Been slowly setting up my old man with a wood shop over the last couple Christmas', birthdays & Fathers' Days now that he's retired. Includes a monster 3hp Delta table saw, scroll saw, drill press, grinder, clamps, router, compressor and pneumatic nailers. His shop is in his century-old grainery barn -- still has the 4' pulleys and bucket-belts in it!! Very cool. Now it's time for the 12" x 36" wood lathe. He's setup with the wood shop and I'm setting up my metal shop.

Now that my shop is finally insulated, I have a 350-sf clean, quiet, warm work space!

Bought this ol' 3-speed Sears lathe used for $75, but its hardly been used. Bought it from a guy in his late 60's / early 70's who inherited it from his father-in-law's shop. So its one of the "old & tough" models of the past with simple/logical construction & upkeep. motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) is from my collection and is a cap-start 3/4hp Dayton that runs stealth quiet on 110. Had to buy a 3-step pulley for the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) ($17). Picked up the 54"wx24"dx35"t Homak work bench with 2" top & adj. feet & drawer for $40 off CL and the steel/paint is like-new, but the MDF top needs a coat of paint. I couldn't have stick-built a 2x4-timber bench with hardware for less, so this worked out perfectly. And the new 27" v-belt was $10. So I'll be right about $150 for the whole sha-bang.

Plans to be completed by end of Monday 12/21 include:
- Disassemble (done)
- Media blast
- P-coat
- Polish both rails
- Re-assemble
- Paint top of work bench
- Wire new switch, accessory outlet, motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) & lead cord.
- Final assembly
- Test run!

Cool your looking after dad. Now a days the kids don't give a poo, at least that's what I think.

Wonder if that would be a cheap alternative for someone here who don't have a metal lathe ??
As long as they made very small cuts .002 I bet it would work if you replaced the steady rest with a cross vise. It would be better than nothing.
Yes I am a skillbilly. Just thinking out loud.

The spindle bearings in this thing are actually oiled bushings and would wear out pretty quick. Plus there's some "play" which is invisible to the woodworking world but blatant in the metal world. The only ball bearing is in the live center in the tail stock, and the modern day motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )).

You could build one of these fairly easily. I was looking at making one with some 80/20 parts but...I don't have that much free time. lol And when it comes down to it, you'd have a hard time buying all the bearings, materials & hardware for $75!!

Blasting completed.

Time to see if the ol' shop oven still works. It's been 3.5yrs since I used it.

Update: added a couple more "before" pics.

Woohoo! Got me a "hot" date with a bunch of parts tonight!

Progress...

Not too shabby for a $60 stove and the HF p-coat system.

Completion! Turned out great and runs smooth & quiet. My mom said she'll have her camera ready because my dad will be in tears. He's wanted one of these for-friggin-ever!! Plus he finally retired this year.

Go figure, I thought I was all done and I snapped a bolt...the LAST effing bolt! Stupid Chinese crap cast bolt-screws. 2hrs later I got it extracted. Ugh.

I'm anxious for another project, hopefully buggy-related.

Very very nice Christmas present.

Very nice! Your father should be proud.

Your Dad is a lucky man for you to go through all of that effort for him.

I used to be a woodworking fool as a you man and the lathe was my favorite tool!

Rand

Thank you, Gents!

I had to try it out and...it's awesome. Quiet & powerful! I really like the black tabletop and black lathe pieces -- it really helps you focus on the workpiece. It stands out "like a yellow piece of wood on a black background", lol. Chips stay away from the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) vents, too.

I hope you had the tool rest in a whole lot closer when making those cuts! A guy in my shop class back in High School embedded a gouge in this forehead by not keeping the tool rest close.

Ah yes..... brings me back to my days of learning who Primitive Pete was.

Rand

Rest assured, the tool rest was in its proper place. I backed it off when I was sanding. But I appreciate the safety observation.

I don't fart around with woodworking machines. Almost lost my thumb in 2002 on a table saw incident. Ironically I was reaching for the push-stick when I pulled my left thumb into the 3000rpm saw blade..."Zing!" Felt like someone shocked my thumb with live current, exploded in squirting blood, tendon shriveled into my forearm, and thumb was hinged on some marrow. Nasty. 4hrs of surgery and it was patched up followed by 3mos of rehab to get full motion again. Should've left the blade guard on the saw!!

Good to hear!

Don't mind me, I am a Safety & Regulatory Engineer at work so it's kind of habit.

Rand

Very nice job. Merry Christmas for the new retiree! Now the fun "work" begins with the lathe.

Happy pops!


Will have rotate pic later. Stupid phone.

If anyone is interested I have a Sear wood lathe model 149.23871 for sale All complete in working order for $100 plus shipping.