# gingery lathe



## xlchainsaw (Mar 7, 2009)

ive been a member here for some time mostly just reading and now this section has been added i may be able to contribute.
this is my casting project. i was waiting till i had all my castings finished and was going to post in the "working with castings" section covering the assembly of the lathe. this is a work in progress but here is my progress to date.

























































im now up to the headstock and i needed to get a bigger pot which ive now done. pending a successful casting of the headstock i will then frabricate the bed and start assembly


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## xlchainsaw (Mar 7, 2009)

in my rush to post i missed these.


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## Kermit (Mar 7, 2009)

Hey there XL Good morning to ya!

What type of Aluminum are you using to cast these pieces? Is it just scrap, or did you purposely look for just one type of aluminium(like 7075 or 5058)?

Kermit


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## Tin Falcon (Mar 7, 2009)

XL 
Looks like you are off to a great start. I read that series of books a few years ago the Idea of building a metal shop from scrap is a great one. Keep us posted on the build.

I do feel like I need to throw in a comment from the admin team. Please post the pages of those books sparingly. I know you are just trying to illustrate the process and show how good the books are but we do not want to get in any hot water with the Gingerly estate or Lindsay publications.
  We do not want someone to think it is ok to copy those pages and build there own lathe. If you folk like this thread, buy a copy of the book. 
Tin


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## xlchainsaw (Mar 7, 2009)

i agree with admin . if you like the sample buy the book! there are 128 pages in the book with great detail on this project. i recommend these books to any here who may want to give home casting a go. the books give a great insight into sand casting whilst engaging in a worthwhile project. i could just buy a lathe that is easy! but building my own is more rewarding. i have a small modellers lathe and a wood lathe already and this lathe will be just what i need to use to machine the rear wheels of my wells type of traction engine. i will post a pic of those castings later.


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## xlchainsaw (Mar 7, 2009)

Kermit  said:
			
		

> Hey there XL Good morning to ya!
> 
> What type of Aluminum are you using to cast these pieces? Is it just scrap, or did you purposely look for just one type of aluminium(like 7075 or 5058)?
> 
> Kermit


i use scrap.i use a lot of drink cans!!! and anything else i can find. if you buy a alloy and melt it it wont be that alloy as such in the finished casting. alloys are mixed up just prior to the pour giving the resulting alloy its specs. if you remelt it you change its specs! the more times you remelt aluminium the purer it. some of my metal is nearly pure!


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## RobWilson (Mar 28, 2009)

Great project, hows the headstock coming along?
Rob


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## xlchainsaw (Apr 9, 2009)

just a last update on this project. ive shelved this project as i had the good fortune to buy a "elu"wood lathe ($80) so ive just finished its conversion to basic metal turning. ive spent close to 180 hrs on this project and estimate the project to cost nearly a 1000 hrs! if you had a lathe ,shaper and milling machine the work wouldnt take as long but if you had these items "why build a lathe?" i was searching for an electric motor on ebay when i found this beauty. with metal casting i need to use a wood lathe just as much as a metal one . in total it has cost approx $100 plus 180 hrs. it works a treat as ive now completed its tool post. next is to cast a face plate, and chuck adaptors. and a coat of paint! ive also made a tool post mounting for my adept type of lathe! a pulley in the chuck and use the slides for belt tension works a treat!


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## morgand (Sep 14, 2012)

Hey 'xlchainsaw', sorry to hear your scrapped the project - I've been working on my 'Gingery Style' lathe on and off for a couple of years now - having kids has slowed things down quite a bit 

Anyways, I'm just working on the tailstock now, and have had some good success with my version of the lathe. I upscaled it a bit ( bed ways 4" vs. 3" ), and build a controller to drive a 2hp treadmill motor which goes 5:1 at the spindle. I have a PID control algorithm that has allowed me to do some test cuts in steel down to 35 rpm.

I still have yet to see how accurate the machine is however. Once I have the tailstock done, I will definitely be testing things out. It has been a great build, and learning to cast metal and hand scrape I now feel are skills I cannot do without. Plus, I feel very confident in being able to build a machine tool or machine tool accessory.

If you or anyone else is interested in seeing what i have done with my own version of the lathe, I have a blog that covers the build - lots of photos and videos.

http://morgandemers.com/?cat=6

also have quite a few videos on youtube of me casting and working on the lathe.

http://youtube.com/morgan7557

Cheers,
Morgan


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## db6261 (Dec 30, 2012)

Any progress on the lathe or mill machine?


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## morgand (Jan 2, 2013)

db6261 said:


> Any progress on the lathe or mill machine?


Hey 'db6261', yes I have had quite a bit of progress with my Gingery Lathe. I've actually just finished machining a permanent spindle for the lathe which finishes up Gingery's book #2. I also have some new blog posts & videos of the making of the tailstock, faceplate, & spindle. I upgraded my electronics to support current limiting which has worked out quite well.

Lathe Faceplate, Tailstock & New Electronics:
Post: http://morgandemers.com/?p=357
Faceplate Video: [ame]http://youtu.be/qWezsZSNrII[/ame]
Tailstock Video: http://youtu.be/gKK-D5UiMMI

Couple Tailstock & Faceplate Photos:














Permanent Spindle:
Post: http://morgandemers.com/?p=388
Video: [ame]http://youtu.be/JhzpIx6EfHo[/ame]

Couple of Spindle Photos ( video is the best though ):









Photo of new Controller & Driver mounted in new Aluminum case ( which acts as a great heat sink ):




---

Working on cleaning up my PIC C18 code, and putting all the files together for my treadmill motor controller / driver. Will be putting the files on my blog, and in the Files section of the Gingery Machines Yahoo Group when ready.

Cheers,
Morgan


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