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Author Topic: Building a treadle lathe....  (Read 11305 times)

Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Building a treadle lathe....
« on: December 14, 2016, 05:20:03 PM »
Just got this treadle and am looking for plans to turn it into a treadle lathe for horn tips/buts and assorted other items.  If you have ideas/pictures/ resources that you think would keep me on the straight an narrow, please respond.

Thanks for your help!!





« Last Edit: January 14, 2020, 03:27:44 AM by rich pierce »
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Offline coopersdad

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2016, 07:27:42 PM »
A treadle lathe is on my long list of stuff to build.   There are quite a few plans available on the net that I've downloaded for someday, most are for building it with wood from the ground up, but I'm sure they'd be helpful.  No idea if they are any good, but there are a lot of similarities, so not a lot of reinventing the wheel.   If you haven't already, a search for "building a treadle lathe" will bring up all kinds of stuff.    One is:    http://www.manytracks.com/lathe/  by Steve Schmeck.   Roy Underhill did an article as well that I copied from somewhere, and there are several You Tube videos by guys who've built them.  I'm really looking forward to progress reports!  Maybe it'll get me motivated....

Mike
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Mike Westcott

Offline Hungry Horse

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2016, 10:35:38 PM »
My old treadle lathe was made out of an old Singer treadle sewing machine base very much like the one you picture. I added a wooden top and mounted a large gear reduction hand crank grinding wheel. I removed the crank and made linkage to drive its gearbox with a push rod, attached directly to the rocker foot. I then removed the grindstone, and put a half inch drill chuck in its place. It worked so well a guy offered me more than I could turn down for it.


   Hungry Horse
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Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2016, 10:59:57 PM »
Quote from: Hungry Horse on December 14, 2016, 10:35:38 PM
My old treadle lathe was made out of an old Singer treadle sewing machine base very much like the one you picture. I added a wooden top and mounted a large gear reduction hand crank grinding wheel. I removed the crank and made linkage to drive its gearbox with a push rod, attached directly to the rocker foot. I then removed the grindstone, and put a half inch drill chuck in its place. It worked so well a guy offered me more than I could turn down for it.


   Hungry Horse

That is sounding like the idea I am coming around to. You used the grinding wheel as the flywheel because of the weight?
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Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others. – William Allen White

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Offline Tim Crosby

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2016, 11:41:24 PM »
 Is that an old Sewing Machine stand?
 
   Tim
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Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2016, 12:58:04 AM »
Yes. It is the bottom of a Singer Sewing machine
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Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others. – William Allen White

Learning is not compulsory...........neither is survival! - W. Edwards Deming

Offline dogcatcher

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2016, 02:13:31 AM »
When I built a treadle lathe I copied the Little Beaver wood lathe.  The Beaver was all wood with 1x2 maple ways, a block of wood for the head stock and another for tailstock.  The Beaver had a 1/2" rod for the headstock, I used a 5/8 inch shaft for the headstock.  This way I could use Shopsmith adapter for chucks and the Shopsmith spur drive.  Adapter http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lathe-Spindle-Adapter-Fits-Shopsmith-5-8-Spindle-to-1-8Tpi-Threaded-Chucks-/222206974391?hash=item33bc9159b7:g:uX0AAOSw-KFXcx-j

The spur drive, expect to pay for a Shopsmith drive, every so often a cheap one will show up on eBay.  I started with a  homemade spur drive my version of the Shopsmith that I made on my drill press.

Using the adapter with a chuck also helps to keep the speed more consistent, the weight of a chuck and centrifugal force helps to keep a more consistent speed.  Even using a simple faceplate makes a difference.   For reenactment originality using the faceplate is okay, but using a chuck is no go.  Wood lathe chucks are a relative new "invention".

For the Singer base, I would keep the length of the lathe pretty short.  Not enough weight there, in my opinion a 2 foot lathe would be max.  With vibration etc., anything big and you might be chasing it around the shop.
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Offline Hungry Horse

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2016, 03:47:48 AM »
Tim;

 I replaced the grindstone with a 10# weight from an old set of barbells. It made a great flywheel, and I was able to bush down the bore of the barbell weight with a couple of set collars from the parts house.

  Hungry Horse
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Offline Acer Saccharum

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2016, 05:44:57 PM »
It's a great idea to turn it into a machine. Know that it will be most useful for moderate to high speeds, but not so for heavy loads. Anything where you need to generate a lot of power, the foot treadle just does not have the leverage.

Polishing spindle, jeweler's lathe (very light cuts), horizontal drill just to name a few.
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Tom Curran's web site : http://monstermachineshop.net
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Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2016, 06:18:47 PM »
I want it to make horn tips and butt plugs mostly...

I like the idea of adding weight to the flywheel  .. I will look at options re wood and metal for head and tail stock etc..  maybe there are parts available online??.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2016, 06:21:47 PM by Dr. Tim-Boone »
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Offline Robert Wolfe

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #10 on: December 16, 2016, 10:38:24 PM »
Go down to the bottom of this page for a couple of pics of an apparently old conversion: http://jointer.oldetoolshop.com/lathes/treadlelathes.html

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Robert Wolfe
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Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2016, 05:34:01 AM »
thats helpfull. hink I will poke around for an old headstock like that.
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De Oppresso Liber
Marietta, GA

Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others. – William Allen White

Learning is not compulsory...........neither is survival! - W. Edwards Deming

Offline Hungry Horse

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2016, 06:40:22 PM »
Tim;

  A cheap cross feed for a drill press was a great addition to mine. I bought it at Habor Freight, and with a little modifying, made it accept metal lathe cutters. It wouldn't do heavy metal work, although the gear reduction does let you do light work.  It was great for working screw heads, and making ramrod tips, and jags. I even used it to finish turn a set of pewter buttons for a regimental coat. I cast the buttons in a soapstone mold I made by grinding a spade bit to the size I wanted, and then chucking the bit in the lathe, and pressing the soapstone into the bit.

    Hungry Horse
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Offline horologist

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #13 on: December 19, 2016, 05:51:27 AM »
I think you will find that the wheel needs a great deal more mass to make a good lathe. The treadle lathes I have used for wood and metal all had fly wheels that were a great deal heavier. The sewing machine requres little torque and needs to be able to be stopped and started quickly, thus the lighter wheel.

This lathe treadle is designed for a watchmakers lathe and weighs 50 lb - 60 lb.



This is the first treadle lathe I ever used. Most modern watchmakers lathes are powered by small motors that scream in your ear and have two speeds, off and too fast. Any attempt to reduce the speed results in a total loss of torque. This treadle lathe was silent with loads of torque at any speed. Sitting on the stool and turning some brass with a graver and T rest was a joy. I must admit it was a lot more work when I tried making some screws on this machine.



Troy

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Boatman53

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Re: Building a treadle lathe....
« Reply #14 on: December 19, 2016, 05:20:52 PM »
I have one of those heavy wheels, never thought it would be for a watchmakers lathe. Thanks.
Jim
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