A number of people have asked why I bought a lathe and my answer seems to baffle some. I do not make model engines, nor do I use it to make money (although a few small jobs may be coming my way). The reason I bought one and the reason I have wanted one for some time is for all those moments when I have been building or repairing something and though "if only I had a lathe..."
Sometimes I struggle to think of a specific example or the one I come up with leaves them with a confused look on their face! So, here are some pics and one example of why I wanted/bought one.
Here is my old Meddings drill press, that my Dad purchased before I was born (or at least before I can remember seeing it). It came from a production factory where several were lined up, each doing a set task.
This one never had a table and when he found one that fitted, the arm was too short, so that the drill would hit the table and not go through the centre hole. Not the end of the world but something that I couldn't easily fix without a lathe (although it could be done).
So, I set about turning up a spacer, which is fixed to the body to allow the zero mark to be set up, as the table can tilt Left and Right.
Now, the drill is in my workshop at home and the lathe is in my other workshop. As such, I didn't notice that the hole at the bottom is not directly below the centre hole (this is threaded to lock the table level). As I used this hole for reference when marking out the two holes to fix the spacer to the body, they are now off kilter too. Good thing is you cant see them once the arm is back on!
All finished and the table is now centred relative to the spindle.
So why do/did you want/buy a lathe???
Sometimes I struggle to think of a specific example or the one I come up with leaves them with a confused look on their face! So, here are some pics and one example of why I wanted/bought one.
Here is my old Meddings drill press, that my Dad purchased before I was born (or at least before I can remember seeing it). It came from a production factory where several were lined up, each doing a set task.
This one never had a table and when he found one that fitted, the arm was too short, so that the drill would hit the table and not go through the centre hole. Not the end of the world but something that I couldn't easily fix without a lathe (although it could be done).
So, I set about turning up a spacer, which is fixed to the body to allow the zero mark to be set up, as the table can tilt Left and Right.
Now, the drill is in my workshop at home and the lathe is in my other workshop. As such, I didn't notice that the hole at the bottom is not directly below the centre hole (this is threaded to lock the table level). As I used this hole for reference when marking out the two holes to fix the spacer to the body, they are now off kilter too. Good thing is you cant see them once the arm is back on!
All finished and the table is now centred relative to the spindle.
So why do/did you want/buy a lathe???
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