Drill lathe bodgers advice wanted

[Hammock Hamster]

Morning all and a very merry Christmas to everyone.

Long story short I want to give wood turning a try and have heard tell it is possible to jury rig a pillar drill for this purpose.

I have a cheap and cheerful pillar drill and would like to try this out for myself but was hoping some of the more engineering minded on here could advise on the best way forward.

From my brief research my understanding is that I need to make some sort of pronged device to sit in the drill chuck which holds the wood and a free moving head stock to sit underneath allowing it to rotate freely with the chuck.
A vertical tool rest to run parallel to the wood to support the tools I can clamp to the drill base.

Now my questions are what are my best options for a chuck tool and head stock if I am trying to do this as cheaply as possible and one put together what issues should I be looking out for and any tips that might help me along?

Cheers, Hamster


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gary Elson]

Hi Hamster

Quick question are intending to run the workpiece vertically?
Leaving the pillar drill in its intended position- this sounds very risky

Gary

 

[Trotsky]

Hi Hamster

Quick question are intending to run the workpiece vertically?
Leaving the pillar drill in its intended position- this sounds very risky

Gary

Agreed. Knocking together a pole lathe would be safer and probably less faff.

 

[didicoy]

Or buy a cheap lathe off of eBay, if it's not for you, re-sell the lathe. A good lathe is a safe lathe. Stability and control of function is one thing. Safety is another. I've had 6"x 6" x 40" blanks leave the lathe at speed and continue to climb the wall behind the lathe using its own momentum. Even very small DIY lathes can teach you loads and are great fun. You can always find a small pieces of interesting wood. (No one will miss a branch off of a fruit tree) It's all a matter of scale. I loved green wood turning. Allowing the turnings to dry out after can ruine a piece of work or make it more interesting.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

This was the kind of thing I had in mind, failing that if it isn't the best idea can anyone recommend what I should be looking out for on evilbay?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gary Elson]

Hi
That looks just about as unstable as you can get, the photo is clearly staged and the operator doesn't look like he's ever done any turning by the look of that grip, and I'm struggling to see how they are getting any control over the tool

A better project would be a pole lathe search for bodgers.co.uk or the pole lathe turners and green woodworking association

Or if you want a powered lathe have a look at Axminster tools

Just my opinion

Gary

 

[Stew]

Eugh! Nice idea to utilise one machine for multiple jobs but just no! That would be an extremeyl uncomfy position for you to try do any meaningful work.

I picked my large jet axminster wood lathe up from ebay for £50

 

[Dave Budd]

Get a cheap second hand lathe as suggested. Aside from being awkward to turn with, that is a fast way to kill your drill Press! Far too much strain on the bearings and chuck, none of which are designed to be used like that.

On a side note, vertical lathes are known from ancient Egypt. They were steal lathes and had a helper to provide the power. Apart from that, I don't think I've seen anything than the usual horizontal beds

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Thanks all, now discussing a trade with a very kind member of this parish for a drill lathe with horizontal bed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk