Gingery Lathe

**kbalch** · Oct 30, 2015, 08:21 AM

Hi Scorch,

Great work! Fabricating a precision machining tool from parts you cast yourself is very impressive. Your Gingery Lathe is the 'Tool of the Week'!

As you've already received one of our official HomemadeTools.net T-shirts, we'd be glad to award you a $25 online gift card.

Just let me have your email address (via PM) and we'll get things processed directly.

Congrats!

Ken

**ncollar** · Oct 30, 2015, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by scorch

I found an old spreadsheet that I was keeping track of the cost of the Gingery lathe on. It looks like I got to about $150 before I stopped tracking it (that included some tools like a lathe file, scrappers and a countersink). I would guess I put another $50 to $100 into the lathe after that.

Scorch
Thanks for the reply. You have around $300 into the lathe that you made. The part of your investment seems to be the tooling to make the machine, but that is the start of your tool box. You can not go out and buy a lathe for less than $500, so you are ahead of the game. Looking good, now it's time to make something. Thanks for sharing.

**scorch** · Oct 30, 2015, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by kbalch

Great work! Fabricating a precision machining tool from parts you cast yourself is very impressive. Your Gingery Lathe is the 'Tool of the Week'!
Ken

Thanks Ken,
It is an honor to be selected.

**Workshopshed** · Oct 31, 2015, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by ncollar

Scorch
Thanks for the reply. You have around $300 into the lathe that you made. The part of your investment seems to be the tooling to make the machine, but that is the start of your tool box. You can not go out and buy a lathe for less than $500, so you are ahead of the game. Looking good, now it's time to make something. Thanks for sharing.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great project and well worth the money. But you could get an equivalent lathe on the second hand market for less.
However, if you have the time and choice then the self build route will teach you more and you'll have skills you can use with your new lathe.

**scorch** · Oct 31, 2015, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by Workshopshed

...you could get an equivalent lathe on the second hand market for less.
However, if you have the time and choice then the self build route will teach you more and you'll have skills you can use with your new lathe.

No question about it. If you need a lathe I would definitely recommend buying one.

I don't have a great need for a lathe. I only use it a few times a year. If I ever found myself using the lathe on a regular basis I would probably look at getting a commercial lathe.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great learning project especially if you don't have a lot of money. It is easy to get lost in the total cost numbers, but the reality is that I never spent more than $20 at a time over a period of a few years. So for just a few bucks I was able to get started and start learning new skills right away.

**ncollar** · Oct 31, 2015, 08:10 PM

Some people just over look the reason for the build and it is not the idea that you will have a lathe or machine that will hold up to others. It is about the world of casting and machining that almost every one that build a Gingery machine will admit to little to none for either casting or machining. The journey will train the person that stays with it to be able to build almost anything. The education will last a life time and might be very profitable. I guess the thing that upset me most is the ones that want to take short cuts. I was always taught if you know how to do it the right way you can learn the short cuts on your own. Scorch you have your masters even if it's not letters after your name.

**Workshopshed** · Nov 1, 2015, 01:30 PM

I agree. I did a quick poll of makers on twitter a few weeks back and over half thought that the journey of making was more important than the end results.