DIY Drill Powered Lathe

Make your own drill powered lathe!

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Twitter: @oneminworkbench
Drill Used: DeWalt D21008

[trashcan]

Now here's a gentleman that realizes that not everyone is rich. Most videos showing how to make a home made tabletop lathe, involves the use of, "or access to" expensive machines and tools, that most people do not have. Plus this version involves the use of simple wood that is also not hard to find, and is easy to work with in the construction and fabrication of parts. Background music is nice and NOT overbearing and doesn't drown out the host. Thank you for this video sir.

[AaronHahnStudios]

Get this! I told a customer of mine of this upload, AND he said, "I've got some mini lathe tools I've had for years" He went to his shed and GAVE them to me, u gouge, skew chisel and parting tool. I was really blown away. Glad I found your channel or the conversation never would have happened so, thanks again. ;-)

[balrogthane]

I really appreciate the honest and straightforward nature of this video. A couple things didn't work out quite like you expected, and none of that is hidden. Awesome work!

[marsthesecondgenesis]

Your tool rest should be the same height as the turning centre. You tool rest is far too high and may result in your chisel jamming and kick forward away from you. You also need to taper your tool rest so you can lower the chisel. Hope this helps.

[lewispower]

one thing I might add is that the tool rest ideally should be exactly level with the spinning axis of the lathe. I think you'll find you will get even better results if you do that :)

[samuelhorner]

I am in the process of building a banjo. As you probably know, it’s a round instrument. But I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a professional lathe. This video was so helpful. I wish I could like it more than once !!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[dennisjohnson]

Very nice - I’m thinking about making a lathe too and this was a big help. I really like the speed control on the drill and how you minimized wobble in the bearings.

[violetvalentine]

My sister just bought a house next door which belonged to a woodworker, so free lathe! But I learned like 15 new things from this video, thanks!

[Emily_M]

as an apartment-dwelling woodworker, these builds are a great find. And Hazard Frought is having a sale right now lol

[Thefemefatal]

Hey that’s a great idea! 35 dollars in material is a great plan. I used to do a lot of pottery. Thinking of switching to wood working. In meantime I can’t do much but invest look around till I have a whole day to give. This is a great idea.

[DrDobbe]

I see you've already been told about the tool rest. Line it up with the center of the bolts used for the head and tail stock. Or better yet make a slot and and extra piece so you can adjust it. The only other thing I would say is to use four bearings. One on both sides of the head and tailstock. It will eliminate play and make the whole assembly much stronger. Nice work!!!!

[waltbeasley]

Excellent little mini-lathe. I was going to make a few improvement suggestions, but after reading the comments, I realized most of them had been addressed.

[johnbarneswood]

Nice seeing you work through problems. Love that you show and address mistakes.

[sunnydilyte]

Nice diy project. $35 for material is cool but the kind of tools you used are not typical for a small time DIY person like me. Some good ideas for the lathe bench. Thanks for sharing

[craigmonteforte]

Pretty cool little lathe, i liked the “speed control” setup that is a good idea Izzy has lot of them

[juanmigueltorressuner]

Fascinating!
I was searching a drill powered lathe like this one for a long time! Already bought the plans. Man, you really made my day!
Big hug!
Keep working!

[RobMacKendrick]

Awesome build! And so many good refit tips in the comments. Great to see people design and troubleshoot a simple and useful homemade tool.

[Mr.Obiology]

There will always be critics...
That was super cool to watch. Cool design, cool layout, learned some tricks watching. Thank you!

[TonberryV]

That's pretty cool! I would suggest moving from skate bearings to thrust bearings. They're designed to take lateral load so they will have a much greater stability and will improve the longevity of your head and tail stock assemblies.

[migalito]

I just built one and while being different it is essentially the same idea.

I did differ by I did not use an AC drill, rather I used a cordless 18 volt drill that I took the motor out of. The jury is out on whether I am going to scrap the cordless and replace it with a universal motor attached to a speed control. Once I test it further I'll have a clear idea, but it does allow for turning wood, however I think it's too slow even at full speed although torque seems fine and you can't really stall the motor.

For my piece grabber I just chucked a modified spade drill in the drill's chuck. It worked fine for the initial test but Matthias Wandel has some better ideas I expect to eventually borrow.

For anyone thinking about building their own mini wood lathe a drill press is a must and I bought one otherwise aligned holes would not happen.

The hardest part is alignment of Tail and Head. I built into my Tail and Head adjustment capability and this allowed spot on. As far as time to build. I worked on it 7 days for 3 to 4 hours until essentially completed.

As far as chisels I bought the least expensive set Harbor Freight has and was actually impressed by how well made they are.