The best homemade lathes for wood. Wood lathe: how to do it yourself? Don't forget to put a caliper

For a home workshop in which woodwork is planned, an appropriate lathe is necessary. It is not necessary to buy it if you do not need to work very intensively on it. This is just the tool that even a child is quite capable of making with his own hands. Of course, under the guidance of adults.

We bring to your attention a video tutorial on how to make a homemade wood lathe according to the instructions that were presented in the Young Technician magazine. To work, you need a minimum of parts. The most complex part that is needed in this machine is the engine. The magazine recommended using a sewing machine motor for this.

The task arose - to make a chess piece and make up for the missing bishop. All details round section, that is, the cross section of which is a circle, is processed according to this principle. The workpiece rotates and the cutter removes chips.

Just at hand was a very old, but not lost its usefulness magazine, in which an article was published on how to make a simple lathe for working with wooden blanks. This machine consists of a bed, a headstock, a tailstock, a handpiece.

A spindle with a cartridge rotates in the headstock, it receives rotation from an electric motor. The tailstock can move along the bed, fixed in the right place with a wedge. The armrest has freedom of movement both along and across the frame. It is also fixed with a wedge. The workpiece is clamped between the headstock chuck and the tailstock cone. The cutting tool rests on the handpiece. How to make a turning head,.

Since most of the details of this machine are wooden, the master took up a hacksaw. Details subject to the greatest loads during operation, strengthened by gluing plywood on both sides. The base and bed of the machine are assembled from planks and machines.

From metal parts, a cone from a bicycle steering wheel was required. To convert it into a lathe chuck, I had to drill 2 holes in it and drive nail pieces tightly into them.
This is how the design turned out.

The second metal knot is also from a bicycle. Namely, the axle of the front wheel. A cartridge prepared in advance is screwed onto it and tightly wrapped with a lock nut. This is how the headstock was assembled.

It remains to transfer rotation to the cartridge at the opposite end of the axis to fix the pulley for the belt drive. The magazine suggested cutting out 3 circles with a jigsaw and sawing a pulley into them with a jigsaw. But circles cut with a jigsaw are not very even. Therefore, it was decided to make a circle cutter. For this, on the one hand wooden block the nail is hammered and sharpened sharply. And with the back for the convenience of the handle. A plank with a pin attached to it is the base of the instrument. The diameter of the pin is equal to the diameter of the bicycle axle. With the help of such a tool, circles are cut out of plywood.

In one place, during the operation of the machine, a rather strong voltage is created.
Therefore, you need to thoroughly tighten the nuts. For the tailstock, a wooden block is selected, the thickness of which allows it to move between the bed rails.

To begin with, an oblong hole is made in the bar. So that the tailstock does not fall through on the bed, two planks were glued to the sides of the bar.

Making a handpiece for a mini lathe.

The base of the handrest is a plywood rectangle with two longitudinal grooves. It includes two metal plates fixed on the sides of a wooden bar. To prevent them from coming out, a wire pin is used. The handkerchief is also a small wooden block with a beveled top. To increase the strength, it is closed with a cover made of roofing iron. Metal scissors and a wooden mallet were used.

Equipping a wood lathe with an electric drive.

In order not to deviate from the instructions posted in the Young Technician magazine, a motor from an old sewing machine was used.
Before wiring, you need to de-energize the device. Electrical contacts must be reliable, otherwise the wiring will heat up during operation. This can get you in big trouble. Therefore, the wires are well protected and tightly twisted, and even better soldered. It goes without saying that the connection points must be securely insulated.

A rubber belt from an old tape recorder came in handy.

Result.

Now the do-it-yourself machine is finally ready and you can start turning. This is a very exciting business. This was noted by Peter the Great.
With the help of simple operations, the log usually turns into a beautiful chess rook.

Any real woodworker has or dreams of having a lathe at home. But, unfortunately, for most carpenters and turners, their own budget does not allow them to purchase a finished model and install it at home. In this case, you can make a machine on your own from quite affordable materials.

Manufacturing features

Do-it-yourself home-made wood lathes are made quite easily and simply, if you know in principle what a lathe is and what it consists of. A small unit with dimensions of about 80x40 centimeters in length and width with a height of 35 centimeters does not take up much space, but allows you to process workpieces with a diameter of up to 25 centimeters and a length of 20-40 centimeters.

Lathe gives unlimited possibilities in the manufacture of dishes, furniture, decorative elements.

Thanks to him, you can make any product in the form of bodies of revolution for your own use or during construction and other works.

Machine elements

At the lathe with their own hands is extremely simple design but only important ingredients:

• electric motor - it is used as a machine drive, you can take the motor from the pump;
• the headstock, which is an outdated electric grinder for 2 stones;
• support for incisors to regulate and support them;
• tailstock, which is made from an old unnecessary drill.
• a frame made of a welded metal profile (welded so that a gap forms along the entire length before fixing with bolts).

To make your own machine, the simplest tools will be enough:

• electric drill;
• files;
• angle grinder (grinder) for cutting and stripping;
• electric welding with electrodes of 2 and 3 meters.

Materials needed for the machine:

• metal profile;
• metal corner;
• two pipes of different diameters for backup;
• drive belt (can be taken from an old car);
• fasteners.

Manufacturing features

The headstock must have an axis of rotation that is located at the optimum height, as well as thrust bearings to protect it.

Headstock homemade wood lathe

Included with the headstock should be washers for attaching disk abrasives. Two washers on the left will fasten discs with different diameters, which will allow you to adjust the speed. On the right, with the help of a washer, a faceplate for mounting the blank is attached.

Such a lathe has one drawback: the headstock does not move, since there is no corresponding mechanism. But it can be moved by fixing it with a nut.

The cartridge should be chosen so that it is convenient to use. A frame is made of metal channels, to which a support must be attached in the middle. To make it adjustable, two tubes are used. different diameter, one of which (narrower) is embedded in a wider one.

The scheme of the cartridge of a homemade lathe for wood.

In some cases, for work on a lathe, the motor is not used at all, then the disks can not be changed and the belt can not be used. The choice of disks for changing on the headstock must be made based on the optimal speed for different breeds tree. For this, there are tables and graphs showing the dependence of the optimal diameter of the pulley (disk) and the speed of the headstock. At the same time, for different types tree indicators will be different.

Pulleys should be made of plywood, it is better to take material 10 millimeters thick and knock it down in two layers. Thus the pulley has optimal thickness 20 millimeters. It is attached to a rubberized chuck on an electric motor, which, when connected, act as a drive pulley. Before turning, the faceplate is wound onto the grinding axis after the blank has been installed.

The motor requires a separate mount, it is better to use a separate platform for it. It is also necessary to foresee the mechanism of movement of this platform, so that when replacing the pulley on the headstock, the length of the belt is enough for work.

A homemade lathe for woodworking is a very useful thing for the home of a real master, with it you can do a variety of useful, or just beautiful things.

The summer before last, I made a wood lathe. Some design flaws came to light and I will eliminate them next summer in the workshop (in a rebuilt barn in the country, by the way, see which one, as well as). Machine dimensions; length 800 mm, width 400 mm, height 350 mm. Allows sharpening workpieces with a diameter of up to 250 mm and a length of up to 200 mm (on a faceplate, i.e. without tailstock centering) and with tailstock centering up to 400 mm. General view of photo 1.

Homemade wood lathe consists of:

• drive-electric motor from the pump
• headstock (an old powerful electric grindstone for two grindstones)
• incisor supports with adjustment and incisor support
• tailstock from a part of a powerful old drill
• metal frame frames.

In the manufacture of a lathe, a conventional metalwork tool was used:

• drill with drills
• files
• small angular Sander(Bulgarian with cutting and cleaning discs)
• electric welding machine with electrodes 3 mm and 2 mm.

A metal profile (channel) and a corner were purchased on the market, a few pipes of two diameters (so that one pipe enters the other), a strip of 40 mm and a strip of 20 mm. for a total of 600 rubles. Photo 2. The necessary fasteners were found in the garage. Separately bought a drive belt from some (went along the length).

The headstock from the grinder approached in all respects - a highly located axis of rotation, thrust protected bearings on the axis, four alloy washers for fastening abrasive discs. Replaceable discs are attached to two washers on the left side to change the speed, and on the right side a faceplate is installed for installing a blank (also made from one of the washers) The photo also shows a part of a drill (an old burnt Soviet one) - a cartridge and a metal case. This is just the most unfinished unit of the machine.

Disadvantages: the stand is rather weak, there is no lead screw to move the headstock (moved with a lever with fixation with a nut). The chuck itself is handy and allows forces along the axis of the chuck by default.
In the photo there are 4 beds with a caliper. It can move along the frame and across, fixed with a wing nut. On the caliper there is a stand (pipe in a pipe) for setting the height of the stop bar for cutters. To select the diameters of the pulleys (i.e., changes in the speed of the workpiece), a graph was used (found on the Internet) - the dependence of the speed on the diameter of the workpiece and the hardness of the wood. Two frequencies are chosen that overlap each other. In addition, for some small jobs with hardwood, you can use a sharpener motor i.e. with the drive off (removing the belt and turning off the motor). This way I can set three speeds - 800, 2000, 3000 rpm. almost covering my needs.
In the photo we see a rubberized cartridge on the axis of the electric motor, playing the role of a drive pulley, two driven pulleys (each made of two layers of ten mm plywood) and a faceplate with holes for self-tapping screws that fasten the workpiece. The faceplate is simply screwed onto the axis of the sharpener (i.e., the headstock) after installing the blank.
To mount the motor, a platform was made of thick plywood, on which there is also a headstock (thereby increasing the possibility of turning a larger diameter). To adjust the belt tension, the motor stands on a small plate (no photo), which has the ability to move along the platform and fix on it. As a rule, professionals who have chosen this job or hobby make their own rigging. different kind. I bought ready-made and inexpensive for the first time - five incisors for 350 rubles. Quite a lot of souvenirs were carved on this machine, which were sold to friends and acquaintances - salt shakers, caskets, simple and segment turning vases (from several types of wood in one product), cups, large decorative plates on the wall, rosettes, etc. This is in the following articles.

For processing wooden products cylindrical or conical shape will need a lathe. Experienced home craftsmen prefer not to buy expensive factory equipment, but make their own analogue. Wherein homemade construction will have similar technical and operational characteristics.

Functionality of a wood lathe

The design of a homemade wood lathe can be extremely simple. But in order to obtain the desired result, it is necessary to understand in detail its specifics and application features.

To perform a minimum set of operations, the equipment diagram should include a frame, two types of headstocks (rear and front), an electric drive, a speed control unit, driven and leading clamps. For precise machining, an emphasis is needed for cutters of various configurations. In order to perform complex work, components must be provided to shift the workpiece relative to the center of the axis of rotation.

General instructions for operating a homemade wood lathe made by yourself.

1. Workpiece installation. It is carried out using fasteners on the drive spindle and the tailstock quill.
2. The choice of the optimal number of revolutions.
3. Processing a wooden workpiece with cutters.
4. Periodically check the actual dimensions of the parts until the desired shape is achieved.

In practice, this type of equipment requires a lot of experience. One awkward movement is enough to ruin a wooden blank.

To reduce the complexity of manufacturing, you can make a frame with your own hands, using this part from old equipment.

Wood lathe: example #1

The best option for manufacturing a reliable design is to apply an integrated approach to each piece of equipment. First of all, this concerns the frame, since not only stability, but also the operation of other components depends on it.

The base is made of thick-walled steel profile. For reliability, it consists of two supports on which the bed is installed. The elements are connected through grooves. Separately, do-it-yourself support platforms for the front and rear headstock of a wood lathe are made.

List of components for a homemade design:

• power unit. The best option is to install an electric motor from washing machine or pump;
• front grandma. It is best to purchase a factory spindle with three or four pins. This will allow you to shift the workpiece relative to the axis of rotation;
• back grandma. Experts recommend installing a head from a powerful drill;
• pulley. It will connect the shafts of the electric motor and the headstock;
• support table for incisors. The configuration is chosen from personal considerations. The main condition is the convenience of further operation.

The disadvantage of this design is the complexity of changing the number of revolutions. To do this, you need to make additional pulleys of various diameters with your own hands. As an alternative, consider installing finished construction belt drive that adapts to specific model homemade lathe for wood, made by hand.

To work on machines of this type, it is recommended to purchase ready-made cutters. If you have the opportunity and the appropriate equipment, you can do it yourself. But for this, workpieces made of special tool steel should be used.

The choice of the optimal shaft speed depends on the size of the workpiece and the type of wood. For the calculation, it is recommended to use the standard dependency graphs of these parameters. The rotation speed can vary from 800 to 3000 rpm.

Wood lathe from a drill: example No. 2

An alternative is to manufacture using a drill. This will be the best way to make a trial design with a little DIY practice.

It should be noted that such an installation is designed for processing small products. The frame can be made from wooden beams. The function of the reverse headstock can be performed by a structure consisting of a support bearing and a shaft mounted on it. To fix the workpiece, you will need the appropriate nozzle for the drill.

Flaws:

• low degree of reliability;
• inability to process large workpieces;
• there is a high probability of a milling error.

But this scheme can be used as the basis for making more advanced wood lathes with your own hands. The main thing is to determine the required technical and operational qualities.

A specialized wood lathe makes it possible to obtain various products and their copies from wood, provided that a copier is available. A woodworking lathe is lighter than a metalworking lathe and also uses less powerful electric motors. If we are talking about industrial applications, then CNC models are relevant here, and the faceplate serves as a workpiece clamp.

All machines on the market can be divided into three groups.

1. Industrial. These are mainly CNC models, the weight of which is about 100-200 kg on average. The power of the used electric motors is 1 kW. Distinctive features- this is increased productivity, wide functionality and the ability to put production on stream. Retainer - faceplate or headstock.
2. Semi-professional or designed for small production. The weight of the units varies from 40 to 100 kg. Power ranges from 500 to 900 kW. Specifications allow you to use a semi-professional type woodworking machine for a small production or workshop.
3. Household. They are desktop. A similar woodworking machine weighs no more than 40 kg. The bulk of such units usually weighs 20-25 kg. Differ in compactness, mobility, but not productivity. They serve only to obtain single products, although they can be equipped with a CNC module.

Depending on the functionality, turning units can be:

• Combined. Their specialization is the performance of a wide range of operations on a single machine. At the same time, the price of such machines is high, and their processing quality does not always correspond to the expectations and invested funds;
• Specialized. Specialized machines allow you to make various crafts, wood-based products, working according to certain limited patterns.

It is important to note that specialized devices are divided into three subtypes:

1. Turning and milling. With their help, you can make, process and bore grooves.
2. Turning screw. Such a woodworking type of specialized machine is used to work with cone-shaped products, threading.
3. CNC. Multifunctional devices that perform a whole cycle of woodworking operations. An important feature of the CNC module is that it automatically performs all the work. Operator involvement is minimal. Its task is to set the desired program from the CNC list.

At the same time, any woodworking unit is capable of:

• crop;
• Turn;
• Drill;
• Make grooves;
• Cut thread;
• Make holes;
• Turn the ends;
• Sanding;
• Make openings.

Specifications

Many craftsmen make a wood lathe with their own hands, while others prefer to purchase finished devices. When there are such models on the market as STD 120m, Corvette 74, STD 1000, Holzstar db1100, no chisels or planers are needed.

Experts advise focusing on the following parameters.

1. Motor power. Electric motors determine the processing capabilities of the machine, but at the same time affect energy consumption. Industrial models use engines with a power of 1-2 kW. And for domestic needs choose 300-500 watts.
2. Workpiece sizes. Here you should pay attention to the center-to-center distances and to the machine bed.
3. Spindle head rotation speed. This is the main working tool capable of rotating at a frequency of 400 to 35,000 revolutions per minute. The quality of processing products directly depends on this parameter.
4. manufacturer and warranty. Many experts recommend choosing brands like Corvette, STD and Holzstar.

The choice on the presented versions of devices is not limited, but they are well-deservedly popular.

Design features

Let's study general principle design of such equipment.

1. The basis is the bed, the quality of which determines the accuracy of woodworking and the stability of the turning equipment itself. All elements and mechanisms are located directly on the frame. The best option the manufacture of the bed - cast iron and solid casting.
2. Workpieces are mounted in driving chucks, which are located on a rotating spindle. A faceplate or tailstock with a rear chuck allows you to fix the product from two sides at once.
3. Depending on the length of the cutter, the thrust bearing moves. The cutter partially rests on it during the processing of workpieces.
4. Workpieces can be fixed in two ways. For the first, the centers of two cartridges are used, and for the second, a faceplate. If you prefer to make yourself a homemade wood lathe, you will need a faceplate when turning the ends. The peculiarity is that the faceplate provides for fastening products with bolts, and not with points. The faceplate is preferable because it fixes the product more securely.
5. The most important design difference turning units for processing metal and wood in that the woodworking option provides for the manual supply of the cutter to the product.

Popular Models

Working on a wood lathe is a fairly common event in home workshops and industries. If you need a unit for personal purposes, drawings, photo and video instructions will allow you to make an excellent unit with your own hands.

Or pick up the chisels and get to work. Chisels are an outdated alternative to woodworking machines. So chisels, planers and others hand tools will not allow you to achieve the same result as automated chisels, that is, machines. With CNC they will be or without a CNC module, you decide.

The list of popular models includes such modern "chisels":

• Corvette 74;
• STD 1000;
• STD 120m;
• Holzstar db1100.

Let's consider them separately.

1. The Corvette 74 is a 550W floor standing unit. The processing diameter and width are 300 and 845 mm, respectively. Corvette 74 weighs 85 kg. The range of spindle speeds on the Corvette 74 machine is from 500 to 2000 rpm. The current cost is 30 thousand rubles.
2. STD 1000. Drive unit 22.9 kg. The maximum processing diameter of the model is 350 mm. The power of the unit is 400 W, and the rotational speed is from 810 to 2480 rpm. The price of STD 1000 is about 11 thousand rubles.
3. STD 120m weighs 100 kg and runs on 380 V. Power is 0.4 kW. The machining diameter is up to 190 mm, and the spindle speed STD 120m is from 1100 to 2150 rpm. The price is about 45 thousand rubles.
4. The Holzstar db1100 is a 92kg German machine with 10 speeds and a maximum working diameter of 358mm. The unit is powered by a 220 V network. Estimated price is 55-60 thousand rubles.

Do you need a CNC model, a heavy-duty faceplate, and a wide range of adjustments if you're going to be doing regular small crafts? No. CNC and faceplate are the prerogative of modern, powerful devices with high functionality. If you want to make ordinary crafts, you can try to assemble the machine yourself.

If large-scale production is planned, work with large products, the faceplate as a latch will become indispensable, and the CNC module will simplify the work.