Building a New Lathe

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vtsteam:
Hi John, glad to get back to work on it here, too! I hope to do a lot more machine work and casting this winter, with several projects in mind. :beer:

Hi Tom, I'm surprised at how well it works so far and how compact it is. My main question is, is it rated at 4 amps or 400 watts (various sellers) and is that a max permissible draw, or a continuous deliverable? And if it is 400 watts is that at full output only or at low speeds as well?

What will you use yours for? :wave:

tom osselton:
I want to build a 2x72 belt sander and have a spare 90v motor from my Craftex 601 milling machine. I belive I read that with these controllers it is recommended that the speed knob is turned down for starting to reduce the strain on it.

vtsteam:
Hi Tom, looking forward to seeing that project when you start.

:proj:

My experience with this controller is, yes, with a high inertia load like my 8" steel faceplate plus 5" 3 jaw chuck you need to start with the speed dial all the way down, then hit the power switch, and slowly speed the motor up.

I did want to see what would happen otherwise, so I intentionally flipped the power switch ON with the dial already rotated to about 1/4 speed. As expected, the controller automatically cut off as a result of the momentary power surge. But surprisingly, a second later it again started the motor slowly, and then ramped up to the 1./4 speed setting. This happened automatically.

vtsteam:
I decided to cast a copy of my Craftsman Lathe's handwheel for the new lathe's tailstock. The original is a wheel and handle construction with the handle press fitted into the wheel. The wheel is diecast zinc alloy, and so is properly drafted all around for sand casting a copy.

I managed to remove the handle -- the press fit was light enough. To use these pieces as patterns, I closed all holes on the wheel with circles of packing tape, and I cut a long length of plastic tubing to cover the short stub-end of the handle. This will add a machining allowance and extra stock length to grip in the lathe when turning down the stub diameter before parting off.

The modified handwheel patterns:

vtsteam:
A lot of prep for sand, furnace, tools, crucible etc. after 2 years of disuse in an open shed roof area, but I got it done before evening: dried out the furnace walls with gentle bake, added a fire clay and sand liner to my cast iron crucible, and baked it hard, along with the furnace walls. I conditioned the greensand with water and a lot of cutting. Finally started in molding.

I am definitely rusty on that subject, so I went slowly! :scratch: This hand wheel required both coping down and a false cope.

Here is what that looked like:

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