Metal Lathe question, HELP please!

[ArkansasChuck]

Hello!

I am looking for a metal lathe or Milling Lathe that is the least-expensive metal lathe possible. What I am going to do is take a solid tube of aluminum and lathe the pieces to have a specific pattern.

Anyway, I am a Youth Minister in Arkansas and am only going to use the Milling Lathe or Metal - Lathe for this purpose. I dont know a single thing about Lathe, except that when I showed photos of what I wanted to make to people at Sears, they said that I would need a Milling Lathe and to ask around for some help.

Can you tell me what the least expensive way I can get a Milling Lathe is, and where I can purchase it.

If you see the photos, I am making some Star Wars Lightsabers, and they were originally made from a Metal Lathe, or Mill Lathe, by the people at Lucas Film for the actual movies. I will be making a LOT of these for my Youth Group, so money is a consideration. Thats why I want to get the best Lathe for my money.

Thanks for your time and God Bless,

Chuck Kirkindall jr., Jonesboro Arkansas USA

chuck_loves_jesus@hotmail.com

[skmetal7]

that is cool!! how many are u gonna make? what size is it(length)? what is your budget?

id say if you are gonna make a lot, take the cnc route, but that's probably out of your budget. have you looked at the harbor freight 8x12? its a nice lathe
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44859

[ArkansasChuck]

Originally Posted by skmetal7 that is cool!! how many are u gonna make? what size is it(length)? what is your budget? id say if you are gonna make a lot, take the cnc route, but that's probably out of your budget. have you looked at the harbor freight 8x12? its a nice lathe http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44859

Thanks for the reply. I was going to make a LOT of them. Some of the kids want the Lightsaber that looks like the photo, others want a custom one.

The real Lightsabers that were used in the Star Wars movies were machined from Alumnium, so I want to do the same thing. Wood is no good because they dont look or feel right.

My question about the Lathe you gave me the link to, is will I be able to have a piece of Alumnium that is about 12" long, and about 2" inches thick?? I wanted to make sure of that FIRST, before I bought a Lathe! Thanks for your help!

[Zumba]

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[ripka]

Hi Chuck,

I had a student who made one of these in his spare time from 6061 aluminum on a 10 x 24 South Bend lathe. It took him a long time to do it. First he took a picture and figured out all the dimensions for the different parts, then he spent many hours at the lathe making a meticulous copy from his drawings. It looked pretty good and felt pretty good too. You could possibly simplify the part and lose some detail, but still have something that looks pretty good. The 8x12 from HF will handle the diameter, you may want to find a local HF store and take a piece of your raw stock in and see it if fits. Given the amount of time to produce a bunch of these, maybe you could recruit some (or all) of the interested kids to do the crank turning. Good luck!

Doug

[skmetal7]

Originally Posted by Zumba .......................__ ............ ......<rofl Rofl Rofl Rofl>. ........................| |........... ................... __\||/____...... .\\...............|'-|--| .\\....\..... ..\ \_...........|--|---|..\\ ....\.... ../ L \____,/-------\___\___\ .|lol|-------------o----- ----,\.. ..\ L /______,---''-----------, /... ../ /.............\_________ ,/.... .//.............____//___ __\\__/.

wtf? why do u keep editing your posts?

is this really necessary? post something usefull next time

[keebler303]

I think someone may have hacked his username or something.

Back on subject:

I would say to get a couple cheap lathes and teach the kids how to make their own. They would learn a lot more and it would be easier on you.

Good Luck
Matt

[Tashammer]

what about copyright?

[JMcDonald]

Originally Posted by Tashammer what about copyright?

Id imagine as long as he isn't planning on selling them then he'd be fine. But I forget all those rules.





And if you are looking to make "a lot" of these out of solid aluminum, then Id imagine that will cost tons of money. solid ~2" aluminum bar will not be cheap. I think you could go with some hard wood and spend much less. If feel is really a concern (dunno what it is supposed to feel like), you could consider weighting it with a smaller steel core.


But it's really cool that you are wanting to do this for that cause.

[Tashammer]

Originally Posted by keebler303 ... I would say to get a couple cheap lathes and teach the kids how to make their own. They would learn a lot more and it would be easier on you. Good Luck Matt

i reckon Matt is onto something there - teach a man fishing rather than just give him a fish - and give the kids the chance to acquire a bunch of skills they may never have had otherwise.

Maybe even set up a series of programs where there kids can work on a project but the only way it can be finished is if they learn the skills, hey?

Tom

[ctate2000]

I would suggest shopping ebay for used machines. I would also suggest you stay away from mini lathes. You will be disaapointed. If you were working pieces half that size a mini lathe would suffice but the two inch material will require torque not available in mini machines. I would suggest looking for a South Bend tool room lathe. It is small enough to go in the garage and big enough to handle the two inch bar.

Go to homeshopmachinist.net and check for people in your area. The members of that site are always very willing to get involved with these types of projects. You may get liucky and find amember in the area who would allow use of his (or Her) machine. I would love to help but I am in Mississippi. You may also want to consider the cost of the aluminum. You also want to consider the manner in which you are going to get the aluminum into blanks.

You have undertaken an ambitious project for someone who has never used a lathe. The turning I see in the photo is not difficult for someone with moderate experience but can be all but impossible for someone who has not used a lathe. I would also caution you about the dangers of turning. A small lathe can remove fingers and hands a big lathe can kill you. The swarf if not delt with correctly can cause very deep cuts. I do not intend to discourage you. I felt someone needed to add a word of caution. When you find your machine buy a book and read.

CT

[yoopertool]

This sounds like an awesome project. Like everyone else, I have a few concerns and a few tips. Like a few others have mentioned, dont buy some small junky lathe because all that will happen is you are going to get frustrated and your dream of making all of these neat projects will most likely die.

One piece of advice would be to go to the nearest Community College that has a machine shop. For the price of a 3-4 credit class, you can probably have nearly unlimited access to all kinds of lathes, mills, ect. I even had a friend of mine convince a teacher to make one of his projects into a class assignment. This way you can have a professional there helping you and you can use equipment that is much nicer than most of us could afford to buy.

Good luck and God bless.