home made lathes and milling machines

Hi all , i just finished looking at a CD i picked up on E bay for a couple of bucks which has some weird , wonderfull but mostly bizarre plans from yester year and one was a small lathe made from angle ,a few blocks of steel and other bits 'n'pieces .

The dovetails were not machined but rather some pieces of square steel were filed to the required shape then screwed to the saddle and likewise for the cross slide to form the dovetails .

This has now got my curiosity running wild so i decided to do a search of the ME & MEW site looking for any articles about building a small lathe at home .

Result = 0

I am well aware of the stepper head project currently running in MEW but was looking for a small manual lathe instead 12" (300mm) or so long .

Could make an interesting project down the track- maybe a Nano lathe or something .

I can't remember seeing anything like this in the MEW back issues but it has been a while since i read them !

Ian

Hi Ian,

There are several Yahoo groups about building your own machine tools. Here's a few:

multimachine

Multimachine-Concrete-Machine-Tools

multimachine_india

machinebuilders

homemademills

In addition there are several gingery_machines groups. May be you will find some of them interesting?

Regards Thor

Ian,

Try this thread for starters

... L C Mason's book is a little gem.

MichaelG.

Some interesting ideas here too.

... although it would be much easier to buy a watchmaker's lathe secondhand !

MichaelG.

Hi all.

Thanks for the replies and links .

I ended up buying the LC MASON book as well as one by Gingery and err a few other as well - never let me loose in a book store !

That reminds me i must hunt around on ebay to se if anyone is selling building Mastiff by Mason also - i know i can buy it through a store but it is expensive !.

Regards ...

Ian

Ian

I have a part-built Len Mason design lathe which would be a reasonably good basis for the complete machine. Made from gauge plate and bar with Phos Bronze headstock bearimgs. I have the cross slide more or less finished and a reasonable attempt at the lead screw. It has been sitting around for over 20 years and has gathered a 'patina' of surface rust!!. I think that I have some bits of gauge plate lying around somewhere as well. Machining was completed in the, then, local Tech school workshops. Didn't complete it due to change of domestic circumstances and purchase of a Unimat 3.

PM me if interested.

Rgds

Bill

Ian,

I bought "Building Mastiff" from the Amazon market place about 6 months ago. Some vendors were asking £100+ but mine came from the States from a SH book dealer for less than £15 including postage, so I suggest you keep looking.

Rod

Hi ALL .

Thanks Rod i will search for SH dealers and see what comes back , i think the only other place i managed to find it was through Hemminways but but the price tag left little to be desired !

Ian sc , i think that is where most of the material on the DVD is from as there is the odd mention of popular mechanics .

IAN

Hi Guys
Heres my home made tailstock for my S7 Mk 1

That's neat, Nobby

Nice one Nobby,

Wouldn't look out of place on a field gun!

Neil

Hi Guys
I get a buzz making bits for my old lathe . I got the basic bed and headstock . x slide for a fiver .
Ive made and added the motor bracket & cover, X slide bracket and micrometer dials .and handles
and gears studs etc. The gear cover i bought at a ME exibition to add to it .

Nobby 

Edited By Nobby on 04/09/2012 22:44:31

Just for the record.

I have found some of my copies of Mechanics from 1948 (LBSC Roedean) which I know preceded or followed the lathe design articles. I can't find the actual copies and fear I may have lent them to someone. I have definately seen an example of this lathe at a show in the last 15 years, possibly on a club stand.

Hi Guys
I have loads of old M.E.s I will have a good look through them & see what I can come up with.
I'm restoring a 1926 Exe lathe at the moment . I need to make a top slide for it to help when screwcutting. I found a source of round leather belting on Ebay
Nobby

Edited By Nobby on 25/09/2012 22:17:33