Mini Metal Lathe

[RichD]

I just ran across this over at http://www.instructables.com

It is a mini metal lathe built from old power tool..

Looks very promising and useful

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Metal-Lathe-1/

[Mr scratchmod]

Very interesting and pretty cool too. Thanks for posting the link.
Rob

[lab-dad]

I'll keep my Sherline.
-Marty

[greenie]

For those that don't have a lathe at all, then this is an excellent starting point, it's well worth reading and gives a good idea for anybody who might be interested in making one. At least this design is a lot more stable than the one that's made from chipboard, using a Dremel as a power pack.
OK, it's not up to the standard of a Unimat or a Sherline, but then again, the price is a lot better than either of those two lathes.

I read through some of the comments on the front page, here's a couple of things I noticed.
The vibration that's talked about, might be coming from the dog drive that's fitted from the motor to the spindle, much too sloppy and would allow this vibration to happen easily.
The motor that is used, has sure got some torque and revs, in a very small package.

This type of motor is an excellent replacement for the Proxxon KS 12 bench saw, or any of the earlier Proxxon tools that used the 12 volt transformers.
Any motor from a  rechargeable battery powered drill, will actually do for this conversion, so long as it's 12 volt or better.
I let the smoke out of my KS 12 saw,  from overloading the poor little thing, but when I took out the burnt motor, I realised what they had used.
A quick search on the shelf soon revealed an 18 volt motor of the exact physical dimensions. So in it went and to my amazement, it revved out as good as the original and had more torque as well, a much improved saw now.
These motors are easily acquired and real cheap second-hand, as most people throw these drills out when the battery has failed, but the motors still good.

regards  greenie