I Built a Homemade Mini Metal Lathe from Scrap [ How-to ]

Cost of build about $50 USD I took a shortcut and saved a ton by using a cylinder head from a car, 1L Suzuki engine as my head stock. Tons of info in this video, the only part I really needed to buy for this project was the 4 inch lathe chuck (cost about $50 USD) all other materials were scrap that I had laying around. The lathe works well I cut down some aluminum stock and also bored out a hole in a steel shaft, there could be many improvements done to this lathe to make it work better. I figured a lathe would be handy to have around for my builds maybe for putting bearings onto shafts or making motor couplers. I haven't touched a lathe since high school tech class and so I'm learning as I go, I basically looked at lathes and learned what the parts are and there function.
I built this lathe because I recently discovered mini lathes you can find them on many online sites, sizes and prices very I could probably get one for around $850, right now I can not spare that kind of cash. When I noticed the 4 inch chuck on the mini lathes I than searched them up and ordered one, I basically built the lathe around the chuck. On this build I used some car parts, for the head stock, tail stock and even the cutting tool was an old bolt from a car. The motor was from a 24v lawn mower and the controller I already had for another project, you can buy these controllers for about $20. The 1/4 inch angle iron was free find and the plate steel I've had for many years.
This was a challenging project and I spent way to long on this build, I really don't have the required tools to build a precision machine like a lathe but it does work.
If theirs some interest /views in this lathe project I will make another video on how it can be improved also maybe do some dial gauge tests, to be honest there's a few things that need to be improved to make it work better.
If this channel starts to grow I would be able to invest more into these projects but for now I have to work with what I have. Big Thanks! to my Subscribers 😃 I'm so grateful for your interest in my content.
I have lots of projects planed but I may have to reduce the amount of videos and try and focus on building better and more relevant builds.
Thanks for Watching if you're new to the channel @kurtscottage
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Peace 👍
Sorry I can't leave links for some of the materials I used right now.
I do not recommend building anything in this video or casting aluminum this video is just for entertainment purposes only.
Music in the video from youtube copyright free library:
Engine Fire Silent Partner

If you copy my design please give me a shout out ✌

[Mcdtm]

Any person with negativity towards this needs to post their 100 percent homemade lathe and then we can judge. This one probably wins id bet. Very cool man. Very creative.

[joelalleman]

i've never seen anyone build a headstock out of a cylinder head, that brainstorm was a stroke of genius !!! this is a really great build, thanks for sharing !!!

[raa]

Bro went all mad max on the lathe. Pretty impressive and inspiring not gonna lie.
You can make better parts for the lathe using the lathe itself.

[seanmedic]

this is the way it was done during the depression. GOOD JOB!

[propertypaul]

Love the cylinder head, especially with the valve cover on. Look up "MultiMachine" for using engine blocks. They made concrete bed lathes in WWI for big machining jobs - cheap and fast. The weight makes a difference.

[lawrenwimberly]

You build a crappy lathe... this allows you to make the parts for a better lathe... that allows you to make a good lathe.... the lathe is one of the few tools capable of replicating itself

[GTIFabric]

Cylinder head head stock was brilliant

[mr.makeit]

Great effort of reuse, recycling, and ingenuity.

[someotherdude]

This is a nice way to discover the machining bug. The 'high' you are chasing, the 'smooth cut high', is a great motivator. The last section of this entertaining video you blame the cemented carbide cutters for the bad cutting, but that's not even 1% of the issue; the problem is the flexing of the cross slide assembly. It needs to be as solid as a rock. It's challenging. I can't think of any cast engine component that would give you the sliding action while not flexing, but there must be something out there! What a great video, a great endeavor, good luck!

[neffk]

Using the engine parts is really smart. Delaney did something like that.

[RustyInventions-wzir]

That lathe looks great. Very nice work mister

[andrewbarr]

Looove the head trick! I thought of using an upturned block with the head mating surface bolted down to the ways/frame. Ended up using a couple of big pillow block bearings out of an industrial A/C unit. Another comment mentioned welding the ways and how distortion will drive you crazy - he's right I spent countless hours trying to get mine straight after welding them. Other comments I agree with are that if in doubt, make it heavy. Weight will compensate for a good measure of imprecision. I haven't touched my project for a couple of years, but getting back into it now. Thanks for the inspiration!

[athrunzala]

actually these bearings are more accurate than pillow bearings . . my advice seal the cylinder head very well and fill it with motor oil and that's it !! Also I noticed it is shaking a lot . . better bury the lathe bed into a concrete base using long anchor bols . . you can turn it into an amazing lathe

[ewell]

Just what I was searching for, never occurred to me to use a cylinder head and cam, it Works !!!

[donotwantahandle]

I guess anything with bearings would be a candidate for a head lathe! Even buying two sturdy ones would be a start.

[Tawheed_]

I had to click on the video to tell you that you were the first one to use a cylinder head. Congrats man!

[DolezalPetr]

that is pretty good not gonna lie, nice project

[zachariahmiddleton]

Love the cylinder head/headstock idea. I think you could really develop this into a project that catches on like the Gingery lathe with a little more refining.

[ebrahiemmurphy]

Nice job, I'm quite impressed with the results you got. Make your own chop-saw, Made In Poland, started out with basic tools showing us how to make stuff, From what I see you heading for success. Keep up the good work.

[charlesstaton]

Man, this takes the gold in the "improvised machine tools" category. Very clever using the head as a headstock. I suspect that it, like babbitt poured bearings, will be more accurate than pillow block bearings (at least for a while). I would suggest you plug any holes in that head and fill with oil so the cam lobes splash it around. Really like the head-headstock. On the rest of it though, I think you can make some big improvements without breaking the bank. That steel angle is not accurate and you will only ever be able to make things to approximate and inconsistent dimensions. There are loads of examples on YouTube about how to machine "perfect" flat/straight/parallel lathe ways with primitive tools.