Grizzly sells a jig that lets you turn blanks up to 24″ long in any drill press with a hole through the table. It’s a great low-cost alternative to a lathe — especially if you don’t do enough turning to justify the expense of a dedicated tool.
Usually drum sanding and milling with a drill press puts more lateral stress on the quill than most drill presses are designed to handle. But if you use sharp tools and turn correctly, turning with your drill press should put no more than normal wear and tear on your machine.
The drill press lathe attachment sells for $20 at Amazon. It includes a base plate with live center, 12″ tool rest, mounting bolts, mini screw center, and spur center. Hell, even if you’re considering a lathe purchase, this might be a good way to try turning before you buy a more expensive machine — assuming you have a drill press.
Drill Press Lathe [Grizzly]
Via Amazon
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4 Responses to Make A Lathe Out Of Your Drill Press
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Great idea and at $20 – stops me from making my own jig!
For those who do not have a drill press but do have a power drill, here is an interesting tool to make a lathe with a power drill.
Regards,
Dug North
Doesn’t this put a lot of pressure on the spindle that it wasn’t designed to take?
This looks like a good idea, but sadly Pillar drills/drill presses aren’t designed for this, Knife Knut is correct in saying that it will put pressure on the spindle. However, if it spurs people on to get a lathe, then that is good. Also I suppose if you were to use it sparingly, it wouldn’t be too bad.