Any machine shop could make up an adapter for a salvaged motor from scratch. You may be able to start with a shaft adapter from McmasterCarr.
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Looking for input from those mechanical/engineering minds
- Thread starter Jim Grieco
- Start date
You don’t need a powered solution at all. Instead, glue a portion of a wide sanding belt to a flat substrate to make a sanding slab, then turn your partial vessel upside-down and move it around by hand. A few swipes will even out high spots quickly.
Tim
Tim
I've done that already and not happy with the results.
Think vertical lathe. Build a potters wheel. Small motor to keep weight down, pulleys to step speed down, and a shaft that will accept a chuck.
Or find a cheap used lathe and pull the headstock to create the potters wheel.
Or find a cheap used lathe and pull the headstock to create the potters wheel.
HE DOESN'T WANT A LATHE!
It’s no longer a lathe when just the headstock is used and oriented vertically. It’s a potters wheel.HE DOESN'T WANT A LATHE!
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Then put a circular platen on a vertical-shaft gear motor similar to my sharpening machine shown here:
Tim
An actual potter's wheel might work nicely - they are almost always variable speed and should be enough torque. A pro potter friend uses multiple wheels. Might find an inexpensive on on Facebook, etc or from a retiring potter or potter heir. It should be easy to mount any kind of a spindle adapter or even a simple threaded rod to hold the chuck.
The problem with a repurposed potter's wheel might be access to the work since the wheels often have wide, round trays. But with the motor and speed control it should be trivial to adapt it to provide clearance for any sanding need.
JKJ
The problem with a repurposed potter's wheel might be access to the work since the wheels often have wide, round trays. But with the motor and speed control it should be trivial to adapt it to provide clearance for any sanding need.
JKJ
Howdy Jim, An interesting dilemma. I know you said you do not have room for another lathe but what about locating a used small mini lathe and removing the headstock? The headstock could be mounted on a bench or a small platform similar to Paul's great idea above. Rotisserie motors pop into my mind (for assembling a finishing station) but they usually go much slower than the 250 rpm you would like. Best of luck!
I would say skip the motor drive and the sandpaper.
Mount a shaft with the 1-1/4" adaptor on bearings and put a large handwheel on the outboard end.
Make a flat bed out of something like MDF add an adjustable stop at 90 degrees to the spindle.
Mount a router on a fixture like is used often used to detail turnings (John Lucas could provide photos).
The cut would not need to be very deep and if not deep enough it should be evident how much more is necessary and not more than about .020".
Your left hand on the handwheel and your right-hand moving the router against the stop guide.
The 2 most important considerations are no runout on the spindle and the 90 degree stop guide.
Mount a shaft with the 1-1/4" adaptor on bearings and put a large handwheel on the outboard end.
Make a flat bed out of something like MDF add an adjustable stop at 90 degrees to the spindle.
Mount a router on a fixture like is used often used to detail turnings (John Lucas could provide photos).
The cut would not need to be very deep and if not deep enough it should be evident how much more is necessary and not more than about .020".
Your left hand on the handwheel and your right-hand moving the router against the stop guide.
The 2 most important considerations are no runout on the spindle and the 90 degree stop guide.
I just sketched it up, pencil and ruler technology and had a local machine shop make it.
I have an old Jet 1221 collecting dust, so I thought I'd give this a try since it is small. I can't even find a machine shop close to me that is still open. Everyone closed down!
Did your handwheel have an internal reversed thread or just slide on?
I just looked at an old Jet 1221 that’s sitting in my garage. It looks like it would be possible to unbolt the headstock and turn it around. Don’t know if the pulleys would line up or if that would be easy to fix. Also would have to reverse one set of pulleys to maintain the ability to change speeds.
Yea I saw that also. However the holes for the shaft / spindle are different sizes for the handwheel and spindle.
I stopped looking after that.
Figure out how to get the handwheel off and go from there. Most likely it is threaded or is secured with a grubscrew bearing on a key.
It does have an internal reverse thread and a couple of grub screws to lock it on. It actually sets the shaft endplay on this lathe too - it's a delta lathe.
I forgot to have him drill a center hole, which is annoying - so I can't tap tapers out of the headstock, doh. I'm not sure what he made it from but it's harder than any drill bits I have.
I already have it apart which is why I know the holes are different
You should have enough info to generate a drawing for a machine shop to make a faceplate.
Seems like you should be able at this point to generate a drawing a machine shop could use to make a spindle adapter for your faceplate.
Not sure what holes you are talking about. Once you turn the headstock around the spindle is on the outboard side. Just mount your faceplate (with a grub screw!) and Bob’s your uncle.
This thread is a bit confusing. You want a device to spin your pieces in order to sand the tops of the segmented open rings as you stack them up, but you don't want a lathe (for lack of space?). Now you want to mount your faceplate on the outboard side of a mini lathe (outboard because your forms are >12"?). How about this; cut the ways off your mini lathe with a torch or grinder and spin your work inboard, with a spindle adapter if necessary.
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Thought you were talking about just turning the spindle around.
Not too worried about adjusting speed as long as I can get around 250 rpms
If you are a member of a woodturning club you might ask at a meeting. I know several who, like me, turn wood who also a small machine shop, lathe and mill. Working with wood and metals are both addictive and useful past-times. It does take up a bit of extra space but perhaps less than one might think.
I put mine along a wall in the back room along with some nearly free used kitchen cabinets. Keep metal stock on hand for when the mood, er, the need strikes.
JKJ
Uncle Bob says hi!
Haven't done the motor and pulleys but it should be no problem.
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You really did want a lathe.
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Looking back at the original post, Jim said he didn't want another lathe. The spare he had was what he wanted.
Doesn’t make sense to me either.Looking back at the original post, Jim said he didn't want another lathe. The spare he had was what he wanted.
Tim
The better alternative would be to look into the motor and see if it could be reversed or another possibility would be to reverse mechanically by crossing the belt.
It would if you actually read my post and comments
Wrong againLooking back at the original post, Jim said he didn't want another lathe. The spare he had was what he wanted.
I may well be wrong, and if you have come up with a solution that is doubleplusgood. I thought I understood that you have an " old Jet 1221 collecting dust" and that you are reversing the headstock in order to spin your workpiece outboard. Apologies for misunderstanding.
Maybe turn this idea on its head? Instead of trying to mount the vessel on something resembling a headstock, why not build a rotating platter (like a phonograph) that is covered with sandpaper, and you put the vessel face down on it to flatten the ring? A thick disc of glued up MDF wouldn't flex, and you could turn a wooden pulley to glue to the bottom of it to belt drive it. An old washing machine or dryer motor would supply enough power and you could control the speed either by using appropriately sized pulleys or with a motor speed controller.
An earlier reply (that I missed) suggested a potter's wheel - that's essentially what I mean.
An earlier reply (that I missed) suggested a potter's wheel - that's essentially what I mean.
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