Treadle Lathe

[Jeff Wittrock]

Hello All,

I am becoming interested in making a treadle lathe. I am gathering some on line information from a number of sources to get some idea of what is involved.

I am just wondering if any of you have made your own lathe, and if so, if there are some tips you could give. Just looking for some general info in addition to what I may find on line. Maybe if someone has some links that they found useful in building their own, that would be real helpful.

My space is pretty limited, so I'm just wondering how practical it is to build a treadle lathe with a reduced size flywheel (is that the right term?). Like maybe increasing the mass of the flywheel would let me reduce its diameter a bit?

My 7 year old son has an interest in using the lathe, and I would really like to make something my he can use as well (with supervision). My first impression is that a treadle lathe may be safer for him to use than a motorized one, although that may be a bad assumption. Maybe someone can comment on that as well? Making something that we can both use may just be impractical. I can imagine that having to foot power the lathe while learning to hold the tools is more difficult than learning on a motorized lathe (I had a hard time leaning on a motorized one).

This should probably go in the turners forum, but a guess a treadle lathe is a bit Neanderthalish. Human powered anyway.

Thanks,
-Jeff

[Larry Laffer]

There was a magazine article some years back about a guy helping out some poor village in South America. He made them a lathe using bicycle parts. I'll try Google...

Here's something
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...XL._SS500_.jpg

And here's something on it...should be enough to get you going
http://nika.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~c...ssage_id=66773

[harry strasil]

There was a swedish lathe on one of the old Woodwrights shop episodes years ago, that had a large wheel parellel to the ways that looked like it would work rather well, I was going to try to make one at one time. But instead converted my original spring pole lathe to a treadle.

[Bill Houghton]

but I'll offer up this link: http://www.inthewoodshop.org/methods/trlathe.shtml#2.

Years back, I tried making a treadle bench grinder. didn't work, because I didn't pay enough attention to stiffness of the crank and smoothness of the bearings.

[Larry Laffer]

Well, the long arm of coincidence has just reached out and grabbed you. I just got back from the local library, which I rediscovered a few months ago. It has a very good selection of woodworking books, and I've been checking them out five at a time. This week, among my five new books is "Fine Woodworking on Making and Modifying Machines". Taunton Press, 1986

Among the reprinted articles...

-"Treadle Lathe, Build Your Own" by Jim Richey

-"Freewheel Lathe Drive, Bicycle Parts convert muscle power" By Richard Starr
This is the one I remembered and mentioned before.

-"A Shop-Made Bowl Lathe, You can add ways for spindle turning" by
Donald C. Bjorkman.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Thanks to all for the links and information. Very helpful.

I have looked at a few different designs, and the ones I have seen so far are pretty similar.

Harry, The idea of a fly wheel that is parallel to the ways sounds real interesting. I didn't find it on the woodwright's shop web site yet, but their archive doesn't seem to go back too far. I'll keep looking around. I imagine it worked by twisting the drive belt 90 deg.?

Larry "local library, ... good selection of woodworking books, ... "Fine Woodworking on Making and Modifying Machines"".
I wish I had such a local library.

Thanks again.

-Jeff

[Michael Hammers]

Hi,
Don Weber also offers a course in building a pole lathe in Berea Ky.

http://www.handcraftwoodworks.com/classes.html

[TYLER WOOD]

I would do a search on here for Bill Stevner. He built a treadle lathe that will blow your socks off. Check the turner's forum for a post in the sticky's called turnring group members and their lathes. You will fin a picture of him at his lathe. You could ask him for information. Beware going to the turner's area thought, many have gone in, few have come out unscathed. Your other tools will collect dust if you go down that road. Ask Ken Fitzgerald what happens to those who lurk too long in the realm of round!