Treadle lathe.

Dave Shepard · May 03, 2009, 10:27:56 PM

I've got some old lathe parts that I'm going to use to make a treadle lathe. I saw one at the Big E a couple of years ago. Seems to be a much cheaper solution than a new Oneway. ;)

Here's a neat video of making a bowl on a treadle lathe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz7PJ2WuLWA

blame · May 03, 2009, 10:38:14 PM

thats a nice spring pole lathe i've started building myself a treadle lathe using these plans Here

and Here is a Treadle Lathe FAQ

CHARLIE · May 04, 2009, 01:17:17 AM

Fun to watch but I'll stick to using motors. Using a treadle looks like too much work.

SwampDonkey · May 04, 2009, 04:26:33 AM

One thing missing, you'll need some fiddle music. As it'll feel like your playing a fiddle, stomping your foot and making music with your gouge.

Sorry, seen too many of Roy's shows. :D

moonhill · June 23, 2009, 03:14:32 PM

I think making one would be just as fun as using one, maybe it would be the best part, and a useful tool on top of it all.

Tim

Dave Shepard · June 23, 2009, 05:26:57 PM

I haven't done very much woodturning, but I would like to be able to make tool handles. I think I can make this with not much money expended, maybe some leather belting. I certainly can't justify spending money on a regular lathe. I have gathered some ideas, but no time right now.

metalspinner · June 23, 2009, 10:02:45 PM

That is a really neat video! Was he using a hook tool to turn the bowl? That was amazingly efficient. Notice how he cleaned up just part of the bowl diameter along the way? 8)

moonhill · June 24, 2009, 06:29:43 PM

Dave, I am in the same boat with many projects. The clip is proof it works and well. People run marathons why not pump a spring pole lathe. It is more kid friendly as well, compared to an electric version.

Tim

M.Demetrius · July 09, 2009, 10:03:08 AM

OK. So when I've made the lathe, and turned, say, a spear pole. I set the pole aside, and it warps in one or more directions, since it wasn't necessarily turned along the lines of the wood. How do I straighten it?

jeffreythree · July 09, 2009, 11:14:59 AM

I have plans somewhere around here for a treadle lathe that uses a bicycle sprocket that lets the lathe spin free when your foot is not pushing down. I don't have room for anything else :'( so I have not built it.

tyb525 · July 09, 2009, 11:40:11 AM

Jeffrey that bicycle sprocket sounds like a good idea.

SwampDonkey · July 09, 2009, 03:19:55 PM

Quote from: M.Demetrius on July 09, 2009, 10:03:08 AM
OK. So when I've made the lathe, and turned, say, a spear pole. I set the pole aside, and it warps in one or more directions, since it wasn't necessarily turned along the lines of the wood. How do I straighten it?

Stay away from juvenile wood around the heart of the tree. That is where the beginning of limbs occurs in a tree's youth. Also, as little transition from heart to sap as possible. Best turned dried with attention to eliminating the juvenile wood in the heart near the pith and reducing sapwood by cutting these sections out on the mill or saw. Wood moves as it dries and it does not dry uniformly. Even in an annual ring where the late wood is always denser and densest at the very end of the annual ring of growth where you find a fine abrupt line in temperate grown woods.

M.Demetrius · July 11, 2009, 07:51:50 AM

I'm supposing then, SD, you're saying to rive the blanks instead of sawing them? That should help to keep the grain running in a straight line. I don't mean to hijack the thread, though.

Is there a way to make the treadle lathe for shafts like that, so the thing doesn't have to be 7 ft long? Maybe something where the pole slips through a hole in the head? (I am frequently accused of being qualified in that area, heh

)How would one clamp the already-turned part in place, or should spear shafts/rake handles be made in another way instead of on a lathe?

Fla._Deadheader · July 11, 2009, 08:29:11 AM

M.Demetrius

Sounds to me like you need to search out info on "Tracer Lathes". Might even be called "Pattern Lathes".

They use a finished piece to trace as the new piece is being turned-cut.

Might also need a steady rest as an attachment, to hold the "whipping" of the piece, to a minimum.

SwampDonkey · July 11, 2009, 03:11:01 PM

All ya need Harold is a template and trace it on a couple opposing faces on your square stock. When that turns on a lathe, it comes to life. You've seen all them templates hanging in old wood working shops. ;D

Sorry, if I'm not following you Harold. ;)

The thinner and longer the target shape the more vibration and if that piece moves from air drying as you peel off dryer layers revealing wetter ones under it, it will sometimes warp causing more vibration if the species of wood has a natural tendency to do so. Beech comes to mind and hard maple to a lesser extent, cherry is a little bustered at times to. :D Species, grain, and moisture; it's a learning process. Too be honest, I mostly ignore all three and turn it anyway. Many a time it pulls apart, oh well. I have a hard head, not much gets through. ;D

Dave Shepard · July 11, 2009, 10:59:37 PM

I don't have any experience with turning long thing stuff like the rake handles you mentioned. I would rive them, and rough them out with a draw knife, and finish with a spoke shave. That would give you a good straight grained handle in short order. I don't know about the spear shafts, do they have to be perfectly round, and, well, perfect?

M.Demetrius · July 13, 2009, 10:14:07 AM

No, they don't have to be perfect, and I rather doubt the ancients made them perfectly. They would have been splinter free, but they were after all, a "throwaway" weapon, heh, and wouldn't have warranted much artistic effort.

But what I'm concerned about is how to straighten one once it does warp, which many tool handles, both commercial and hand made eventually do. With a hoe, it's not such a big deal, but with a throwing weapon handle, it greatly affects the accuracy if the thing wobbles in the air. Somebody on another board said straighten them with heat. Darned if that was enough info to do the job. I have an ash handle that has about a two inch bend near one end. I'd like to revive it into a straight line.

beenthere · July 13, 2009, 11:09:11 AM

Doubt you can straighten the wood once it is warped.
But, with whatever technique, it would have to plastisize the wood cells and then get these cells to set up after the piece is moved into its desired position.

You might get close by bending the handle into (or slightly beyond) the straight position, and hold it there for a long period of time. Something like a loaded beam or a board in a poorly stacked lumber pile, but often that occurs as the wood is losing moisture and then takes on a set.

Some woods are bent by steaming (which plastisizes it) but not so likely once the wood is already dry.

Likely the wood warped because of the grain and cell structure. Selection of right grain and structure before making the handle would be the best route to go. Easiest to rive, as mentioned. That will give the best wood to start with.

Sprucegum · July 13, 2009, 02:17:06 PM

You can steam a dry stick until its as malleable as spagetti. Clamp it in whatever shape you want, a straight line for your ash handle, and when it dries out it will retain that shape.

I built a steamer out of 3" plastic pipe and a cheap electric kettle to do the stems on my canoe. Google some canoe building sites and you will get lots of info on steam bending wood.

Real hot water in the bathtub will also work on pieces short enough to fit in the water. ;)

isawlogs · July 24, 2009, 08:24:30 PM

Steam bend it back into shape , as Sprucegum mentioned , a 3" pvc pipe and an old/new/wifes kettle will do fine , if you take the later blame it on Sprucegum ;D You will need to weld a pipe on the kettle and bring that into the pvc pipe , no need worry about pressure , none will build up , steam it for a day and then put it onto a press , once it dries in about a two days it will keep it shape , that is how snow shoes are bent . ;)

thedeeredude · July 26, 2009, 08:24:14 PM

8 x 26, 37 with extension. Needs some work and some modifications ;D It will get a nice bench and a big old treadle wheel.
Possibly maple, oak or ash.

Dave Shepard · July 26, 2009, 08:59:04 PM

Very nice! My head and tailstock would have gone on ways like that. The part that engages the ways is too narrow, in my opinion, for wood ways, so I am going to let them into a couple of big blocks of hardwood, and they can ride on the wooden ways.

SwampDonkey · January 04, 2010, 06:50:26 PM

I'm in the process of building a steaming chest right now.

I'm using an 8 gallon drum, with a cover and a 3/4" spigot in the top. A 6 foot water pipe fits on there from the steam barrel to my steam chest, which is a 8 foot section of 6" galvanized duct work, insulated on the outside with non flammable spray foam. One end has another spigot fitted on a round plywood plug and the other end will have a plywood plug with a cut out on the bottom to drain off water into a pale below. The pieces will sit inside on wooded bridge pieces that will pass condensed water underneath and out the end plug cutout. The pale I have was a grease pale, which I burned out with sawdust shavings. Grease is not real flammable, so I used sawdust as a catalyst to keep a flame. I'll clean the residual out tomorrow and boil off some water to further clean the inside. I needed a 7' closet at least to house my sled skis, which are 3" x 3/4" x 7'. There will not be flame on the barrel, it will sit on a wood fired stove when boiling. I'm going to do some test pieces first.