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mini metal lathe

by drean on May 4, 2009 Table of Contents License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Mini metal lathe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 1: put the drill in a vise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 2: choosing a disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 3: making it look good and shiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4

http://www.instructables.com/id/mini-metal-lathe/

License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) Intro: Mini metal lathe
This instructable is for making small round parts . Which one would normally make with a lathe. Whith only the use of a drill in a vise and a grinder .

Image Notes 1. made with some washers between two nuts on a threaded rod 2. made with washers on a bolt and an extension nut 3. made from a bolt 4. old center punches converted to pin punches

step 1: put the drill in a vise

My drill has got an aluminium body ,so i can turn the vise quite tight. If you have on with a plastic body be carefull not to break it. Most drills have a button to keep the power on, if yours hasn't you can use a tie-wrap or tape.

http://www.instructables.com/id/mini-metal-lathe/

step 2: choosing a disc

You can use any disk that's availeble for a grinder flap disc,cutting disc ,twisted wire disc or grinding disc.

step 3: making it look good and shiny

for a nice scratchless finish you can use sandpaper.

Related Instructables
100% Homemade Lathe by catwood

Build Your Own (metalworking) Lathe - Part I by corradini

Bench Lathe 3 How to attach a in 1 (Lathe flap disk to a Sander wood lathe. by Grinder/Sharpener) Dr Qui by steliart

Gouge for a Lathe the good and cheap way (Oland Tool) by snotty

Make your own Lathe from other peoples rubbish by bongodrummer

http://www.instructables.com/id/mini-metal-lathe/

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Comments
16 comments Add Comment

YupHio says:
this is great!

Jul 19, 2010. 5:31 PM REPLY

sharlston says:
hey thanks for this i made some mini torpedo like things out of a little bolt ill poat pics soon if you want them

Oct 28, 2009. 12:42 PM REPLY

drean says:
I'd love to see your pics.

Oct 29, 2009. 8:22 AM REPLY

sharlston says:
ok ill have them in a couple of days i had to use my fordless drill though witout a grinder so there not very good

Oct 29, 2009. 11:00 AM REPLY

mothflavour2 says:

Oct 27, 2009. 8:56 PM REPLY for turning metal, I bought a three-jaw chuck (MT1) off ebay for about $50. I used the live center that my mini wood lathe came with. I bought a centre drill and mounted it into a drill chuck adapted onto an MT1. I made the taper using a piece of round steel stock and a file, using a template cut from a piece of sheet aluminum to make measurements as I went along. The lathe is truly a self-replicating self-upgrading machine tool, in the sense that it you can machine parts for it using nothing but the lathe itself. Keep making more parts, and soon enough, you'll have a full-on lathe. Nice work, man :)

Karroo Oakey says:

This is great! Thanks for making me realize that I can make grooved wheels for a pipe bender!

Oct 23, 2009. 8:55 PM REPLY

drean says:
Happy to hear somebody is actually using this idea.

Oct 24, 2009. 7:38 AM REPLY

theRIAA says:
that's pretty cool. I assume the grinder has to be on?

May 8, 2009. 2:51 PM REPLY

drean says:
i've never tried it being off.

Oct 4, 2009. 1:47 PM REPLY

rimar2000 says:
Here it is mine: http://www.instructables.com/id/Torno-del-pobre-poor-man-lathe/

Aug 2, 2009. 2:50 PM REPLY

drean says:
Great job .

Aug 3, 2009. 3:31 AM REPLY

berky93 says:

May 8, 2009. 8:36 PM REPLY thats neat. I'll have to try this. I dont have a vice, though. maybe theres a way I can use some of those steel with the holes in it to bolt down my drill? anyway its cool. and theRIAA: you shouldnt need to have the grinder on because the drill is spinning the piece. you dont need mechanical tools with real lathes

ironsmiter says:

May 10, 2009. 4:03 AM REPLY As the author says(in his comment) it takes a LONG time to remove that much metal with sand paper. on a "real lathe" the rotational speeds are gonna be MUCH higher, and you have mechanical advantage to remove material. A somewhat safer (saner?) method is to substitute a hand file for the grinder w/flapdisc. It may take a little longer, but not much, you have more control, and there's only ONE powertool revolving at high speeds without a safety. May 8, 2009. 11:02 PM REPLY if you're not tooling the steel though, the abrasive can leave streaks in your work - so power tool plus power tool can be helpful - like using the work piece in a cordless drill while shaping it with a bench grinder.

frollard says:

http://www.instructables.com/id/mini-metal-lathe/

drean says:

May 8, 2009. 11:01 PM REPLY For fast removal of metal i allways have the grinder on , for instance the piece with the washers on it . It would take forever with only sandpaper .

microman171 says:

May 8, 2009. 4:30 PM REPLY It makes it work better yes. I made some nice coil gun bullets with this idea. They were made from some 6mm hardened steel rod, and sharpened to a point. Then I polished them up. They looked great!

http://www.instructables.com/id/mini-metal-lathe/