I've ordered up a Nova DVR 3000 (see my other thread about that as a saga in itself). This lathe certainly seems to cover the power and RPM range of a typical metal lathe, and the DVR technology seems like it would be beneficial to metal turning also. So do folks perform small scale, non-critical tolerance metal operations on their wood lathes now and then? I would be very handy to be able to make the occasional brass or aluminum decoration or bearing part without having to have or hire a machinist's lathe. Any tips about whether this is doable and what's involved? Thanks!
Turning brass or aluminum on pretty much any wood lathe, using regular HSS woodturning tools, is no problem. You just need to go slow. I do quite a bit, mostly brass, for finials and other small items. About 1" dia is the largest I've done.
I've turned 3/4" steel rod on my 1/2 HP Grizzly. However, I have a machinists chuck for it, and an X-Y vise, and I took really light cuts. It still chattered a bit (probably because of the plywood base for the X-Y vise, plus the X-Y vise is for drill presses not metal lathes), but I managed to do what I needed to do.
Sanaka wrote: (clip) Any tips about whether this is doable and what's involved ^^^^^^^^^^^^ It is possible to cut brass and aluminum on a wood lathe. A wood lathe does not have the proper tool post and lead screw for precision control of the tool, so you will not be able to hold tolerances. Adapting a tool post sounds do-able, but the lead screw would require a bunch of gears, which I think is why no one does it.
Sanaka, You can turn metal on a wood lathe and wood on a metal lathe. The big differences are the speed requirements and tool control methods. You can adapt an X-Y table to a wood lathe and put a tool holder on it. Or, on soft metals like copper, brass, aluminum, pewter, etc., you can use high speed steel tools(or carbide) and your standard tool rest to do light cuts. Mostly, you should use small cutter tips in a scraper fashion. ( a 3/4 inch roughing gouge might be asking for disaster.) My dad was an aircraft machinist during WWII, and became a carpenter/cabinet maker after the war was over, so I got to see him use both types of lathes both ways at different times. After all, SO aluminum is not a lot harder than mesquite, and it won't have the tool dulling silicates that mesquite has.
The grand daughter of John Jacob Holtzapffel, a pioneer in regular and ornamental wood lathes and turning books, does some magnificent woodturnings on a metal lathe. The really weird part of it is, she uses the regular X-Y gear driven tool holder to do it. For the life of me, though, I can't recall her first name right now. Guess I need to go to bed; I'll probably remember it in the morning, but someone else will probably already have it posted before then.
Wow, this is all very encouraging. Almost just like wood w/ regular HSS tools for finial/decorative stuff, and I guess now I'll try and learn what a tool post and lead screw are to examine the possibility of adapting such things for more precise parts - could be _really_ helpful. Thanks all!
Decorative brass is easy enough. Use scrapers with the cutting edge just a tad below the centerline and the tool post as close as you can get using slow rpms.
For any other work, just get yourself a little metal bench lathe.
From my experience, for freehand work, gouges and chisels work better than scrapers. A smoother surface, And a lot less chatter. But, try different things and use whatever works for you.
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Dan Boll> Decorative brass is easy enough. Use scrapers with the cutting edge just a tad
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