My Homemade Metal Lathe Project

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2024-04-28 21:30:07

Yes I too am building a metal working shop from scrap using the books written by Mr. Dave Gingery. I figured, "hey I already have a foundry why not build some really nifty machines?" Besides what is a laboratory without a precision indexing head or milling machine? Heck, the least I could do is build the lathe.

Here are the bases freshly cast. You can see the sprue left on one. When the sprue is directly on the casting like this its called a "pop gate." Notice the ridge on the top of the castings. This is so the bed will interlock with it.

Dave Gingery recommends building the pattern from 1/4" plywood. All of the 1/4" plywood I've seen were about as warped and bent as an archer's bow. The 3/8" plywood wasn't much better. So to get a straight pattern I took some wood wall paneling material, sanded the smooth surface to rough it up then smeared a generous amount of glue on them. I set two pieces together on a steel table saw table and put a straight, weighted board on it (I used about 30 pounds of weight). The glue impregnated the wood softening it and the weight caused it to dry perfectly straight. The resulting stock was just under 3/8" thick so the pattern is very robust and solid.

I set two pieces together on a steel table saw table and put a straight, weighted board on it (I used about 30 pounds of weight). The glue impregnated the wood softening it and the weight caused it to dry perfectly straight. The resulting stock was just under 3/8" thick so the pattern is very robust and solid.