# Can you convert a wood lathe to a metal lathe???? Yes, sort of



## Russianwolf

So the rage is to go buy a metal lathe with all the trimmin's and that's fine for some, but others are more limited in shop space, or don't have the funds to lay out another $500+ so what to do?

After speaking with a couple of the metal lathe guys they even told me that a metal lathe wasn't all that benefitial. threading on a metal lathe isn't as easy as it seems, and using taps and dies is just easier and less expensive if that's what you are after. Now that wasn't the only reason I was looking for one, but it was part of the equation. My main desire was a tool that I could take off fractions of a mm at a time and consistently get the same results. 

So off I went looking for a solution. Looking at the metal lathes what I wanted was that nice fancy cross slide and tool holder. Okay, those are fairly readily available. I have a nice 16 inch wood lathe, so I just needed to find a way to mount one to the bed. Easy enough? Sure. But I wanted the cross slide to be able to rotate so that I could make tapers easily. Not so easy to find. At first I thought I'd get a cross slide table and mount it on top of a rotary table, but that stack was pushing the capacity of my lathe even before a tool holder was added.

But I wasn't giving up. I decided I'd just go with the cross slide for now, and make the mount hold it in several preset positions to give me the angle I wanted. Then I found this critter. 4-1/2 x 12 Cross Slide Table for Drill Press The CST-501 right in the middle. So I ordered it. When it was delivered before Christmas I was shocked at the size and weight (70 lbs). When I lifted it onto the bed of my lathe and put the tool holder on top I knew it wasn't going to be a simple mount an go. Fortunately, the headstock on my lathe rotates so I devised a plan to put it on the outboard side. 

The photos are a proof of concept. I will eventually make a pair of cabinets to replace the legs of the lathe and allow for more support. But it works. So if you can't afford a metal lathe, make one.


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## KenV

Mike  -- you are about where shade tree machinists were working about 50-75 years ago.   Work process will make a big difference in the precision and repeatability of your outcomes.  

You will likely have some work to assure that your cutting edge is exact dead center on the axis, and the XY axis in both directions is dead on the centerline of the lathe spindle.

Worst case -- you have the makings of a NOVA ornamental lathe attachment for ding ornamental turning.


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## cwolfs69

in reality, you would be better off, and maybe even financially, to go the opposite way. if you purchased a metal lathe, you could do all of the wood work you do now, up to the swing of the lathe of course, plus all of the metal work stuff. and having done it for over 30 years, it is very easy to thread on a metal lathe with just some minimal learning. and there would be things you could do with the wood that are very difficult by hand on teh metal lathe. the method you discuss and are thinking about attempting would be very shaky and unreliable at best and possibly dangerous in the right situations.


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## Paul in OKC

Only other thing that might be an advantage would be to mount it on a pivoting base to have an infinite angle adjustment. But if you have fixed positions, has to be easier to get back to 'zero' that way. I had at one point looked at trying to design a small cross-slide to mount to the bed of the lathe. What's the saying, necessity is the mother of invention!


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## Russianwolf

Paul in OKC said:


> Only other thing that might be an advantage would be to mount it on a pivoting base to have an infinite angle adjustment. But if you have fixed positions, has to be easier to get back to 'zero' that way. I had at one point looked at trying to design a small cross-slide to mount to the bed of the lathe. What's the saying, necessity is the mother of invention!



This one has the rotation built in, so no need for the multiple mounting points I was originally planning.


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## Russianwolf

KenV said:


> Mike  -- you are about where shade tree machinists were working about 50-75 years ago.   Work process will make a big difference in the precision and repeatability of your outcomes.
> 
> You will likely have some work to assure that your cutting edge is exact dead center on the axis, and the XY axis in both directions is dead on the centerline of the lathe spindle.
> 
> Worst case -- you have the makings of a NOVA ornamental lathe attachment for ding ornamental turning.



couple Aluminum shims to get the cutter to the mid point, took about 5 minutes. Along with the riser I made of Padauk (may replace later with a metal version). 


and I have some adjustability in the mount for alignment purposes.


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## Russianwolf

cwolfs69 said:


> the method you discuss and are thinking about attempting would be very shaky and unreliable at best and possibly dangerous in the right situations.



The mount I made is already pretty solid (I sat on it). The cabinets, once made will be like a rock comparatively and replace the lathe legs entirely and provide support under the headstock and cross slide table. The one cabinet will be fairly narrow, maybe 10 inches wide, the one under the headstock/cross slide will be about 30 inches. I need to leave the bed accessible so that I can adjust the other components so it can't be a full cabinet.

I will only be working plastic and soft metals on this. All prototype work for some other non-pen projects. but thought others here would be interested in what they could do for a couple hundred bucks. 

I've also seen similar devices developed for turning large diameter objects with precision (banjo bodies for example)


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## Paul in OKC

Yes it do. I didn't look that close at it. Makes it even better!


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## Russianwolf

I'm going to try to get back in the shop some this week and video it in action. 

I think I want to add some flaps to prevent the swarf from gumming up the innards. I think I'll try a couple kitless pens to start so that I can get the hang of working it. Then its off to the races.


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## Wildman

Was thinking about doing same thing after reading this article at google books. 

Popular Mechanics - Google Books

After looking into compound slide tables and tool holders got confused. Ended up buying a set of thread chasers from Packard Woodworks. I am good at making female and male grooves in wood and plenty of glue makes a tight joint.  Using wrong kind of wood, technique not hard to learn, but need right wood or plastic to get good threads. 

Congratulations and best of luck with new toys, please keep us posted.


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## clapiana

Nice idea I will be checking up on this thread to see how it works out for you thanks for sharing


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