Industrial lathe required?

[CCEX3]

I hope this consortium of like minded individuals can help me with something. What are some methods to recreate a pedestal like the one in the picture?

I’m a hobbyist who doesn’t have a lathe, and even if I did, I doubt it would be one large enough to turn something that appears to be 24”, or more, on diameter. I’m assuming it’s solid, but then again I can imagine a jig, bandsaw, router and some glue could make something very similar.

At any rate, I appreciate any and all feed back and thank you in advance!

-Corey

 

[Mike Davis]

Too big for my lathe, I imagine Stuart Kent of the North Carolina Furniture School could help you with that. Either a class to help you make it or outright making it for you.

 

[chris_goris]

Ill assume youre talking about the base itself, not the entire pedestal here. I believe this would be best made in 2 seperate parts and glued together after. I have outboard turned a 22" x 3" thick oak platter/bowl on my powermatic 3520B lathe without issue. I believe the outboard too rest will accomodate 36" diameter. The bulbous pedestal could easily be turned between centers on it as well. The other option is that base could be easily made on a CNC and turn the bulb section.

 

[Gotcha6]

I see two issues here:
1. Insufficient swing on most lathes. This could possibly be overcome by judicious application of riser blocks to the head and tailstock. Don't forget to shorten the legs of your lathe table so you'll be working from a 'comfortable height'.
2. Turning speed. A piece of that size would have a sizeable surface speed at the outer diameter even with the largest commercially available lathe on the slowest speed, and even then you probably wouldn't have enough torque to make a significant cut.

Perhaps a router and a tracing jig could help with this. Definitely wouldn't want to do it with a solid blank for fear of splitting - or even exploding. Plus, that's a lot of strain on what is probably a #2 Morse Taper live center........

The other option is to get in touch with one of the guys on YouTube out of Thailand or wherever and let them cut it, but the shipping costs....

 

[bob vaughan]

Assuming the table height of that photo is 30", the diameter of the bulbous column seems closer to 20". The base seems to be 36" in diameter and maybe six inches thick. That's a lot of wood to glue up much less turn. I'd guess about 150 bd. ft. will be needed.

 

[FredP]

my guess is this is made in pieces like this one I did a few years back. the center section is turned (18.5" finish size} and the base and top are done with a router and circle cutter then laminated together. On this one the center is maple staves that were glued up. then I attached a false bottom and top that I used to attach a face plate on one end and a center hole for the live center. Mine was to be painted but the process is the same.

 

[CCEX3]

Ill assume youre talking about the base itself, not the entire pedestal here. I believe this would be best made in 2 seperate parts and glued together after. I have outboard turned a 22" x 3" thick oak platter/bowl on my powermatic 3520B lathe without issue. I believe the outboard too rest will accomodate 36" diameter. The bulbous pedestal could easily be turned between centers on it as well. The other option is that base could be easily made on a CNC and turn the bulb section.

Thanks Chris. I was referring to the bulbous/column portion of the pedestal.

 

[wsrhue]

You can copper the pedestal and preshape/roughout the profile on the staves with a bandsaw prior to glue up. You would then need to hand carve the final shape. The coopering would be a serious learning curve.

A 2436 lathe and an experienced turner will certainly be more efficient. There are plenty of people with 2436 lathes around. Try a local chapter of AWW.

 

[Oka]

I agree with the others, the bottom and top were done with a router. The middle would be made with 2 or 3 internal discs with segmented pieces glued to make the column. or......... you could just do it like this OSHA Safety Officer does on his weekend off

Large Lathe Turning