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Showing posts from May 20, 2018

Homemade lathes on youtube (reviews continued)

Jack Houweling presents a pretty good example of utilising the first electric motor he could find. For a lot of people, this is going to be a plain old electric drill. His build isn't super complicated and you can probably build a functioning version without using all the tools he has at his disposal (like a drill press, bench grinder and disc grinder). Pros: What I really like about Jack's approach is I don't feel the need to hide under my desk while watching it, afraid that a chunk of timber or fragment of improvised chisel is going to fly off and hit me in the face. One thing I think he really got right is that people who don't know much about wood-turning should maybe start with make little tool handles instead of baseball bats. The small chisel handle he produces on his third attempt actually looks pretty cool (so good I wonder if he really hasn't spent any time on a lathe before...) Cons: Nay-sayers will point out that electric drills are meant fo

Can you make your own lathe for wood-turning?

Yes, you can build your own working lathe. The question is - do you  really    want to? Obviously you want to (at the moment) because you're here - but do you really need the hassle? Why spend time and effort making a thing you'll never really use - when you could just go and buy one (and not use it). You'll tell yourself things like  "it's cheaper if I build my own" - and spend your idle time  dreaming of all the things you will be able to make ... chisel handles, billy clubs, basically anything that's round and not too long will be yours for the making. Are you going to turn bowls on your home-made contraption - well most probably not. Why? - because bowl turning requires some actual skill, and some more specialised chisels than what you probably have, and a nice bowl blank (a suitable chunk of wood) which you also probably haven't got on hand. Also, seriously, who wants a wooden bowl anyway? So realistically what can you build to satisfy you