Make A Lathe Out Of Your Drill Press
By Benjamen Johnson
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
December 27th, 2007 at 1:34 am
Great idea and at $20 - stops me from making my own jig!
December 29th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
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
January 5th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Doesn’t this put a lot of pressure on the spindle that it wasn’t designed to take?