pto driven LARGE wood lathe

[mainegoatman]

I just did a a search for wood lathes on this site and nothing came up.

Here's what I'm thinking of building. A wood lathe for making 2 1/2" - 3" round spindles about 3' long for a loft railing and stairway. Nothing fancy, more along the "rustic" look. I have more time than money, I need about 70.

Has anybody built one - got pictures?

 

[forgeblast]

look for a treadle lathe, or foot powered lathe, pole lathe.
Bodger's Ask & Answer • Index page
is a uk site that has a lot of different types of lathes. I would think that you could
Build Your Own Foot-Powered Lathe - Fine Woodworking PDF Cover Page

Build an 1805 Treadle Lathe at Tools for Working Wood
this one may be something that you want to modify

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/w...schwarz-blog/foot-powered-lathe-and-scrollsaw

 

[mainegoatman]

Thanks for the links, I took a quick look and there seems to be some useful info there I could use. I'll read through them when I have some free time.

I'm thinking of connecting a "dog" directly to the pto shaft and using a tapered pin on the other end using some kind of cam lock to hold the wood stock in place. Making a lathe bed frame that attaches to the 3 point hitch or tractor frame to tie the 2 ends together. I like the idea of direct drive because I have a 2 speed pto on my old Kubota L2250 and could vary the speed without having pulleys or belts etc.

This lathe does not have to be pretty, I'll probably use for this one project and dismantle it. The spindles can be rustic (think round fence post rails)

I could use stock 10' long and make 3 at a time.

The reason I posted this on the tractor forum and not a woodworking forum is because I have a couple specific questions concerning using the pto. Would using a cam to apply lateral pressure against the dog attached to the pto shaft cause bad things to happen to the bearing and other components inside the tractor?

Has anybody out there done something like this and how did it work out?

 

[BHD]

I did did a Google search and even on wood lathes of 16 to 20 inch most HP I see is 2 hp, and that is on a jet lath, even the powermatic with a 20" swing is only 2 hp, and is a variable speed motor, Wood Lathes Online | Home of the Wood Lathe and even this monster lath is only 3 hp Serious Wood Lathe - The Wood Turning Heavyweight

personally I think one that would drive a wood lath with a tractor PTO is a fool.

even on a large wood lath one only needs minimal power, (note the foot driven lathe),

I could see possibly a small 2 or 3 hp gas engine with drive reduction,

and I would not do a direct hook up as most likely the PTO shaft is not set up for thrust forces in the way a lath would be set up, and set it up with some type of slip clutch or belt drive that could not transmit the full power of the tractor, some type of weight based belt tightener,

I have a small wood lath and two metal laths one of the metal lathes is a 24 by 7 foot bed and even that only has a 5 hp motor, on it, (yes i know it is old)

building a lath I do not think would be that hard, but I would choose for a different method to power it,

 

[MMagis]

I agree. A used lathe is darn sure cheaper than a prosthetic limb. Bad idea.

 

[deereman75]

I got a fairly big rockwell beaver lathe with cast iron bed, face plate, heavy stand, a box of assorted morse tapered drill bits to put in the tail stock for borring, a chuck new in box with a $150 price tag, all working perfectly, for $60. I used this quite a bit for bowl turning, and it is perfect. It has like a 36 or 48 inch bed, and a 12'' swing, and it only has a 1/2 hp motor on it. A lathe powered by a tractor would be extreamly dangerous, and is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard. Why wood lathes have a fairly small motor is they dont take much power to operate, and if you stick the chistle, it will just stall. If you stick a chistle on a pto powered lathe, something will break or the chistle will go flying, and you could be badly hurt or killed. If you needed to power it with the tractor, buy a used wood lathe on craigs list, preferbly a rockwell, beaver, powermatic, or delta, and get an old one (all the machines in my dads shop are vintage deltas, and they are just as good, if not better then new powermatic) run a pto generator, and power the lathe that way.

 

[crash325]

Harbor Freight has a cheep lathe that will do all that you want to do. For about $100 that is less than even building one out out of scrap metal.

 

[deereman75]

Harbor Freight has a cheep lathe that will do all that you want to do. For about $100 that is less than even building one out out of scrap metal.

Just buy a used rockwell/beaver/delta/powermatic. Costs less then harbor freight if your lucky, and is as good a lathe as there is. Read the post above to see how good a deal I got.

 

[vic4news]

As most have already said, bad idea.

I have an old Conover lathe with a 16" swing and can't image running it with anything more than a 1 hp motor.

Vic

 

[mainegoatman]

personally I think one that would drive a wood lath with a tractor PTO is a fool.

Well, OK . Not the first time I've been called a fool . Ask my wife she will happy to give you details.

Thanks for pointing out your safety concerns, point taken. I guess I'll go used lathe shopping.