Machining Characteristics of Plastics
 

"Jim Woodward" jameslwoodward at attbi dot com wrote in message ...

I figured that out ages ago :-) Another good trick is to mount a
router on the cross slide if the lathe has a high enough centre
height. This gets the cutting speed right up there, faster than a wood
lathe and with power feed.

For bowl turning you can hang a faceplate off the back end of the
spindle and rig a tool rest.

I picked up an old metal lathe that swings 28" in the gap for $100. I
don't use it often but when I need it, it's there.

PDW

You can easily put a typical wood lathe tool rest on the cross slide. Or,

take off the saddle and clamp a rest right to the bed for more swing.



I just see these guys in Fine Woodworking building special, super heavy wood

lathes for turning bowls and other big things, and I wonder why they don't

just use an old metal lathe -- when you get bigger than 13" or so, the old

metal lathes are practically free, if you don't count the pain of moving

them.





--

Jim Woodward

www.mvFintry.com





.

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message

news:hYNsb.787$0K4.196@lakeread04...

But there is something about the freedom of a high quality wood lathe.

I have a neighbor who turns bowls and vases from old rotten tree parts

on an ancient Oliver. He would not trade it for the finest metal lathe

on the market but his aproach is completely different from ours.

Straight lines and mathematics just interfere with his bringing out the

"spirit" of the wood. I guess artist and engineers have different Zin.

:-)



Jim Woodward wrote:

I have never really understood why anyone buys a wood lathe -- and I say

this only a little in jest.



Wood lathes are expensive, the good ones are heavy, but you still have

to

hold the tool. A metal lathe of similar size, that's old and little

tired

for precision metalworking, will sell for less money than a similar

sized

wood lathe, but do precision woodwork and also pretty good metalwork.



I've had a 13" South Bend for years. It was born in the same year I

was,

1943, and is definitely not a production machine, but it does work

that's

just fine for most boat purposes. The bed is only 48", which means that

it

will do only around 20" between centers, but I have an aluminum

extension

that will hold a tailstock way out there for woodwork. And, of course,

both

the steady rest and the hole through the headstock let you do longer

work

that's thin.



With steady rest, taper attachment, three jaw chuck, four jaw chuck,

faceplates, legs, and 1/2 hp single phase motor mounted on a separate

floor

mount (motor probably came with the lathe -- it's huge), it would

probably

go today for around $850.



I've just bought a 9" South Bend at auction, with a six jaw chuck,

collet

closer and collets, and miscellaneous tooling for $650. It's also got a

48"

bed, but because both the headstock and the tailstock are shorter, it

will

do 30" between centers. I bought it because it's a better size for

Fintry

and sits on a bench. It's somewhat younger, maybe 1965 or so.



Now the only significant disadvantage I see with these guys is that

they're

heavy -- that's good when using them, but bad when moving. However,

even

the 13" comes apart into pieces no one of which weighs more than around

140

pounds. The heaviest piece of the 9" (the bed) is around 90 pounds. They

won't spin up quite as fast as a wood lathe, but that's not really a

problem.



Parts for South Bend and the other standard brands are easily

available --

indeed the dealers say that parting out (on eBay) is always more

lucrative

than selling the whole thing -- but it's sort of beside the point, as

they're so rock solid that parts are rarely needed.



So why buy a wood lathe?





--

Glenn Ashmore



I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack

there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com

Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com