Lathe for those on vacation

Do you go into withdrawals when SWMBO drags you out of your shop for two weeks to visit WallyWorld or what ever?

I just stopped in the Akron Harbor Freight store to pick up some tools to facilitate harvesting some pallet wood and saw this for the first time.

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lather could be taken on vacation in your carry-on bag, (but notthe gouge!)

If I didn't already own five lathes in various stages of (dis)repair, I would get one just for Ss&Gs.

First time I've seen a lathe sold in a bubble pack!

ARM ;-)

Reply to
Alan McClure
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Perfect tool for the man disgruntled with the toothpick manufacturers of today. :-)

-- Email evades spam Direct contact through web site

M.J. Orr

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Reply to
M.J. Orr

M.J. Orr wrote: Perfect tool for the man disgruntled with the toothpick manufacturers of today. :-) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Right, M.J., and not much more. The distance between enters would not even accept a pen mandrel. Nice design concept--and so cheap it's tempting just to look at. But they don't mention how much powere it develops. Do you suppose they really mean 18000 RPM? 12v DC motor with an AC adapter. So I guess it runs off your cigarette lighter outlet. You could use it on camping trips, but for what? I've got enough toothpicks.

And the list a steady rest. Really. Do you suppose they meant toolrest?

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

To build a new watch when you drop your old one into the lake, I guess.

Now, if it had a tiny chuck on it, I could see some uses...

Reply to
DJ Delorie

I've heard that the lathe is the only machine tool that can reproduce itself. I fervently hope nobody buys two. The proliferation would be horrible. If anyone does buy them, please consider spaying & neutering.

It's too much for one person, but I'm hoping that M. J., Leo and Lyn will post a collaborative critical review of this new lathe before I consider buying or leasing one. I should wait for the kinks to be worked out, anyway. BTW, I haven't received a H.F. catalog in almost a week and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. So is the postman, not to mention the garbageman. Arch

Fortiter,

Reply to
Arch

A *metal* lathe. Unless you want a wooden lathe ;-)

A friend of mine has a series of books on building your own metalworking tools - from scratch. I mean, clay molds for making parts from molten steel and such. The first book has you build a lathe.

Oh, and all power cords have a hot and a neutral wire. So, in effect, all lathes are neutered already.

Reply to
DJ Delorie

Funny you should mention a wooden lathe.

Several years ago I was at an annual Lions fundraiser flea market and saw an interesting piece of machinery.

The man selling it was the husband of the granddaughter of a retired/ passed away Mechanics (Mechanical Eng. ?) professor at the University of Akron. As the story goes, this professor would begin one of his courses with the statement, "The lathe is the only machine that can reproduce itself." One year, after making this pronouncement, a couple of his students demanded proof. This, I believe was in the early 1930's. So the professor build a metal lathe using only a lathe and hand tools. The resulting lathe, I was told, was on display at the U of A for quite some time, although I haven't verified this. The lathe ended up in the professors basement for years and when his estate was split up/sold off it went to the granddaughter and her husband. I bought it and several boxes of various pieces/parts that are either accessories made for the lathe or unfinished projects. The reason I bought it? It appeals to my sense of the wierd! Although there was some metal used in building this machine, most of it is wood! The bed is wood with two pieces of angle iron as wear surfaces. The drive pully is wood, as is the head stock. The shocker is that the lead screw that drives the tool post saddle is threaded oak. Some day I'll have the time to clean up the rust, find a motor, and get it back into operation. (I hope!) OBTW, I paid $50 dollars for it. ARM

Reply to
Alan McClure

Just as soon as my free one shows up I will be happy to comply Arch...........:-)

-- Email evades spam Direct contact through web site

M.J. Orr

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Reply to
M.J. Orr

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