Shopsmith Forums

My 12-year-old grandson has taken an interest in woodturning, but he and his family are living and traveling the USA in a trailer. I purchased for him and our seven other grandkids a small WEN lathe, but tonight his parents confirmed that it would be too large and heavy for them to store. I've considered a number of the poorly designed and constructed "bead lathes" being sold online, but I suspect they would lead to failure and frustration. The old Bonnie Klein lathe just popped into my mind and I think it might be exactly what he needs. If you happen to have one collecting dust, I would love to know what you'd take for it. Thanks in advance, Scott

If all else fails, maybe a Spring Pole Lathe that can be broken down would work.

Might also consider the PSI pen lathe. It's small, looks light, looks like it can do stuff besides pens.

I just came across your post. Might be able to rig up a small custom lathe using a large corded drill for the power end. I'm not sure what the size restrictions your looking to fit within, but you could make a custom lathe that might do the trick. And it could break down into smaller sections for storage during non-use. Just an idea.

ShoptimusPrime wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:25 pm I just came across your post. Might be able to rig up a small custom lathe using a large corded drill for the power end. I'm not sure what the size restrictions your looking to fit within, but you could make a custom lathe that might do the trick. And it could break down into smaller sections for storage during non-use. Just an idea.

Zyliss made a small drill powered lathe called a Torno. I forgot about it and I actually own one that came with my Zyliss vice but I have never used it. If you do a web search, they are not that uncommon. There appear to be a couple on sale on ebay but there are some for sale other places.

roy_okc wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:38 am Might also consider the PSI pen lathe. It's small, looks light, looks like it can do stuff besides pens.

Thanks for the suggestion. In addition to pens my grandson wants to turn items that will be mounted in a chuck, so the Pen Pal doesn't look like it will meet the need. That does look like a slick too, though. Scott

ShoptimusPrime wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:25 pm I just came across your post. Might be able to rig up a small custom lathe using a large corded drill for the power end. I'm not sure what the size restrictions your looking to fit within, but you could make a custom lathe that might do the trick. And it could break down into smaller sections for storage during non-use. Just an idea.

Good thought. Thanks for that. Scott

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Zyliss made a small drill powered lathe called a Torno. I forgot about it and I actually own one that came with my Zyliss vice but I have never used it. If you do a web search, they are not that uncommon. There appear to be a couple on sale on ebay but there are some for sale other places.
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I remember that tool and it just might do the trick! Thanks for the reminder. Scott

A lathe that could be driven by a cordless drill might be very nice for someone who with a mobile lifestyle. Unfortunately few cordless drills spin fast enough for small diameter work, they rarely exceed 1000RPM. There may be other cordless devices that could be adapted, I know there are cordless angle grinders that can achieve much higher speeds, some tool may be in the right speed range and easily adaptable to a small lathe like the Zyliss Torno mentioned above. That lathe is a very clever design that clamps on a table edge like in the ad linked below.

https://advanced-machinery.myshopify.co ... -by-zyliss.

I was thinking more along the lines of a corded drill. Fast enough?, maybe. Quiet? probably not. From a few articles in books and magazines during the 40's-70's, this was not an uncommon practice as dedicated machines at the time were still pretty expensive or hard to come by. I've even seen plans for a 5 in 1 multi-purpose machine powered by a corded drill.

An adapter could be built to accept a chuck mounted to a bearing block to take the strain off the drill bearings. An independent 4 jaw wooden chuck can be made fairly easy and would be strong enough for light duty work, I'd imagine. I'm not trying to prove anything as far as one option is better than another. Just options and food for thought. As fun as it would be to see a nova chuck being spun up by a corded drill, I don't think it'd be effective or safe as the rotational mass would be a bit much.

Engineering projects are fun:)