/diy/ - Do It Yourself

nice score. I wish I still had a lathe.... anything cylindrical or round and flat(ish) can be made.


I once made a bunch of little mushrooms, was fun.... or how about a chess set....its a long project but by the end you will know how to turn decently.....

get creative

chess set seems like an idea, someone has also recommended I buy a cheap wooden chair and duplicate it

>>549210
>Just picked up an old craftsman woodlathe for free
Lucky bastard! I'm dead jealous.

>Anyone have any simple projects that aren't pens or baseball bats?
You can lathe your own tool handles, very good way to make custom tools .... including custom handles for turning tools, which then aid creation of gen-2 tool handles :-)

>>549210
baseball pens

Mini table football table... If you make it like 5v5 you'll make 10 custom players, 6 handles and do some additional woodworking for the field and walls

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyOE_zdEBv4UcK5a_a3Z6hA

Make dildoes, obviously.

Really, 4chan, I am disappointed.

Chess pieces. Require a bit of carving here and there too, but nice project.

Just got it all together, need to rewire the motor and add a switch to turn it on and off, the football table seems like an idea

>>549436
Found it on craigslist, I've the last year or so I've found many great tools for free or almost nothing-
Just figured out it's a Craftsman model 103.23180,

>>549543
read the sticky

anyone know if I can just change out the dead center with a live center? completely new to lathes and haven't been able to find any info

>>550917

Sure, if it fits. The also sold live centers made specifically for that ol' lathe, though finding an original might be a bit of a problem.

>>550926
Trying to get the dead center out right now, bit rusted in. Are the centers standard sizes, or is it a per lathe type thing.

>>550959

Soak it in a penetrating oil or 3 in 1 oil (not WD-40) overnight and then see what happens. I don't have tons of experience with lathes but mine uses a Morse taper for its tailstock center and that seems to be common from a quick googling. Its normally noted with something like MT2 or MT3 or whatever. Find out what your taper is and go from there.

>>550971
already soaking it in creep, great stuff for freeing up rusty things and I get it for free.
From what I can tell ( by anecdotal internet evidence) it may be a morse 2 taper- hopefully I will be able to free up the existing one and see.
That being said I nearly completed the first project, a simple crank handle.

>>550978
was able to get the tailstock center out this afternoon, have no idea how to tell what taper it is as there is nothing stamped or written on it, will do research and see if I can find some measurements that will let me know.
For shits and giggles I started turning some foam down at slow speeds because I figure if it spins out it wont hurt much.

>>551359
if I measured correctly the center size is actually mt1- ordered an inexpensive center to test.
any recommendations on what type of wood to practice with, preferable cheap and not 2x4 lol.
I'm fairly confident after turning down a bunch of foam and making nothing of value- would love to see how wood is

>>552507

Don't knock cheap pine 2x4s. Cut it down the middle to make a pair of 2x2s and go do town. The are fine for practicing and they won't dull your chisels as quickly as toucher wood. Pine is fine but anything is great if you can get it cheap. Don't work on treated lumber or anything that might have nails, staples, anything like that in it.

>>552661
ive got 2x4's- used one to make a small replacement crank handle.
I was thinking, I can probably get fairly freshly cut tree limbs ( roundish ) but would they be too unbalanced to turn?

>>552955

Depends. If its oak or something gnarled you'll probably need to clean them up first but if its a fairly strait branch you should be okay. It increases the chance your shit will slip out and whack you in the face, so be careful. Eye protection at all times.

Anyway, don't turn green wood, especially limbwood. Shit shrinks really bad and will split when it dries. It also doesn't turn too well in my experience, YMMV on that.

>>553085
so, been using square discs glued onto the foam that I've been turning to stop the centers from wrecking the foam. just realized that it would probably be smarter to make them circular. is there an easy way or should I just turn a big piece of wood to a cylinder, then take small cuts with a table saw?

>>553402

As long as they are balanced you are fine. Doesn't matter the shape, square, round, octagonal, whatever works. Its when they are unbalanced that you have problems. And just a heads up, just cause its round doesn't mean its balanced. Wood has varying density and that can throw off the weighted center of a piece just as easy as it being an odd shape.