A Small Bench Lat e Made Of Pipe Fittings The most important machine iin use in the modern machine or wood-working shop is the lathe. The uses to which this wonderful machine can be put would be too numerous o describe, but there is hardly a mechanical peration in which the turning lathe does not figur e. For this reason every amateur mechanic and wood-worker who has a workshop, no matter ho small, is anxious to possess a lathe of some sort. A good and substantial homemade lathe, which is suitable for woodturning and light metal work, may be constructed from pipe a d pipe fittings as shown in the accompanying sketch.
Ill: Fig. 1-Details of Lathe The bed of this lathe is made of a piece of 1-in. pipe, about 30 in. long. It can e made longer or shorter, but if it is made much longer, a larger size of pipe should be used. Th headstock is made of two tees, joined by a standard long nipple as shown in Fig. 1. All the j oints should be screwed up tight and then fastened with 3/16-in. pins to keep them from turnin . The ends of the bed are fixed to the base oard by means of elbows, nipples and flanges a ranged as shown. The two bearings in t e headstock are of brass. The spindle hole should be drilled and reamed after they are screwe in place in the tee. The spindle should be of st el and long enough to reach through the earing and pulley and have enough end left for t he center point. The point should extend about 1-1/2 in. out from the collar. The collar can be t rned or shrunk on the spindle as desired. Th end of the spindle should be threaded to receive a chuck. The tailstock is also made of wo tees joined by a nipple. The lower tee should be bored out for a sliding fit on the bed pipe. T he upper one should be tapped with a machine t p for the spindle which is threaded to fit it. The spindle has a handle fitted at one end and has t e other end bored out for the tail stock ce ter. Both the tail stock and the headstock centerpoints should be hardened. A clamp for holdin the tail stock spindle is made of a piece of strap iron, bent and drilled as shown. It is held together by means of a small machine screw and a knurled nut. The tee should have a slot cut in i about one-half its length and it should also have one bead filed away so that the clamp will fit tightly over it.
The hand rest is made from a tapering elbow, a tee and a forging. The forging can be made by a blacksmith at a small expense. Both the lower tees of the handrest and the t ilstock should be provided with screw clamps t hold them in place.
The pulley is made of hardwood pieces, 3/4 or 1 in. thick as desired. It is faste ed to the spindle by means of a screw, as sho n in Fig. 2, or a key can be used as well. Care must be taken to get th tailstock center vertically over the bed, else tap r turning will result. To do this, a straight li e should be scratched on the top of the bed pip , and when the tail stock is set exactly vertical, a corresponding line made on this. This will sa e a great deal of
time and trouble and possibly some errors. Ill: Fig. 4-Chuck The two designs of chucks shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are very easy to make, and will answer for a great variety of work. As the details are clearly sho n and the general dimensions given on the acc mpanying sketches, it should not be a diifficult matter for the young mechanic to construc this machine. -Contributed by W. M. Held, L porte, Indiana.
