I Built a FOOT POWERED Lathe. (Most requested video.)

How to make a hand tool spring pole lathe. Almost.
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The Minimum Timber Bench plans are 34 pages of full-color, step-by-step instructions in standard and metric measurements. The plans include a full stock list and cut list. Every image is modeled in 3D and each step includes tips and tricks to make your build easier. This bench is designed for beginning woodworkers and power-tool woodworkers who want to get into hand tools. You can build it completely by hand or with a few common machine tools.

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*Cutting*
(Winner of the affordable dovetail-saw shootout.)
(Needs tune-up to work well.)
(Works out of the box)
(My favorite affordable new chisels.)
(I use these to make the DIY specialty planes, but I also like them for general work.)

*Sharpening*

*Marking and Measuring*
(For marking and the built-in awl).
(Excellent, inexpensive marking knife.)

*Drilling*

*Work-Holding*

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0:00 Intro
1:00 The Parts
2:00 Design
4:02 Moving Parts
6:53 Careful Construction
10:00 Spring
11:38 Outro

[RexKrueger]

Just to clarify: there are some really great treadle lathes in the world. The basic idea is sound. But they're much harder to build than a spring pole lathe and some of the shop-made examples I've seen haven't worked well. If you're building your first lathe, the spring pole design is more likely to work on the first try.

[thesweetone]

But ... I just bought a 12-18 1HP DC Rikon Lathe with the optional bed extension. Don't do this to me Rex, not now. 😆

[fritzkraemer]

I build a spring pole lathe just like this 20years ago. I used it alot and its fun. I never missed a moving headstock .
I used it alltime outside and fixed it to the ground so i can do heavy cuts . sometimes its usefull to ad some wight to the legs when you can´t fix it to the ground

[timviering]

Very cool idea, looks kinda portable. You could move it outdoors and not have to cut a limb😅.
Hey Rex, I have been following your videos for a couple of years and really like the information you share with the community. I live in Hartville, so if you ever come to the flea market let me know. I have a lot of antique stores you may want to check out and some you have mentioned in the past. I have been out of work for 2 years and cannot afford to subscribe to your patrion or I definitely would. I hope one day to shake your hand and thank you personally for the encouragement you have given me to get back in the shop.

[slomkaadas]

Very interesting video - Thx Sir!
I learned a lot ❤
Cheers from Poland 🍻

[transmundanium]

When you're taking your lathe apart get a pair of coupling nuts to put over the ends of the points. Keeps you from poking holes in yourself. Voice Of Experience here...

And yeah, pole lathes are fast. I was at the Bodgers Ball last May and competed in the Log 2 Leg race. My time was just shy of 19 minutes to make two chair legs from a log. And I was dead last. The winning time was less than 9 minutes. Yikes.

[fngrusty]

Put a ring on the drill bit. Use a thin one. Watching the ring will help keeping the drill bit level. If the ring starts sliding the bit is either to high or low. The ring should stay in the same place on the drill bit while drilling. Used to install a lot of door knows in a day. The ring keeping the bit leveled really helped with the speed.

[pedro_claro]

Hey Rex!! TYSM for the inspiration and motivation to make mine. To know that a pole lathe is better than continuous motion was the last thing I needed to hear to give me the push. I’ve started it! I’ll be using the style of legs you shared, the takedown style so it doesn’t occupy as much space, and the same screws you showed here. I’m making it more traditional style because I have access to plenty of wood, and I’ll make it closer to Townsend’s version, mostly from a single tree, milled by myself. I’ll also be making it to work standing up, I’ll get more power on the leg’s downstroke. I’m using parts of old tires instead of a pole though - learned I could do this from Advoko Makes. He has tons of brilliant content. He cuts the sidewall of a tire into a continuous rubber strip/strap. Good use for what would otherwise be trash in a landfill.

Ps: check out his clamper. I fixed all the old chisels around the garage that my dad had split open because he didn’t know they had to be used with a wooden mallet instead of a steel hammer. Easier than remaking handles and have withstood a lot of work, and will stay in place till I remake them on my new lathe haha

[joshcommet]

"i let my 2x4s dry in the shop for a few weeks" you are so freeking smart, i just learned the hard way on something similar, i had bought 2 treated posts and used a post hole digger to sink them in the ground, bought the straightest ones home depot had, used my level and made them perfectly vertical and cemented them in, in just like a weeks time they warped so bad and look horrible now. interesting how that works, clearly you know from experience on this as well for you to leave them sit for a few weeks.

[FOCOTB]

That's a really neat design, I've been wanting to try and figure out how to build one myself. I did notice in one of the previous videos that I watched by someone else that built one, was they mentioned to bring the cord from the spring pole directly down through the bed of the lathe and have your pedal attached directly under the large body so that it has more of a straight up and down plane of motion rather than being at an angle like that one is. Don't know if this helps like I said I haven't even built one yet but the concept seems like it would be a good idea for one of the little improvements to the design.

[arthomer]

I’ll be looking for the plans eagerly. I’ve been wanting to build one for years—since seeing the design in FoxFire #2. I’ve started other projects that were beyond my abilities, however, and was waiting for a good plan.

[mcswordfish]

I saw a treadle-lathe for sale on FaceBay the other day and I was mildly tempted by it - having heard they're not as good makes me glad I didn't bother investigating it further.

This one looks like a beast and I'm looking forward to seeing it more

[kevinorr]

I look forward to your next iteration.

[vallodholm]

look forward to the redesign. I would buy the plans!

[brianmoore]

Oh man definitely saving this video and gonna build it! Thanks Rex you the man!!!

[wandererstraining]

Hey, that's a super cool project. A few years ago, I wanted to build one, but didn't have much space in my apartment workshop. I was thinking of building one that I could somehow clamp directly to my workbench, so that I wouldn't have to build legs for it, and to use strong rubber bands tied to the (very solid) shelf above my bench. In the end I didn't have time to get into it, but it would be so much fun!

[glennwilck]

Very cool cant wait to see what you make with it😊

[michaelgreen]

I'm excited to see your later build. This was a fun watch. Its now on my bucket list of fun projects to start building.

[kiyotomiyazaki]

Great video!! Will wait for the plan!! Please!

[cathyavery]

Built one a few months ago myself. I used dual uprights instead of the sapling spring pole. Bungee cord is strung between the uprights and paracord connects to the workpiece and the treadle. I dont have a dedicated spot for the lathe and too many spiders up in the rafters.