Gingery Lathe

A Gingery Lathe made based on the book "The Metal Lathe" by David Gingery. My lathe is by no means perfect but it is an example of a functioning lathe that I continue to use. I included a couple pictures of the wood patterns I used in the process of casting the lathe parts out of aluminum.

There is scrap aluminum from a variety of sources living on in this little lathe, from Grandma's old lawnmower engine to an old pool ladder I picked up on the side of the road. The riveted steel mechanism that the motor is mounted to is made from an old bed frame.

Attachment 5870

Below are some of the wood patterns used to case the lathe parts.
Attachment 5871

Here are the wood patterns arranged roughly as they appear on the lathe.
Attachment 5872

Here is a picture of the tail stock patterns alongside the as cast aluminum lathe parts. I used the Router Mill
that I previously posted to finish the tail stock parts because I had grown tired of hand working the cast aluminum parts for the lathe.
Attachment 5873

I used this lathe to make some of the parts for my other tools like my Injection Molding Machine I posted a while ago.

Scorch

Thanks scorch! We've added your Gingery Lathe to our Metalworking category, as well as to your builder page: scorch's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/gingery-lathe"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/133494/gingery-lathe.jpeg" /></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/gingery-lathe">Gingery Lathe</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/scorch">scorch</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/lathe">lathe</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/chuck">chuck</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/motor">motor</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Scorch, this is a fantastic build. One thing nice about home made lathes is being able to build other lathes with further refinements and improvements in each generation. What type and size of bearings do you use in the headstock? Thank you for the photos of the patterns.

Thanks Paul, I started with bronze sleeve bearings (bushings) as Dave Gingery specified in the book. I swapped them out for needle bearings which fit in the same space as the original sleeve bearings. I also added thrust bearings. I sometimes think about swiching to tapered roller bearings but that would require a new headstock.

Hi Scorch
Nice job there, I never did to much casting, I'm sure you had a lot of time in just making your patterns let alone the machining and finishing.
That lathe will be better than anything you could buy made in China, Want a real challenge ? Make some graduated dials for it.

Great Work !!!

Awesome job, Scorch. I have the Gingery series and am about to start this project myself. Are there any surprises, or does it go as smooth (but labor intensive) as it appears in the book?

Scorch
Do you have an idea of the cost of your lathe? Very nice job on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LeeRoy

Awesome job, Scorch. I have the Gingery series and am about to start this project myself. Are there any surprises, or does it go as smooth (but labor intensive) as it appears in the book?

---

It is pretty straight forward. I did have to read a few things over and over to really understand them but once I got it did made sense. Sometimes it is the simple things that get you.

If you start the project feel free to ping me with questions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ncollar

Scorch
Do you have an idea of the cost of your lathe? Very nice job on it.

---

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.

Mouth-wateringly inspiring. I'd like to clear (non-essentials?) and get down to something like this!

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

Quote:

---

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.

Quote:

---

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.

Quote:

---

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.

Quote:

---

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.

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.

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.

Scorch, Very nice build I keep wanting to build one myself but I have a 9x20 lathe so I won't but I really like yours cheers....:O)

Nice build! Did you hand scrape the bed? If so how long did it take?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pa1963

Nice build! Did you hand scrape the bed? If so how long did it take?

---

I did hand scrape the bed. I honestly can't remember how long it took. It was more than a few of nights worth of work.

A fantastic job of displaying the patterns! A great picture of Gingery's prose to pattern.

Hi Scorch, Nice lathe. Is it rigid what with the aluminium castings such as the tailstock?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LyleD

Hi Scorch, Nice lathe. Is it rigid what with the aluminium castings such as the tailstock?

---

It is a light weight machine. I would not describe it as rigid but for light machining it does the job.

nice lathe... thanks.. you inspired me to build one.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scorch

It is a light weight machine. I would not describe it as rigid but for light machining it does the job.

---

Thanks Scorch. There's a very interesting read found at Lathes.co.uk regarding prisoners in a WW2 POW camp making lathes (and other equipment) to get things done. You might find R. Bradley's lathe quite interesting.

DAMN - you actually DID it? I say this as someone who did the patterns and castings of the bed, footings, all 3 parts of the tool-holder (cross-slide, top-slide, compound), ball handles .... I think a few others....?....

...and then just needed a lathe, bought a Harbor Freight, and spent my time on upgrades - sigh.

NICE job.

(PS, if anyone wants those pieces, I'll send 'em for basically shipping cost.....)
Cheers, Andrew

I have the hardcover of Gingery's first 7 books and I would really like to get started making all of them. It's good to see that it can be done. You did a great job!

Rancher
The only thing stopping you is yourself. All of Uncle Dave's books have a wealth of information and you will learn something new in everyone. Start with the lathe and do not stop. They are all useful in the shop and at a fraction of what you pay for chinabult.
Good luck, I watching.
Nelson