bike gear foot powered lathe

[02blues]

Has anyone made a foot powered lathe using a bike sprocket? I saw Don Webers. Looks pretty cool. I am going to take a hacksaw to an old 10speed and try to make one for an 8 foot lathe. Want to see if I can turn a 7foot bed post for kicks. :icon_scraI'll post it it works. Maybe I can get it done before the klingspor event...? maybe this should be a neander post...?

 

[02blues]

foot powered lathe using bike gear / sproket

Has anyone made a foot powered lathe using a bike sprocket? I saw Don Webers. Looks pretty cool. I am going to take a hacksaw to an old 10speed and try to make one for an 8 foot lathe. Want to see if I can turn a 7foot bed post for kicks. :icon_scraI'll post it it works. Maybe I can get it done before the klingspor event...? My spring pole works fine but I do like the thought of unidirectional turning!:icon_thum

 

[froglips]

Re: foot powered lathe using bike gear / sproket

Cool idea, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Jim

 

[PChristy]

Looking forward to seeing it:icon_thum

 

[nelsone]

Has anyone made a foot powered lathe using a bike sprocket? I saw Don Webers. Looks pretty cool. I am going to take a hacksaw to an old 10speed and try to make one for an 8 foot lathe. Want to see if I can turn a 7foot bed post for kicks. :icon_scraI'll post it it works. Maybe I can get it done before the klingspor event...? maybe this should be a neander post...?

If it works....????? Heck, post if it doesn't work! I want to see the concept! Besides if it doesn't work right off, maybe the brain trust here can help with ideas!

 

[Outa Square]

This sounds like a neat idea. I had to google it to learn more, here is a link to a blog post on popular woodworking that discuss it and has drawings for those that are interested.

http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/Bicycle+Lathe+Plans.aspx

 

[Robert Arrowood]

Sounds like a good challange.It would be cool to see how you build it.Take lots of pics.

 

[02blues]

Thanks guys. I have the Weber article and the diagram. Someone I contacted is going to visit him and is going to send some photos along.
I will probably try to come up with some variation. The spring pole really is fine but want to try the other method for kicks and too have a larger capacity lathe on standby.I will post some pictures if it comes to life.

Anyone know where I can get a hold of untreated 6"x6" stock? Lowe's sells treated for 20$.I want this one to be massive. It will be an excuse to try a few timber framing joints too.

thx.

 

[froglips]

I'm going to guess you don't require kiln dried 6x6.

Cates Sawmill in Hillsborough might just be the answer. He does custom work as well as having a mountain of cutoffs.

He does a rather large buisness in sweet gum railroad ties, which happen to be close to 6x6.

If you want, I can dig up his card when I get home.

Jim

 

[dpanda]

Hey John,
Have you seen this page?
http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/wood-lathe-treadle.html

Or straight to the .pdf:
http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/woodlathe-treadle.pdf

Not bike gear driven, but maybe it will give you some ideas.
Dan

 

[NCPete]

I would encourage not using a fixed gear sprocket, and fastening some sort of flywheel to this contraption.

 

[02blues]

dpanda:

Thanks for the link.
Love those old articles. I like to imaging someone making this in the fifties in the basement. They made it work with little money! Determination. I do want to include a grinding wheel on mine too. Handy and will halp in the fly wheel category.

I agree a fly wheel would be helpfull. I want to read what they made theirs out of.

thanks.
:icon_thum
John

 

[NCPete]

looks like the flywheel is made of poured concrete. pretty nifty idea!

 

[froglips]

No basis in fact, just a random neuron misfire in my mind....

A motorcycle wheel might work as a flywheel. If you got one that took a tube, you could also fill the tube with water, making it easier to transport.

Of course, they didn't have motorcycles in the 18th century :-/

Jim

 

[02blues]

I am thinking about using the bike wheel itself. Maybe remove the tire and use the hub or metal wheel to hold the belt...?
problem solving...:icon_scra

That concrete fly wheel was a cool idea too!

 

[froglips]

Concrete flywheel should go a long way to your wining the "most muscle on one leg" contest next year!

As an aside, in that class, use of a spring pole lathe came up. Adam mentioned that he could work a lot faster as the torque (?) was so much greater than a spinning type of drive. He also mentioned he converted his Jet evil-electric-powered lathe to work on a spring pole.

Lucky for me, I know someone who I can now pester for comparisons

Jim

 

[Gotcha6]

Good luck. You're really gonna hafta gear that thing up to get any speed. I think a standard gearing set will get you to ~12MPH without any excess strain, or about 18 feet per second. If you want to achieve about 600 fps to get a good cut on wood, and with a workpiece diameter of 3", that'd be ~8 - 900 rpm. 600/18=33.3:1 gear ratio from the bike wheel. Of course, YMMV. I'd recommend using either a gear belt or a serpentine belt like today's cars use to minimize friction loss.
Have you thought about using the bicycle wheel as a mounting point for some ballast attached to the spokes to act as a flywheel?
I gotta ask, will this be a 2 man operation, or will the 'cyclist' also be doing the turning?
Oh, and WE GOTTA SEE PICTURES!:icon_thum

 

[dpanda]

One of the concerns I would have on the 8 foot length is the comment the article made about the trendle:

"the treadle, which must be correspondingly lengthened is apt to twist when pedaling is done at the tailstock end."

So if you have an 8 foot bed, you have to be able to pedal over that whole length. If you make an 8 foot trendle, I could see how the trendle could twist and rack.
It's just something to think about.

If you have someone else pedal you wouldn't have to make a long trendle.

Dan

 

[NCPete]

with a 52 tooth big sprocket, and a 13 tooth small, and a cadence of 105 rpm, the turner would achieve a 420 rpm at the spindle. some additional gearing could achieve higher speeds, but adds to the complexity of the construction.