I was just out working on a bowl on my lathe and I think I broke it. I have an old shopsmith 10ER. When I say that this thing is old, I mean that this thing may be 50 years old or older. I was working on making a bowl out of a piece of purpleheart not unlike the one that I posted a picture of recently, and I caught the tool digging into the wood and stopping the revolutions of the blank. This put too much pressure on the spindle and it bent.
I know that my father has one of these machines (in fact he has managed to collect 4) and had done the same thing once. I am going to have to consult him on how to proceed from here. one thing is certan though. I am putting this machine through more stress then it was designed to handle. I have to face the fact that I need to get a real lathe. The problem is that the kind of lathe that I want costs around $5000 and I don't have that kind of expendable cash lying around.
What the hell do I do now!?
1 comment:
If I am not mistaken, I have a complete spare quill assembly in the garage in Eagle Rock. It will be in the oak chest under the Shopsmith by the side door. You take the old one out and put the new one in like a cartridge. You must always remember to support an un-trued blank on both sides until you get it round and balanced. That means having it supported by the live center in the tailstock as well as the chuck.
Dad
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