The Lathe- Well, I wanted to build myself a metal lathe but as mentioned circumstances conspired against it- I've got too many projects on the go that I really need a lathe for so I finally broke down & bought one instead :(. This is from Busy Bee Tools, it's their Model B2227, 10"x18". I bought this one instead of their version of the far more common 9"x20" machine because it was cheaper & it has a 1+change" spindle bore as opposed to the 9's 3/4"

Here it is mounted on the bench I built for it. Now the fun begins, no, not that fun- the Other fun :(. These things don't come "ready to run", they come covered in & filled with cosmoline. They need to be diss-assembled, cleaned, oiled & properly "levelled" & adjusted before you can do any kind of worthwhile work with them. Well, after a few night's work it was indeed cleaned & properly lubed. I won't go into what I went through getting the gear box de-gunked but I musta poured a good gallon's worth of solvent through it:(.

O.K, the lathe's ready to do some work so it's time to play, er, um, get to work! Hey! We're makin Chips! :)

My First project :). I have no idea what it is but it sure does look neat!

My second project- Turning Thickwall tubing effortlessly & easily into Thinwall tubing- Damn, this thing is coming in handy already!

O.k. enough play, er, um, work. Here I've built & installed the back shield. In the lathe is a shaft out of my Jeeps's PTO that needs some repairs where a PO had welded on the U-joint couplings. If you could see me in this picture I wouldn't be smiling because I've discovered that the shaft seems to have a .010" eccentricity in it :(.

I may just have to make a whole new one :).

Useful Links

The 9'x20' lathe mailing list on Yahoo
rec.crafts.metalworking The rec.crafts.metalworking FAQ with a link to the group for those of you who have a newsreader handy-

Comments? Questions? Spieling Erorrs?

Please feel free to contact me Here :)

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