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returning to turning

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thescoot:
Hi guys. just thought i would introduce myself. I have been a mechanical engineer for almost 4 decades and a cabinet maker for the last 10 years working primeraly in oak,ash and mahogany. i have been turning metal all my life and several years ago dabbled in wood turning when my father gave me an old clarks hobby lathe, the head of which i still have. i was also given a small tyme lathe that i loved working on and i feel turned out some reasonable projects on it. mostly small stuff and some bits for my furniture,little finials,handles etc. Then just before christmas i got a fancy to do a bit more turning and fell in love again!!!!
So i started trawling the net to find a decent size of lathe only to find the prices of all i thought suitable way too much for my budget.I was gutted. It was then i spotted a very old A J Cooksley and Son on e bay and placed a bid. winning bid £51.I could hardley believe my luck although it cost a bit for the transport it would be well worth it. It arrived about a month ago and thats when the problems started. It was three phaze 400v and my workshop isnt.Looking at all the options i felt an invertor was the best way to go so i purchased one of these MAGIC boxes and contacted an old mate of mine to help with the electrics. Hey presto. he converted the motor to 240 3 phaze(dont ask as iv not got a clue how that works) and added a potentiometer to control the hertz frequency.Wow 4 speed belt and pully lathe with 0 to 50 hertz speed control which gives 0 to 4500 speed fully variable.
Problem is, enough isnt so my engineers brain kicked in. Out came the pencil and off i went designing a bespoke hand made unit. It took 3 weeks and a lot of work but boy was it worth it! I am now the very proud owner of a 3hp direct drive lathe with a fully variable speed range of 0 to 3000rpm which can turn up to 1200 dia. now i just need to get some practice and make lots of shavings.

Terry Miller:
Welcome to the forum.I hope you enjoy the banter and the rants and the very useful hints and tips.

Regards

Terry

julcle:
Hi  --  Welcome to the forum, sounds like an interesting project. You could post some pics
on the site and show us what you did, if it's the little phase inverter that you can buy on e-bay
for about £20 or so depending on the power rating I have used used one of these in the
past to good effect. Perhaps also you could fill in your profile and let us know a little more about
yourself, you can set it so that only forum members can view if you wish. - Best Regards - Julian

Doug Barratt:
Hi & welcome,

As has already been said photos are always welcome

I`ve recently converted a 3 phase wadkin planer with the aid of an inverter & at the risk of teaching mother to suck eggs, I would suggest you place it in a filtered housing, if you haven`t already, as they don`t half suck in the dust.

Best wishes with the turning.

Cheers

thebowlerhattedturner:
Hi and welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you have returned to turning and have managed to sort out your lathe. I too have a phase convertor, it was with the machine when I got it so I didn't have to deal with anything complicated,just plug and go.I agree with Doug about putting it in a housing of some sort as they do suck up the dust like nobody's business.
Regards
John BHT

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