]

And we got 'er done.



I added a plate to keep the quill in the tailstock, some roller blade wheels for stability, and some wax on the dead center.



If I were to do it again, I would add a live center (do they make them that would screw onto a 3/4-10 shaft?), and swap in a 6" pulley to drop the rpm.

 

[larry4406]

Very clever.

I don’t see a “dog” gripping the work to spin the column.

Are the end plates tapered and under compression via the threaded rod?

 

[RTM]

Internally gripped by the chuck would be my guess

I have one like this, which can use the outside jaw edge to grip a vessel’si terror rim.

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[whateg01]

Or just use a metal lathe to do this which would probably be much safer.

Not many people have a lathe of any type long enough to safely do that unless you are just using a steady rest, which I've done. A 150 column in a 10x30" lathe. I would have preferred putting it between centers.

 

[BrianHayes]

Very clever.

I don’t see a “dog” gripping the work to spin the column.

Are the end plates tapered and under compression via the threaded rod?

RTM got it right, there's a 4-jaw chuck at the drive end, and a dead center pressing into a tapered plug at the other end.

 

[Maui]

You may have missed the word 'poor' in the thread title. A metal lathe capable of turning a 62" tube would be cost-prohibitive. The challenge is to make do with what you have.

No, it isn’t cost prohibitive. I have several metal lathes that I’ve used over the years to do EXACTY the same thing. The Logan metal lathe I presently use for this purpose cost me $300. With a steady rest in place, setting up a column for polishing like this is quite easy on a metal lathe. But you need to be able to align it very accurately. A metal lathe allows you to do this. A wood lathe, not so much. If you don’t align it accurately enough the column will gradually pull out of the chuck jaws as you proceed to polish it, and this is where safety could become a concern in using a wood lathe to do this. Please know that I’m not bashing the OP for his set-up. What he did is quite clever. I’m just voicing what I know to be a potential problem in doing this.

 

[whateg01]

... A metal lathe allows you to do this. A wood lathe, not so much. If you don’t align it accurately enough the column will gradually pull out of the chuck jaws as you proceed to polish it, and this is where safety could become a concern in using a wood lathe to do this. Please know that I’m not bashing the OP for his set-up. What he did is quite clever. I’m just voicing what I know to be a potential problem in doing this.

He has a dead center in the tail end. It's not going anywhere. And that's why a live/dead center is a better way overall for doing this than a rest. I would hazard a guess that over half of the hobbyists that have a metal lathe in their garage or basement don't have a steady rest anyway.

 

[Sumboodie]

I probably would have just used a sander.

 

[BrianHayes]

...But you need to be able to align it very accurately. A metal lathe allows you to do this. A wood lathe, not so much. If you don’t align it accurately enough the column will gradually pull out of the chuck jaws as you proceed to polish it, and this is where safety could become a concern in using a wood lathe to do this....

I did take that into consideration, and spent a good deal of time aligning it with a laser level and playing card shims.



I saw the potential for slip at the chuck, and added the dead center as a precaution.

I would love to own a metal lathe with this capacity (or any capacity), but for now, I'm making do.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I have column envy.

 

[BrianHayes]

I have column envy.

Just don't look too closely. That column was in rough shape.