Edited by author 09-03-2003 08:44 PM
Here's a challenge. Uilleann bagpipe chanter with a tapered, not conical, internal bore. How to do that on a lathe, cnc or otherwise?

Your lathe is much nicer than the Harbor Freight 19" Chinese model ;o)

Now you'll have to get all your mics, callipers, dial indicators, etc. If you had a bridgeport mill and a centerless grinder, you could literally build anything!!!!

Lathes are badass but before you start turning threads with it get a machinist handbook.

Ian:

Would you like my collection of twisty balsa shavings? I'd put them on eBay but wanted to offer them to a true afficianado first.

Very nice. How much does this one cost?

The lathe is an ancient machine. Examples were found in the remains of Mesapotamia. When iron and steel could be turned to precise tolerances (within a 16th of an inch) the Industrial Revolution began. Very few machines can be made without this machine. Some of the things the US prohibits from export to terrorist nations are lathes.

I use my lathe to add to my priceless collection of shiny twisty metal shavings.

godlessone:

If you gotta ask, you ain't ever gonna know.

Well, actually: You make things with it. If you build models, or robots, or restore old cars, they're invalable.

  It is a BEAUTIFUL lathe, Steve---------CNC used to mean Cincinnati Numerical Control ( at that time it was prolly spelled correctly, too) used to punch tape---now I guess CD????? or just PC controlled---------------ENJOY---watch your fingers---------best---paretree

What are you gonna do with a lathe?

you can build a fax machine from a lathe. as in turn it into one, all you need is two lathes and a phoneline.

tim hunkin did it in his program the secret life of machines.

Eli-
LOL!

Presumably, your new lathe has an automatice screw advance? If so, it's not *totally* manual (though still analog).

Edited by author 08-22-2003 06:59 PM
Lindsay's Technical Publications is the home of all your retro metal casting and mad scientist needs!

__x, I did take the time to look at your fun with molten metal
link. Nice page. I wish a few of the steps were described in
more detail, though. I've tried my hand at casting using zinc
melted out of US pennies over my kitchen stove. Unfortunately
it didn't have near the detail I wanted.

Did the lathe actually arrive looking like that? Or did you leave it on the pallet while you assembled it? All the big machinery I ever got required hours of assembly and tuning. First thing I usually do it drag the various part to the machine's final location before assembly.

Anyway, I have major lathe envy.

eh...wonder if interstitialwidgets.com taken? We are talkin' cottage industry here. If you took the time to scope my post about the guy who made a crucible so he could make a lathe, you would understand how seriously phat the idea of reverse engineering the home tech lab/garage is to me. Like ten years from now he will have went from making a crucible to make a lathe, to making an mini-engineering plant to create his back yard super collider and space shuttle.

I s'pose you could turn wood on this lathe, but it would be overkill-- it's designed for metalworking. So far, I've made a replacement part for my video camera so that it mounts to a metric instead of imperial tripod screw and a threaded pipe adapter for my air compressor. In other words, I got the lathe to make those little interstitial widgets..

C'mon Steve - what are you going to be making with that thing? I have a suggestion: survelliance video cameras - from wood! Very hot.

I've been using my cheapie drill press (Delta) as a small-footprint lathe, for turning balsa model rocket parts. It's fun watching stuff take shape as you cut / sand.

If I had more room, I'd get a lathe, so I could turn hardwood parts

Steve, fantastic looking device. Yes, tell us what you plan to make. Maybe start with a clothes pin. Hope you're not like my dad, who decided woodworking was not his bag after he bought a bunch of cool machines. Also, does it have a port to plug in the OpenGene box? I hope they're compatible.

Whoa, sorry to even mention that other junk! Very nice.

Sorry about the broken link-- now fixed. And, Ernie, I purposely avoided the CNC option: it's such a pleasure to use a machine that doesn't require any fiddling on a keyboard.

Manual? Still, its all about the CNC retro kit! What brand is it? I hope its not Harbor Freight unless you have a 2nd mill/lathe to rebuild it with. Add a Bridgeport mill and a metal bandsaw and you have a robot factory!

Your link to "lathe" above is broken. Looks cool.

Kewel. Garage-tech. Mind telling us what you plan to plane?