Show us your lathe! Or your cool turning solutions!

[richard newman]

Here's pix of my Oliver 25C pattern makers lathe. 24" swing, 10' bed, 4 speed direct drive. Maybe could use more speeds, but direct drive is very smooth and quiet. I got it from a bankruptcy auction of a woodworking school in Genoa NY, I think they got it from the Gallery of Machines in Marathon NY, where the Wadkin lathe is for sale.

I was/(might be again) a furniture maker, didn't really need it, but the price was right and I had the space. I can't really turn properly, just get what I need with scraping tools or whatever I can cobble up. Used it for decorative turned areas on furniture parts, some weird vessels (table top objects, and now for banjo making, where it is indispensable. Still intending to learn how to use gouges, but there's always something more important to do.

After I got more adept at metal working, I retrofitted micrometer dials on the cross feed and compound. Lead screws were 4 tpi and 8 tpi, luckily someone gave me dials with 250 and 125 divisions. Not gorgeous, but very functional. I later milled the top of the carriage flat so I could fit a tracing attachment for the cross slide. Used it to make 24" diameter mdf radius dishes for guitar makers.

For banjos, which seem to be my future, I don't need the long bed, could be half the length. The bed just barely fit in the freight elevator when I moved to a smaller shop 3 years ago. Was very tempted to cut the bed down, but couldn't bring myself to do it. BAD KARMA!!!

 

[newtoll]

Nice Lathe rich.
The wadkin is to long most of the time to so i put a sliding mount for the Jones and Shipman drill press on the bed. have yet to take it off for 8 foot turnings.



jack
English machines

 

[simpleminded]

This is a 1992 Levin Micro turn II that I used to make complex parts on before we purchased our SWISS.

 

[stephen thomas]

Is the last picture a part you made, or a tool?

Thanks!
smt

PS, I'd like to encourage photos of hardware made for woodworking applications - musical instrument parts, furniture connectors, ormolu mounts etc, etc related to furniture, millwork and woodworking. So metal working machines working metal for wood projects are welcome. But in general, if you show a cnc or metal lathe, it needs to have sawdust all over it, as opposed to coolant. Or the part has to be as noted, woodworking related. We don't need superfluous shots of vmc's or HBM's etc full of coolant and a comment that says "sometimes I use this for woodworking" IOW, show the work.

Thanks!

 

[crzypete]

Here is my lathe. It is Richards Oliver's slightly smaller brother, The 25A. The A means it has a 16" swing. My lathe is 60" between centers and like Richard I love the smoothness of the direct drive headstock. I am tempted to add a VFD, but haven't gotten around to it as I really don;t turn that much wood. It is a 440v machine that I run through a transformer. A notable accessory is the 24" outboard faceplate which is 3/4" thick plate steel. I do not enjoy lifting it into position!

I have made a few modifications through the years. Notable is the bearing follower that I added to the underside of the carriage. If you look closely you will see that my carriage is offset compared to Richard's and this manifested in it lifting off the ways when when I was trying to turn perfect cylinders. I added the bearing and made it adjustable with an off center turning. Works great!

I also repainted the machine sometime last year. Full write-up on that is here MachineJunkie :: View topic - Oliver 25A lathe

This is just after being painted prior to adding all the tags back on.

as purchased (was worse than it looks)

 

[biffspagnuts]

Nice Lathe rich.
The wadkin is to long most of the time to so i put a sliding mount for the Jones and Shipman drill press on the bed. have yet to take it off for 8 foot turnings.



jack
English machines

Sorry for the offtopic , but is your drill press an avey? I have the top half of what was a much larger one (early 1900s) and it has some similarities and had to ask about your very uncommon press.


Back on topic great idea for a thread! I have a hobbyist lathe that doesn't really belong I guess, but I am always looking for projects for it.

 

[stephen thomas]

It takes about twenty minutes to do a 6" section like this, but I can't figure out any other way to do this.

Doug, I "liberated" this piece from the OP's firewood pile a couple years ago. He does it manually, and it does not take 20 minutes per leg IIRC.
Well, it probably does after the solid ebony twist inlay. Note that the twist accelerates, and that all cross sections, including the ebony inlay added in a machined gain after the rest is machined, are proportional to the major section. It has some dark grain blemishes, a few small glue smears, and some shop rash. But whenever I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself, I turn around and look at that across the office to get some perspective.

Actually, this is the correct orientation. One of the areas of grain discoloration can be seen:

smt

 

[stephen thomas]

Doug-

Glad you saw the pictures before the dropbox got screwy again today. Arghhh! Gotta find a new place to store these. But then that re-breaks all the links in old posts too.

Per your Q I know how to do it (or similar) on my (metal working) planer; or with shop built fixturing on a woodworking shaper or pin router. When the dropbox comes back up, I'll post a picture and description. As far as Richard's piece, it is part of his repertoire and he may comment or not. Scuttlebutt says he's away for a holiday gathering with dance instructor shoes on.

smt

 

[newtoll]

I have to remember that most here seams to be coming to wood working from metal working. Sorry if that not the case and only my perception. I will say that i am a woodworker coming to metal work and i find it slow going. there are many times i wish to just do it free hand with the chisel in hand. the cross slide on my wadkin RS is my only experience with this devise so you will have to excuse my ignorance to its proper use. I have enjoyed having it but i am coming from woodworking so i see when it just to slow over the very simple and skill that a free hand can provide. This may be something that is a common fixture i do not know but i added/made a tool rest for the cross slide so that i could use hand tools and the tool post for metel in the same piece.












Biff the press is Jones And Shipman from England 1932.

jack
English machines

 

[b sco]

This is my Oliver Pattern lathe and some jobs that I have turned on it.

 

[Trboatworks]

jack
English machines

Very nice- what kind of wood is that?

 

[henrya]

Y'all are making me covetous of those pattern maker lathes. What is a reasonable price for those? I'd go for a project that I could bring back to life. Which ones to look for? A five footer would be right at home in my shop.

 

[northernsinger]

Here's mine

owned it since the late 1970's, have it parked since 1998. A Fay & Scott that was previously owned by my family's part owned iron works--it's been in my family since 1952, now sixty-two years.

It's a ten foot bed, only about 6 and half or seven feet are showing here. I had some fun turning on it in the 1980's and nineties. Maybe again sometime.

 

[Barron]

Doug,


An Ornamental Lathe could produce that part easily. Not sure if it could beat the 20 minute time, though.







This is an image I found on the Ornamental Turners' International website. Ornamental Turners International

 

[johnoder]

Here is the CW16 X 102 Monarch pretending its a patternmaking lathe.

 

[rustytool]

1943 Imperial.