Sometimes, there is only one way
to determine whether something
you saw on youtube is a good idea.
I spend a lot of time making things. Much of the time, it is fabricating replacement for something broken around the house. Lots of those things are round. The need for a lathe is clear. It’s just that their price tags are a bit on the prohibitive side. And they have quite a large footprint. Youtube to the rescue. The DIY army are always there, just waiting for a problem to solve. Next thing I know, I’m plotting to strap down my hand drill and turn wood.
The learning curve was fairly steep. But, nothing that couldn’t be overcome. I also ended up making a cute little sharpening rig for my chisels. Clamp quality turned out to be important. I found myself also consistently tapping the base of the tail piece in keeping a tight grip on the dead center’s point. It wasn’t just a matter of vibration coming from the drill side. Moreso that softwood dents easily, and the wood around the dead center starts to take impact force and produce a gap. You can see all the hammer marks on the base.
It was graduation to hardwood which led me to the conclusion that this setup is a sure fire way to demolish your hand drill. I produced more than a dozen items using this lathe – that chisel handle is hardwood. And, as I did, I watched the slow but steady breakdown of the bearings and gears of my cheaply mass produced drill. That’s the green one in the background. This picture was taken on blue drill’s first day on the job. He didn’t last 1/2 as long. If you’re going to spend more than 30 minutes out of the year turning material, spend the money, once, on something that will last. This bad boy is on my Xmas list – a metal lathe, coming in (to Uruguay) at well over $2,000. and still worth every cent.