Lathe

John the kiwi said:
I am a trade trained and qualified master fitter, turner and machinist.
My advice is that you go to night classes to learn how to use these machines.
Incredibly useful and fun to use, but they are also dangerous to the un-initiated. You will, or should learn techniques that stand you in good stead.
for example as an apprentice one of our tasks was to machine a perfect cube on a centre lathe. +/ - 0.01 mm was the allowable tolerance as I recall. Not an obvious thing to do on a lathe!

Secondly, you can now buy single to 3 phase Variable speed drives at almost reasonable cost.

ABB ACS150-01E-09A8-2 Pn 2,2kW, I2n 9,8A IP20

My BIL bought one through my contract electrician together with 3 phase 2,2 kw motor for his wood working machines. The limitation in NZ is the allowable current draw from single phase. My BIL is happy with the result as he gets more torque /power from motor than possible from an actual single phase and can vary the speed.. (3 phase motors are also a lot cheaper than single phase cos they are so much simpler!)

Have fun.
John
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Good advice, but 'night classes' in useful trade skills barely exist in the UK.
 
doug748 said:
Just a point of information. There are almost no night classes, practically anywhere in the UK. They were closed down over 20 years ago.
Our schools and colleges now generally lie idle in the evenings, most of the population are functionally illiterate when it comes to making things and the pleasure of doing it.


Can't say I do much with my small lathe but it comes in handy, although I also have motor bikes so that helps.

.
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Totally agree about evening classes.
 
thinwater said:
Please suggest uses that recommend such a tool to a sailor, short of overhauling propulsion machinery for which critical parts are no longer available. I'm sure there are followers that are curious.
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I turned a replacement bow roller for my last boat. In general I agree, though, and I use my mill/drill a lot more than my lathe.
 
I've made a few new sheaves for blocks. bushes for a few other blocks. Spacers to customs a sort of 'deck organiser' multi block fitting. Rudder bushes for a dinghy. Parts to re-furb an Elvestrom bailer and stop the mainsheet going through it.
Turned down a few bolts etc to fit things like ratchet blocks.
For sure, sometimes it has been a case of a good excuse to practise with the lathe.
Once you have a lathe, you start hoarding material, then it can be quicker to make something than buy it.

But it can be a hobby in its own right. Collecting and making tools, accessories, fixtures. I made my own gismo for turning spherical parts.

As the Duck says, the mill is more versatile.
 
thinwater said:
I've used lathes and milling machines in my work to make pump and machine parts, and I have both wood and metal lathes in my home shop, but...

... I have not heard in this thread any mention of common boat-related uses. I'm sure I have used a lathe for something over the years, but I can't place what it was or that it was in the last few years. It has to be the least used powertool in the shop. Yes, there are things I could use it for, but nearly always I can accomplish to sufficient precision with a drill press or some other combination. I can think of no up-coming project that calls for a lathe.

Please suggest uses that recommend such a tool to a sailor, short of overhauling propulsion machinery for which critical parts are no longer available. I'm sure there are followers that are curious.
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Whilst I agree that a lathe has few real uses in boat ownership, it misses the point of having hobby lathe In the shed, which is that it is FUN!
Me, I’m just scratching an itch that started aged 15 in metalwork classes at school. A lifetime in a profession that wasn’t engineering didn’t provide enough excuse for owning one, but now the kids have grown up and my time is my own and I’ve stopped giving a shit about excuses, I’m very happy to make rubbish that costs far more than getting someone else to do it.
So I’ll continue to create scrap out of delryn or stainless or brass or whatever, but I’ll go back indoors with a happy face on each time!
 
Charlie Boy said:
Whilst I agree that a lathe has few real uses in boat ownership, it misses the point of having hobby lathe In the shed, which is that it is FUN!
Me, I’m just scratching an itch that started aged 15 in metalwork classes at school. A lifetime in a profession that wasn’t engineering didn’t provide enough excuse for owning one, but now the kids have grown up and my time is my own and I’ve stopped giving a shit about excuses, I’m very happy to make rubbish that costs far more than getting someone else to do it.
So I’ll continue to create scrap out of delryn or stainless or brass or whatever, but I’ll go back indoors with a happy face on each time!
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Thanks for the replys on uses. It was not just for me that I asked.

Some of the these functions can be served with other tools. Drill press, hole saw, fly cutter. Sometimes it takes imagination.

The other thing is Amazon and other quick supply sources. In the US McMaster Carr is amazing--anything in the catalog, including some very odd bushings and rare materials, is available over night for standard shipping. There is very little I can't get overnight, given the scope of manufacturing and production in the US. Often I can order the part faster than I can sorce the materials, even if just by a day.

But yeah, much boat work and shop work is for the fun. To be able to run into the shop and "knock something out" from materials on hand.
----
More and more, the new generation will tell you the answer to everything is 3D printing.
 
thinwater said:
Thanks for the replys on uses. It was not just for me that I asked.

Some of the these functions can be served with other tools. Drill press, hole saw, fly cutter. Sometimes it takes imagination.
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Or you can learn to use a CAD drawing package and just send the files off to be machined. I did that with a new bow roller - trial with thin plywood, drawn up, emailed of to a local firm who cut it out of 10mm stainless and then welded.
 
Gary Fox said:
That's all good, but such things should be subsidised by the state.
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Why - it is unlikely the State would benefit by an individual knowing how to operate a lathe, just the individual concerned. The State doesn't provide subsidised courses in other hobbies, and TBH I wonder why some think the tax payer should fund everything - already too many free loaders in this country IMHO.
 
Rogershaw said:
Are you saying all those with wealth are freeloaders.
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Wealth is not taxed in the same way that income is for one thing. I could also point to the rentier system we have with IP rights etc. etc. I don't usually call them freeloaders but you are correct to use that term.
 
dgadee said:
Wealth is not taxed in the same way that income is for one thing. I could also point to the rentier system we have with IP rights etc. etc. I don't usually call them freeloaders but you are correct to use that term.
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Thread Drift!!!

Drifting on to milling machines would be good. I don't have one of those, just a sturdy (1943, from great uncle) drill press.

I'm also getting motivate to dust off the lathes. I need to invent some projects.
 
thinwater said:
Thread Drift!!!

Drifting on to milling machines would be good. I don't have one of those, just a sturdy (1943, from great uncle) drill press.

I'm also getting motivate to dust off the lathes. I need to invent some projects.
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Indeed.

I have a mill for sale. But very large, heavy and in Donaghadee.
 
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