lathes - building a homemade wood lathe

7/28/2019 Lathes - Building a Homemade Wood Lathe

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This article is reprinted, with the permission of the author, by theMusical Instrument Makers Forum

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Building a Woodturning Lathe

by George F. Farrell, DollmakerPage 1
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he woodturning lathe described here and pictured above is the 4th homemade lathe that I will

ave built. The frame should be constructed of hardwood (maple is excellent but expensive). In t

utheastern states of the US, southern yellow pine is an excellent substitute. Pressure treated

mber is usually southern yellow pine, but is not recommended unless it is carefully chosen to b

ear and knot free, quarter-sawn and with no heartwood. The primary reason for choosing

mething else is that when purchased it is usually saturated with water, so if you decide to use i

ould be stored in a warm dry place long enough to dry out. It is the cheapest solution, and the

rying time can be substantially reduced if you use one inch boards. Birch plywood is an expens

ternative but has the advantage of being very stable and already dry, and certainly much easie

e than solid timber of the required size with respect to the mortise and tenon joints.


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he pedestals P1, P2 & P3 in the construction diagram above are all the same physical size. The

nstruction details differ only with the height of the upright and with the brace of P3. The brac

drawn, are made with two 2X6's (or four 1X6's) notched on the faces as shown in detail "A" t

cept the tenon of the feet. The upright for P3 is shorter than the others and has a triangular

ortise (detail "C") formed just under the ways to the brace "d". The upright pieces can then b

ued together. The edges should be planed to true and square with the sides, notched for the wa

the top ("a" in the diagram showing the construction of the frame). The feet are made of two

X6's (or four 1X6's). The foot for P3 has a triangular mortise for the brace as shown in detail "

he triangular mortises of P3 in the upright and its foot are intended to take a brace which will an angle of 45 degrees to the upright and to its foot. All of the feet can be glued up and a tenon

rmed on one end to fit the mortise of the legs. Glue each upright and its foot together making s

e upright and foot are square. Note that the brace of P3 must be inserted during the glue up

rocess (it cannot be left till later). After glue up, bore two 3/8D holes in each joint and drive in a

owel with glue. The brace for the headstock pair P1 & P2 is a 4X4 mounted at a 45 degree angl

nd below the bottom of the ways just as for P3. It is important that this brace and the one for P

e aligned even if it becomes necessary to make this brace over long so that the excess can be cut

ter. The braces will support a 2X4 running from P1 & P2 to P3 to provide longitudinal suppor

nd which will also double as a support for a hinged motor mount. Another longitudinal membe

lso a 2X4) should be mounted on top of the feet immediately behind the uprights. When the glu

as dried, the ways can be cut to length and fitted into the notches at "a". They should be a snug

hey should be lag bolted into place without glue. The second of the two longitudinal members

entioned above should now be lag-bolted in place (also without glue). The longitudinal membe

hich will be the motor mount should be deferred until later.

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George F. Farrell, Dollmaker, 2000, all rights reserved, reprinted by permission.
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his article is reprinted, with the permission of the author, by theMusical Instrument Makers Forum




nce the frame has been assembled, it is time to mount the headstock spindle:

or the headstock spindle I chose a one-foot length of 3/4D cold rolled steel. It was taken to a lo

achine shop and threaded for 1.5 inches along one end to 3/4X16 National Fine. This was cho

ecause a search of the mail order catalogs gave (still does) the following information:

1. Self-centering chucks -- AMT, Woodcraft and Penn State Industries.

2. Headstock drill chuck to take 1/2D drills -- Penn State Ind.3. Face Plates -- AMT, Penn State Ind.

4. Screw chucks -- Penn State Ind.

5. I could not find a commercially made spur drive center. The Luna chuck (Woodcraft an

Penn State Ind.) has a wide range of accessories, one of which is a spur drive center to fit

their chuck. The alternative is having one made by a local machine shop.

6. A 3/4X16 National Fine thread nut will also be required to assist in getting the tools on a

off. This item can be found at local hardware outlets.

7. Pillow blocks for 3/4D -- Woodworker's Supply

he axis of this spindle must be parallel with the ways -- not only vertically but horizontally as

ell. Failure in this respect will cause whatever is turned to come out elliptical instead of round

he mounting tabs of the pillow blocks have slotted holes allowing lateral adjustment. Vertical

djustment can be accomplished with fender washers under the appropriate pillow block. This

orks for a coarse adjustment. Finer adjustment means using a thinner material as a shim. Tin

n material, precut to size and stacked between boards, will allow drilling the mounting holes

ithout tearing. Tin-can metal is about 0.012 inches thick; bear and soda pop cans are about 0.

ches thick; household aluminum foil is about 0.001 inches thick. These should be enough

icknesses of shim to test the patience of even the most persistent and diligent.


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he best way to test and adjust for runout is to mount the pillow blocks using hanger bolts.

anger bolts are threaded on one end like lag bolts and threaded on the other end like machine

olts. When buying the 3/4D cold rolled steel shafting for the headstock spindle, it would be bes

uy an additional 3 foot length of it. When mounted in the pillow blocks in place of the spindle,

ill project out over the ways by about 2 feet. This fact multiplies alignment errors by about 3

aking it easier to find a runout error. A dial indicator set against the side of this extended

indle and run along the ways on a clip that keeps the instrument along the inside of the ways

ve a measure of horizontal runout. Vertical runout is measured with the dial indicator set

gainst the underside of the extended spindle and run along the ways.

nce the headstock spindle is aligned with the ways, it is time to make the tail stock and tool re


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This article is reprinted, with the permission of the author, by theMusical Instrument Makers Forum




aving done this, set the tool rest aside in order to mark the position of and then bore the holes

e tailstock ram. This is done by running the tailstock up to meet the extended headstock spind

arking around it with a pencil and boring a slightly oversized hole ( big enough to give plenty o

earance but too small to let a 3/4X10 NC nut through). Run the extended headstock spindle

rough this hole and mark and bore a hole in the other face of the tailstock. Now make two padches square and 1 inch thick. Bore a 3/4D hole through each pad at its center. This 3/4D hole

ould have just enough clearance on the 3/4X10 threaded of the tailstock ram to support the ra

ithout binding. On one of the pads mortise in a 3/4X10 NC nut. The mortise must be deep enou

at the nut comes flush with the face of the pad. This pad does double duty. It is a keeper for th

ut because the nut is captured between the pad and tailstock vertical face nearest the headstock

oth pads should have holes drilled in all four corners that are slightly oversize for the bolts tha

ill be used to mount the pad. This allows for horizontal and vertical movement of the pad for

rther alignment.

or the tailstock ram I chose a one-foot length of 3/4x10 National Coarse threaded rod. It was ta

a local machine shop to be turned down for a 1-inch length of 1/2D which was then threaded t

2x24. This allows the working end to accept a standard Jacobs-type drill chuck. A ball bearing

ve center is available from AMT which will thread onto this 1/2x24 stub. Three 3/4x10 nuts are

so required as shown above.


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ailstock alignment is done as follows. It assumes that you have a drill chuck that will thread on

e 1/2X24 stub on the tailstock ram. Crank the ram all the way in and center a very short drill t

e center of the headstock spindle by moving the near pad. When good centering is arrived at,

rmly bolt the pad in place. Now pull the tailstock back and crank the ram out as far as it will g

ount a very long drill in the chuck and center it to the center of the headstock spindle by movi

e pad at the crank. It too is then firmly bolted in place. The lathe is now ready to go.

eorge added the following notes to his original article, to go with the two photographs:

There are a few differences between what was written and what was built. The brace

at the tailstock end in the photo on page 1 is a 2X2, because I ran out of the right kind

of materials. Also shown in the photo is a something not mentioned in the directions.

That is a piece of 2X10 running from the foot of one pedestal to the foot of the other

on which there are 2 cement blocks. These are not absolutely necessary but provide alittle more stability. This machine is easy to disassemble into its component parts and
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certainly a lot lighter to move than a cast iron commercial unit.

The photo on this page shows the business part of the machine. Here again there is a

discrepancy between what I built and what I described. The spacer block between the

upright faces of the tailstock was detailed as a rectangular block with rectangular

tenons on each end. What I built was a 3-1/4 inch diameter cylinder with 2 inch

diameter cylindrical tenons on the ends.

nd here's a brief bio from George:

After college I took up the clarinet as an anti-stress therapy, in spite of having been

told that a man of my age (at that time) could never learn it -- I was about 30. I also

got interested in woodworking, also for stress relief. Some time during the 70's I

bought Robinson's "The Amateur Wind Instrument Maker" -- this combined my two

passions. In his Bibliography he mentioned articles written by Peter Tomlin in the

magazine Woodworker (a British magazine). I attempted to make some of Tomlin's

instruments but was frustrated by my lathe, which was very bad. At that time I did

not have the money to "squander" (my wife's term) on non-essentials and so

attempted to make my first woodworking lathe so that I could try making a clarinet (I

actually did learn to play -- more enthusiasm than skill but I did it). Twenty years ago

the internet was not available to search for the kinds of information that I needed, so I

unfortunately spent a lot of time reinventing all sorts of things. I am now fully retired,

and being exceptionally healthy, I can do whatever I want whenever I want -- within

limits (mostly as established by my wife).

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