Building my own lathe

What with the cost of machine tools here in Spain - a lowest common denominator Chinese mini-lathe is about EU 900 - and the limited capacity of my Emco ( sorry little Compact 5, you are quiet and very accurate but you are too small ) I'm thinking about building my own medium sized lathe.
One which incorporates the features I need and the ergonomics I prefer.

Has anyone got any interesting links to similar projects ?

Just off the top of my head I'm considering a honking great slab of gauge plate for the bed, attached to a steel or aluminium base which is then filled with epoxy concrete.

Have a google for "hubert elffers lathe build" or "stepperhead lathe build"

JD

The stepperhead isn't a lathe, it's a work of art - it reminds me of a really high end hi-fi turntable more than a machine tool...

The pictures of the Hubert Elffer lathe are very useful, did Mr Elffer ever write an article on how he constructed it ?

Hi Siddley,

Have you seen the Gingery book on building a lathe? There is a build on another forum, I think it was HMEM but I may be wrong. See here for another build and here for a video of one being used. if you Google 'Gingery Lathe' there is quite a lot on hth internet. May not be your cup of tea but there could be some ideas that others have alrady worked out and problems overcome.

Regards

Terry

Hubert did write an article on his lathe, I believe it was published in ME, but it may have been in EIM. Again, google is your friend. He said in the article that in the final analysis, he thought it cost more to make his lathe than buy one. He did build a beauty though.

The Gingery designs do have a lot of neat ways to build things. Bar steel T slot tables and gibs, for one. However I do have concerns about cast aluminum as a basis for machine tools. It has very poor damping of vibration, being one third the weight of steel/iron, it is also one third the strength and rigidity of iron, and has a very high rate of thermal expansion making it dimensionally unstable if the temp range varies. It does not wear well either, if things are threaded into it frequently or bearing on it. Bushings are needed in both cases if the aluminum casting sees frequent use.

The gauge plate bed is not a bad idea, but I would bolt some heavy bars of cast iron (maybe durabar) to the underside to add rigidity and increase damping if you do it with gauge plate. The epoxy concrete you mention might do a similar job but I don't have much experience with it. I know cast iron is the material of choice in commercial pro grade machine tools hands down, proven over centuries.

If I were building a lathe from scratch I would also use all ball lead screws and purchase antibacklash ball nuts to go with them. These will add quality and accuracy at low relative cost and will decrease fatigue and motor power requirements.

Have you looked around for used industrial lathes rather than building a lathe? A used industrial lathe is a fast way to get into machining and they are often cost much less than a new lathe, certainly less work than making a lathe. (Heretic moment - my advice is to stay away from Myford, in my opinion they are vastly overpriced low capability lathes with some annoying design features. I'm sure I'll be drawn and quartered for that statement but even a semi clapped out well used Colchester , Harrison, Boxford or South Bend lathe is better made and higher capability for less money than a Myford, usually.) Just my $0.02.

JD

Hubert Elffer's lathe was a small one (2" c/h). He described its construction in an article in MEW no.155.

It may not be quite your thing but it could be worth looking at **LINK** for inspiration.

Pete

There was another thread on making a lathe in the last 6 months.

Terry - I've read the Gingery book, but it's the castings that put me off. I don't feel up to the learning curve at the moment.

JD - Thanks for the comprehensive input, I take your point about steel maybe being better for the base. Industrial lathes here are crazy money compared to the UK, probably the high cost of new lathes keeps secondhand prices up. I have been offered machines which you literally couldn't give away in the UK for bargain sums like EU1500...
A Boxford would be great ( I had one in the UK and agree with you 100% on Myfords ) but I doubt I would find one at a sane price.

Pete - That's an interesting link. Looks a bit 'expedient' at first glance but I've downloaded the plans to check out later.

Hi Siddley,

I have built my own lathe (4.5in centre height) which is now in regular use. I am also in a location where suitable machines at the right price were not available. In addition I was interested in trying to build as much as possible with just basic equipment - drill press, hand tools etc - otherwise I certainly would not have persevered! You can see some photos of my attempt in My Photos.

I wrote an article on its construction for Model Engineer but it was probably considered to be of interest to too few readers - which I can understand.

For me the starting point was readliy available materials and processes: H section beam, hot rolled steel section, drills and fasteners, some local machine shops with rough and ready equipment and a friendly local foundry.

Would be interested to hear how your plans progress.

Clive.

I remember many years ago , a friend made a lathe using a length of old railway line as the basis for the bed. Tons of the stuff about in those days thanks to Dr Beaching.

Clive,

I can't imagine why an article on your splendid lathe would not be of interest to readers of MEW.

How I wish my workshop had marble walls!

cheers,

Rod

Hello Siddley.

I found in an auction in a Portuguese site the following pictures of a lathe and the owner is asking as a starting value 500,00€. It will be sold for the best bid.
Don't know the maker but it looks to me as an English machine...

Don't know where in Spain you live but perhaps it's not too distant from Portugal to consider...

If you are interested please let me know and I'll send to you the URL address.

Best regards
Dias Costa

Edited By dcosta on 21/12/2012 23:00:59

Thanks for your encouragment, Rod!

Marble walls maybe, but rampant termites and extreme heat in the summer tend to take the edge off the apparent luxury. This used to be the kitchen before my wife requested it be moved inside the house. Marble is cheap here.

The latest project is a solar tracker for the solar panels on our flat roof - necessary to help combat long periods without electricity. The lathe is, at last, earning its keep. Unfortuntately the solar system isn't yet up to supplying enough power for the workshop. Am considering submitting this project as an article.

Clive.

Hi Siddley,

"The stepperhead isn't a lathe, it's a work of art - it reminds me of a really high end hi-fi turntable more than a machine tool..."

I am not sure what you mean but I will take it as a compliment. I can assure you that it is a very useful machine tool, with all the capabilities of a similar sized lathe plus additional capabilities that are not available on a conventional lathe. Despite it's stylised appearance, which I am quite pleased with, it makes no sacrifices to achieve this versatility and is as rigid as a similar size lathe. You are welcome to come and try it if you want to see for yourself.

Best Regards

Alan

Please take it as a compliment Alan, that's exactly how it was intended. I don't doubt the stepperhead is a superb machine tool. I'd like two though - one to use and one to keep in a glass case and just look at

Dias - I'm a long way from Portugal, only 70km's from the east coast of Spain. It would be too far to drive. Thanks for the thought though

Clive - Great little machine you have built there. I don't have a foundry nearby but there are a couple of companies that sell structural steel sections. I'd love to read your build article, I would have thought it was exactly the kind of thing MEW should be featuring. I don't know how quickly I'll get to start  building a lathe, but I have to take some design decisions in the next few weeks as I've got an opportunity to get a shipment of tools and metal from the UK, to include the gauge plate I'll need and a lot of other parts I can't source easily here.
Would any photographs of a commercial solar tracker installation help your new project ? - the reason I ask is that I live right next door to a 'solar park' which has probably a hundred of the things !

Edited By Siddley on 22/12/2012 13:36:53

Siddley,

There is a book by L.C Mason, titled building a small lathe .

While this unit as described is small i see no reason why it can't be scaled up to suit your needs .

It is entirely fabricated from flat ,square and round bar stock .

I think i purchased it from Amazon books .

The previous thread in the last 6 months was probably me asking about these books .

I want something smaller in size than my current lathe that could be set up indoors etc where it is airconditioned !

Ian

I remember an article in Model Engineer about building a lathe out of flat square and round stock and made it ... useful experience ... though when I showed it at my Model Engineering Club I heard a comment that it was a waste of time and money .. not sure if the it was the idea or my [lack of?] workmanship caused the comment.

Model RailwayMaker's Lathe Volume 120 page 84

But sorry my notebook only gave the volume and not the year ... quite a long time ago and before the japanese models 'flooded' the market. I purchased the castings to make my drill for I think $300<400 and built it at Polytech classes, any ready built drill was around $500 at the cheapest .... later I bought a Ryobi for $150 R-T-R

Edited By JC Uknz 1 on 28/12/2012 09:28:09

Edited By JC Uknz 1 on 28/12/2012 09:28:41