# Homemade lathe



## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

I posted this over on Model Railroad Hobbyist's forum. I built a small lathe for my small scale turning needs - nothing fancy, and less than $20 for all the pieces. I wouldn't use it to build a live steam engine (though I think I could, with care), but for making various round bits, it's pretty handy. I figured maybe some folks here might be interested as well.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/10564

Ken Rickman


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Tried a couple of times to get to the "link"....maybe something is missing?


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Hmm.. seems there was a space at the end of the line that got included in the link. It should work now - sorry about that.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Link worked fine for me. 
I haven't seen an all metal drill in ages... 

John


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

For a cheap small lathe look for some of the watchmakers lathes. Can find at flea markets usually for 20.00-30.00


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

for making various round bits, it's pretty handy 
I agree with Ken. I've been doing it for years - both clamping th drill in a vise and now using the vertical drill press. 

The biggest problem I run into is the chuck will only hold parts that have a hole in the middle! 

This copper cap was 'turned' to shape on the vertical drill press.


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