A 1930's Delta double duty lathe

[Bart Leetch]

With lots of power & variable speed & reverse.

Well its over kill on this small lathe but I have 2 HP with a VFD hooked to it but that's temporary.

I tried it out last night to ruff this blank to round I just turned the speed up till the lathe started to vibrate the eased it back until it smoothed out it worked great & much easier & seemed to take less time.

In time I'll hook a bigger lathe to it. But for now it is better than trying to turn a 11" bowl at 740 RPM's let alone turning the 18 1/2" lazy Susan I just finished for our dining table.

I know I need some suggestions how to restrain the wires going into & out of the VFD. This is the way the motor shop connected it up. I am thinking of a L shaped sheet metal flange below it with holes for regular electrical wire restraints. The motor shop suggested mounting it to an aluminum plate as a heat sink I assume the plate should be spaced out from the wood it is mounted to to allow for air flow. I looked in the owner’s manual & there was no mention of an aluminum plate just clearance recommendations for air flow .
This is where I want to mount it until I get another lathe it is up out of the way & I can mount a piece of material on the left exposed side to protect it & still leave it open to air circulation.

I am thinking of building a bowl lathe or purchasing a Nova 16/24 or a Vega 2413B. I had this motor set up with both the 56 frame & the C frame so I can purchase or build what I want.

I need thoughts on whether I need a morse taper in the head for a bowl lathe? I have seen several shop built bowl lathes with no morse taper.

I still will have a Jet 1014 that & I can get the extension to turn spindles.

I most generally use a face plate to start my bowl turning starting with the bottom & a tenon then onto the chuck. I checked I can get a spindle made for about $100 with the 1 1/4 x 8 TPI & the other end turned to mount my pulley including key way, & then using flange bearings build my own head & a heavy duty bed from rail road iron, as in the pic attached. You can read about it here. http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot473.shtml I can get some 90# rail from a friend of mine. 90# for every 3' of rail. I am looking to make a 24" swing lathe What about ideas for a removable tail-stock that will be the right height & slide on & off the ways & clamp down properly to assist ruffing out. More later.

 

[Russ Fairfield]

Old iron can be good, especially when it has a modern motor.

As a sfaety issue, I am concerned about that electrical strip box covered with sawdust in the 2nd photo.

 

[Bart Leetch]

Old iron can be good, especially when it has a modern motor.

As a safety issue, I am concerned about that electrical strip box covered with sawdust in the 2nd photo.

Never really thought about it Russ it's never been a problem. Maybe I should move it under the bench top or to the other end.

 

[john lucas]

Bart Does that lathe have sheet metal ways instead of cast iron? If it does I have one just like it. I bought it this summer for $25. It had one slight problem with the tailstock that I was able to repair. It runs really smooth and the motor that came with it is so quiet and smooth I thought it was broken when I plugged it up.
I haven't mounted the motor yet. I think I'm going to build a simple wooden stand and may add a jack shaft for more speeds. Then I'll sell it to some young kid who might want to get into turning for a really cheap price. I also have an unopened set of craftsman high carbon steel tools that I can let go with it.

 

[Richard Baker]

As a sfaety issue, I am concerned about that electrical strip box covered with sawdust in the 2nd photo.

That bothered me too, and the exposed pulleys and belt of course. Easy enough to make a simple guard.

Bart, sorry that I have no good suggestions about the wires, but would like to know your source for the link belt as I also need one that will handle 2 hp.

 

[Bart Leetch]

Yes John it a steel bed with the bearings packed in high temp wheel bearing lube, no more oil. Works great. Even better now with the VFD & motor.

Texian I probably got it at Grizzly I have 3 of them purchased at different times. I didn't know they were HP rated because I don't have the old packaging, it seems to work OK. I'm not really pushing it very hard.

 

[Richard Baker]

Thanks Bart.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Good work, Bart. I think that you need to install some strain reliefs on the wires coming in and out of the controller. Also, I think that a small piece of quarter inch thick aluminum plate would be better than the plywood. Don't forget to ground the piece of aluminum to the green wire on the power cord.

Belt guard? Who needs them anyway? If it catches a finger, it will only make a half circle before it kicks it out on the other side. Just be careful which finger it is -- you would not want to be giving everybody the single finger salute.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I just thought that the aluminum plate sounded like a good idea from the standpoint of electrical safety.

There are a variety of electrical strain reliefs that you could use. I presume that your controller has standard size electrical knockout holes. If so, there are compression type clamps with rubber inserts for gripping the wire. You can find them at Loews and Home Depot. Don't confuse these with the waterproof conduit connectors for use in wet locations. I do not recommend using the common cheap metal clamp used in electrical outlet boxes since they provide no protection against chafing for wiring that moves.

If you can't find anything else, the clamps pictured below would be the thing to use. If you use that type of clamp, it necessary to mount all of this stuff on a grounded metal plate. If there is arcing and it is mounted on wood, you will have a fire hazard.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Here is a picture of the preferred type clamp if your controller has standard conduit half-inch knock out holes.



These can be found at Lowe's.

I have not checked Home Depot.

 

[Bart Leetch]

Sorry Bill it only has holes big enough to put each individual wire through. Could I use these clamps as I mentioned earlier?

 

[Bill Boehme]

I would say that the clamps in post #9 should work just fine. If you are referring to the type shown below, I would avoid it. If you are talking about the two piece nylon clamps that are crimped together that are often used on small appliances and tools, that might be OK if you have a punch than can make a hole with two flats.

DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING:

 

[Mike Brazeau]

we have somethings in common. I started with one of these in 1970 or so. Rockwell Delta Homecraft. Toyed with idea of riser blocks, VFD etc., instead bought a used home built bowl lathe which I sold and is available for sale again, bought a 2436 and never regretted it for a second. Still have the old Delta, but it sits sadly under a pile of stuff in my garage. There is a shot of the bowl lathe at my picturetrail site www.picturetrail.com/mikebrazeau in Tools & Jigs, last photo. It had a non Morse headstock 1 1/4 x 7 TPI bored out. I had a Oneway Stronghold taper reverse threaded to adapt a Oneway vacuum adapter.