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Drill lathe. A simple lathe from a drill Do-it-yourself wood lathe from a drill

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Do-it-yourself drill lathe - instructions with drawings, photos and videos

A do-it-yourself drill lathe will allow you to save on the purchase of several specialized-type processing devices. Not all craftsmen need serious equipment, as it often becomes necessary to carry out simple turning work at home. In such cases, a simple home-made machine can be very useful, the manufacturing process of which we will analyze in this article.

General scheme of a homemade lathe

Using a lathe from an electric drill

Lathes, in which an electric drill is used as a drive, are also produced in industrial conditions. Such devices are easy to find in today's market. They independently make a lathe from a drill in order to save money, since such serial equipment is not cheap.

After spending quite a bit of time and selecting components for the manufacture of such a device, many of which, most likely, just gather dust in your workshop, you will have at your disposal a machine that allows you to perform turning workpieces made of wood and even metal.

Making a machine from a drill with your own hands, with the apparent complexity of its design, will not be difficult for most home craftsmen. At the same time, the functionality of this device will largely depend on what materials and components you select.

We understand the device of turning equipment

In the design of any lathe, several main components can be distinguished, which will also form the basis of our home-made home equipment.


Drawings of the main components of a homemade lathe from a drill (click to enlarge)

This is the basis of the device, responsible for the reliable fastening of its constituent elements and their exact location relative to each other. This element of turning equipment, in addition, ensures its stability. Stationary units have a massive frame, which is located on special legs. For desktop machines that can be easily carried to any convenient place, the bed is made in a lighter weight.

Headstock

This element of turning equipment is responsible for fixing and rotating the workpiece, which is fixed in a chuck installed in the spindle assembly. On small turning units, including home-made ones, the headstock can move along the bed guides. This is required in order to perform alignment and adjust the relative position of the structural elements of the device. In the process of processing, this machine node is securely fixed. On stationary models of turning units, this unit is fixed, it is made integral with the bed.

tailstock

This is a movable unit of the machine, which is responsible for fixing and pressing the workpiece to the chuck during its processing in the centers. Freely moving along the guides of the bed, the tailstock allows you to install and process parts of various lengths on a lathe. A very important requirement for this structural element is its ideal alignment with respect to the spindle assembly.

On mini-machines, including on do-it-yourself units based on a drill, the role of this node is played by a handpiece, which must be able to move along the bed rails and be securely fixed in the working position. The handpiece on small devices acts as a stop for the incisors, and the cutting tool itself is pressed against the supporting surface and held on it manually.

Version of the machine with a metal frame made of a square tube. When bolting the bed to a solid workbench, you can get a very stable structure that will allow you to work with metal. General view of the machine Mounting the drill Tailstock Mounting the support platform Assembly view with the workpiece using the stop at an angle

On any lathe, its headstock and tailstock have one degree of freedom and can only move along the axis of rotation, and the caliper (or handpiece) can move both in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The ability to move the tool rest in the transverse direction is also important in order to minimize the lever arm created by the cutter. If the distance from the end of the support surface of the tool rest to the workpiece being machined is large, the turning tool will be very difficult to hold. The tool can simply be pulled out of the operator's hands, resulting in serious injury.

How to make a lathe with your own hands

Making a small lathe with your own hands will be much easier if your workshop has a workbench with a flat and solid work surface. In this case, you do not have to spend time and effort searching for a bed for your turning fixture. An electric drill, which will simultaneously act as a headstock and a rotation drive, is fixed on such a surface with a clamp and a clamp fixed on the neck of the tool.


Machine variant with wooden bed

Now you need to make an emphasis, which will act as a tailstock. Such an emphasis, mounted opposite a fixed tool, can be made from a pair of wooden blocks and an adjusting screw, the end of which is sharpened under a cone. If you are planning to process not very massive wood blanks on your home-made machine from a drill, then you can fix such an emphasis on the surface of the desktop using a clamp.

You can also use a wooden block as a handpiece, to the supporting surface of which you will press the cutting tool. It is fixed on the surface of the workbench with a clamp.

Obviously, using affordable and inexpensive materials, you can make a simple lathe with your own hands, on which various woodworking operations are successfully performed. Using such a simple device, made on the basis of a drill, you can carve various details from wood: handles for doors and tools, structural elements of stairs, and decorative items.


Scheme and drawing of the machine on the basis of the channel

The design of such machines based on a drill and their versions can be different. In order not to understand the process from scratch, you can find on the Internet a photo of the most suitable device for you and make it yourself. However, no matter what scheme you make a turning device from a drill, it is very important to ensure the most accurate centering of the axis of rotation of the spindle assembly and the conical adjusting screw located on the tailstock.

If you are going to make a machine on which it will be possible to perform turning operations on metal, and not just on wood, then it is better to make it according to all the rules. First of all, focusing on the design of the existing drill and the dimensions of the workpieces that will be processed on such a device, it is necessary to draw a drawing, select a fastener of a certain shape and type for a complete set. As a basis for the drawing, you can take a photo of similar units that many home craftsmen make for themselves.

A fairly simple version of a lathe with a wooden bed. This kind of design is unlikely to allow working with metal, but it is quite suitable for wood processing. Machine assembly Base Drill attachment to the base Tailstock structure Wood workpiece clamp Base plate

A home-made lathe for turning, made in accordance with all the rules, is a rigid structure on which the mutual alignment of the front and rear headstocks does not change. All moving elements of such a device, mounted on a reliable frame, move along its guides. If you purchase or make a faceplate with your own hands, which will be fixed in the drill chuck, it will be possible to process workpieces of even large diameters on such a unit.

On a home-made lathe from a drill, all elements of which are fixed on a rigid frame, you can work on metal, but only on soft ones (this includes alloys based on aluminum and copper). On such a machine, workpieces are processed using a needle file, a file and sandpaper wrapped around a bar. In this case, the handpiece used to clamp the tool will be quite enough. If you plan to work with turning tools, then you cannot do without a support, the movement of which in the longitudinal and transverse directions is provided by a screw mechanism.


A factory turning device for a drill, like the GRIZZLY h3669 shown in the photo, will cost about 5,000 rubles without delivery

Accessories

The functionality of a homemade turning unit can be significantly expanded by equipping it with additional attachments and fixtures. These opportunities include, in particular:

  • applying paint to a rotating part, which allows you to get very interesting patterns;
  • execution of spiral notches on the workpiece;
  • winding transformers, etc.

If you make a special attachment for a machine based on a drill, called a copier, it will be possible to produce at home entire batches of identical parts using one template. It is very important even at the design stage of a home-made machine to provide for all options for its application in order to immediately take this into account in its design.

Summarizing all of the above, it is worth noting that the technical capabilities of your homemade turning device can be very impressive. It is important to correctly develop the design of such a machine and select high-quality and reliable components for its manufacture.

met-all.org

A lathe from a drill - how to make a machine for wood, metal, video with your own hands

The carved figures created by the hands of a master on a lathe delight, and I want to do something similar. A lathe from a drill mounted on a bed from a foot sewing machine will allow you to get a souvenir from an inconspicuous bar. The tree is easy to process. For metal processing, a home-made machine must be more thorough. A do-it-yourself lathe from a drill will not be left without work.

Lathe device

Even before the advent of high-speed electric machines, wood lathes already existed. Rotation could be transmitted to the spindle from the pulley by belts. The big wheel was even rotated by hand. A lathe from a drill, driven by an electric motor, became high-speed, but the principle of operation, invented several centuries ago, remained the same. On a massive welded frame with a well-thought-out reliable fastening, the machine can process even soft metals - copper, aluminum and similar alloys.

The wooden blank inserted for processing into the lathe must have a round shape. The ribs must first be folded so that the cutter runs smoothly on the surface.

For processing wood and plastic, you can make a simple design that is easier to hide in a secluded corner, even in an apartment.

The diagram shows a homemade wood lathe from a drill. On a stable platform with an axial through slot, made in any convenient way, equipment is installed. A plate fixed to a suitable structure is called a bed. This is the basis of the future machine. The size of the bed depends on the length of the workpieces, and the place to place the work units:

  • headstock or leading center;
  • tailstock;
  • caliper or handbrake.

If the engine that provides rotation of the leading part is used in the form of a drill, then the tool must be firmly fixed with special clamps. A holder in the form of a faceplate is inserted into the chuck, with which the end of the workpiece is attached. The headstock can have one freedom of movement - along the axis. On lathes from a drill for metal, the headstock is welded tightly to the bed.

The center of the tailstock and the front are at the same height above the bed and along the axis. The installation accuracy is important and controlled in relation to the slot on the table plane. The tailstock necessarily has one degree of freedom. The inserted workpiece between the centers is clamped, and after that the rear assembly is fixed.

It is important to set the workpiece in the center so that it does not hit during rotation.

The handpiece is called the middle insert, which is fixed under the workpiece. Sawdust flies into it, but the main purpose of the assembly is to support the cutter on the working side. The master brings the cutter to the rotating rod, leaning on the edge of the handbrake, which is located almost close to the line of rotation. The stop must have freedom of movement perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, it is removed when the workpiece is installed.

The handpiece is also therefore adjustable vertically, it should be as close as possible to the surface to be machined so that the turning tool rests on the rib. With a large lever, it is difficult to hold the tool and it can be pulled out with serious consequences. When turning conical surfaces, the handpiece is set at an angle, parallel to the cone.

When working on a lathe, you need to remember your own safety. Be sure to use protective goggles. Clothing should fit snugly. But the hands must be open to feel the instrument.

A lathe from a drill with a commutator motor is not a very good design. Without a constant load, the motor picks up speed, goes "peddling". Therefore, an electronic unit is provided to maintain a constant rotation speed. If there is no such device, a gearbox is installed for safety reasons. Sometimes designs with high-speed mechanisms are connected through a belt drive. On the basis of a drill, factory-made lathes cost about 5,000 rubles.

Let's create a machine with our own hands

On a solid, stable base such as a workbench, a turning attachment for a drill is attached, representing the headstock. It should create conditions for installing the spindle so that the holes with the back are coaxial. As an example of creating a basis, you can use the drawings of the proposed nodes.

An electric drill, which simultaneously serves as a headstock and an electric rotation drive, is fixed on such a surface with a clamp and a clamp fixed on the neck of the tool. However, it is possible to mount the drill on a hill above the bed, and then the second attachment point rises to the same height. There are many options on how to make a lathe from a drill. The main thing is that the principle of axial centering and reliable fixing of the workpiece is observed. It is for the stabilization of each node that it is important to think over the fasteners of clamps and drills.

In the process of work, you need to remember about the possible heating of the tool and stop the motor for a rest during the work.

Each job requires a certain amount of equipment power. Therefore, to create chess figures, you need a miniature machine, and to create a figured sideboard lining, the dimensions of the bed and the energy drive will have different parameters.

Is it possible to create a metal lathe from a drill

In practice, more monumental equipment is used for metal processing. It is important to have a welded stable frame, since the forces acting on a rotating metal rod are much greater. The emphasis on the machine is on a reliable, screw-moving caliper. It is he who serves as the fulcrum for the cutter. A solid fastening of the drill with clamps creates a reliable attachment point for the workpiece in the chuck.

The entire structure is welded, including the tailstock. Only such a monolith can reliably take loads during metal processing. On a lathe from a drill with your own hands, it is permissible to work with small workpieces made of soft grades of metal. The material is processed using gentle methods - a file, a needle file, sandpaper. If you need to work on deep processing, to create a profile with cutters, you need an adjustable support.

It is better to understand how to make a lathe for iron with your own hands, the video will help:

What can be done with a lathe

Even at the design stage of the machine, turning attachments for a drill can be provided. One of them may be a copier. It is used to exactly repeat all the curly cuts on a wooden cylinder exactly according to the pattern. The problem is rewinding the engines, and the attachment to the drill will cope with this task. You can use a drill fixed on the bed for grinding, put a polishing pad on it.

Use the rotation of the workpiece to apply paint. With centrifugal spreading over the surface of the decorative layer, an unpredictable color mosaic is created. The first machine will awaken interest in creativity and your imagination.

Using improvised inexpensive materials, you can create an assistant with whom to sculpt exclusive things for your home. Art crafts made by one's own hands have been valued at all times.

Universal homemade drill machine - video

www.glav-dacha.ru

How to make a homemade lathe from a drill for home

The desire to make useful things for the interior of an apartment with your own hands can be realized in a small workshop. Some of its equipment is easy to make yourself from a standard set of conventional tools that almost every owner of a private house has.

Consider one of the design options for such a device. We hope that our tips will help the home craftsman make a homemade woodworking lathe from an electric drill, use it reliably and safely.

Based on my own experience, it can be argued that many teenagers like to engage in the creative process on a lathe, turn simple kitchen utensils, tool handles, as well as sports nunchucks, nesting dolls and even chess out of wood.

The design of a lathe from a drill

The first such device was made by me more than twenty years ago based on the materials of one of the Do-It-Yourself magazines. Only photographs remained from him, from which I present the drawings with my comments.

They are additionally illustrated by pictures of finished parts, photographed from different angles. They will allow you to better understand the process of making lathe parts from a drill.

To work, you will need to make:

  • the headstock, into which the electric drill of the home master is inserted;
  • tailstock with a movable locking center;
  • stop for the cutter;
  • tip-clamp for fastening the workpiece in a drill;
  • machine bed;
  • clamps or other fasteners.

The main condition for safe work with this device is a clear, reliable fastening of all parts on a common stable frame. It will ensure the correct rotation of the workpiece, it can be made of metal or wood. I used a thick, wide workbench board. It is permissible to mount all parts with clamps on a solid table, as shown in the drawing.

In the picture, a single red axis of rotation is specially highlighted. Its observance in the horizontal direction will ensure optimal processing of the workpiece without beats and unnecessary swings.

It is set by the position of the height and direction of the axis of rotation of the drill chuck with the center of the tailstock, as well as the correct fastening of the wooden workpiece.

Headstock

It was decided to use multilayer birch plywood and aluminum corners as the material for its manufacture, as shown in the drawing. You can also use thick getinax or fiberglass plates. Their total thickness should ensure that the drill is securely held by the socket for attaching the additional handle.

To do this, a hole is cut in the center of the workpiece. It can be drilled with an annular drill. I cut in multilayer plywood with a regular hand jigsaw after fastening the boards with corner screws. Then I finished the surface a little with a round file.

On one side of the headstock, a slot about two mm wide is made with a saw. It is needed to fix the drill in the socket due to compression with a pin. For the latter, you will need to create a cavity: drill in a vertical direction or simply cut it with a knife, having previously disassembled the mount.

The fixing screw of the stud in the body of the headstock is inserted through the drilled hole, and the corners are fixed to the base board with screws.

Tailstock with adjustable center

The body of the mount is made using the same technology as before. Only the central hole is cut along the outer diameter of the movable center sleeve. It must move freely along the axis due to the rotation of the handwheel handle and be locked with the screw of the locking handle, as shown in the drawing.

However, the locking unit in my headstock design is somewhat different: not lateral, but horizontal compression of the thread with a lock nut is used. You just have to press it with a wrench.

Compare both methods and choose the one that suits you best.

A home craftsman cannot make a center and a sleeve with his own hands without a metal lathe. I ordered it from the turner in size.

The center surface is the base base for the rotation of the wood workpiece. It needs to be ground and hardened, you can even lubricate a little. This will reduce friction losses.

Instead of a manual spindle rotation wheel, as shown in the drawing, I installed an ordinary valve handle from an old water faucet, grinding off a seat from the end of the thread under it with a file.

You can even just weld a bar into the center, but then the fastening design will become non-separable.

Ways of fastening the workpiece in a lathe

Turned parts can be long or short, wide in the form of a bowl. They are installed in different ways.

Fixing long workpieces

The installation method is shown in the very first drawing. A tip of a special design is inserted into the drill: a rod with a diameter of 8 ÷ 10 mm with a trident at the end.

For its manufacture, you can use a threaded stud, a simple and wing nut, which are tightly crimped on the threads with a wrench. The end of the stud is ground into a cone. 10 ÷ 15 mm recede from it to the edge of the lamb.

This part will be included in the end of the workpiece. In it, a hole is drilled in the middle to a depth of about 10 ÷ 15 mm to center the workpiece with a pin and a cut is made, which includes the lamb ears that transmit the rotation of the cartridge.

It is quite acceptable to simply make a central slot in the hairpin and weld a flat trident there.

On the reverse side, a long workpiece, when rotated in a lathe, is held by the center of the tailstock.

Mandrel for short parts

The upper part is clamped in the drill chuck, and a wood blank is inserted from the back of the mandrel. Through the drilled holes, it is fixed with screws in the tubular cavity.

It must be taken into account that when the workpiece is fastened through the center of the mandrel without a tailstock, lateral loads act on the bearings of the drill. Therefore, it is impossible to create big efforts.

Such a design of the mandrel allows you to cut out even the internal cavities of parts, make goblets, bowls, salt shakers and similar utensils.

Cutter stop design

The corner is welded to the bar and inserted into a vertical tube-rack, in which it is rigidly clamped with a locking screw. A thick wire bracket is welded to its lower part. It is fixed in the base with a clamping bolt and nut inserted through the hole in the tabletop.

Due to the length of the bracket, the stop can be moved to different points of the base, and the loosened stopper of the upper shelf allows it to be adjusted relative to the axis of rotation of the lathe.

Preparation of blanks

Wood should be well dried and selected without cracks. Good products are obtained from deciduous trees: birch, apple, pear, oak and other fruit trees. The hardness of the material affects the speed of its processing.

Before installing the workpiece in a lathe, it must be given a cylindrical shape with an ax, planer, knife. This will significantly reduce the processing time, reduce the load on the electric motor.

Under the centers of rotation of the headstock and tailstock in the workpiece, it is necessary to drill holes along the ends of the prepared cylinders, and for the trident, make a cut.

Short blanks for fastening in the mandrel with screws must be made with a protrusion that fits snugly into its cavity.

Tools

To process a rotating workpiece, you will need a tool - cutters. At first, you can get by with ordinary chisels, achieving their good sharpening.

With the acquisition of experience, cutter designs will be required:

  • semicircular - peeling, roughing;
  • flat for precise processing: trimming, cutting, alignment.

They are easy to do with your own hands on an emery machine or just buy a ready-made kit in a store.

Lathe Features

Initially, I used a Soviet-made drill with a thyristor speed control and a power of only 300 watts. It worked for me until the wear of the collector mechanism for more than 30 years under various loads, including extreme drilling of concrete slabs. Perforators at that time simply were not on sale.

For unhurried small crafts, this power is enough. But for normal operation, it is better to use the design of a modern drill for at least 800 watts. The difference will immediately affect.

For many types of work, high rotation speeds are not needed: you have to use the regulator. In this mode, the load on the engine increases, and the reserve of its power, and of the entire structure, is simply necessary.

In order to increase the efficiency of the lathe, instead of a drill, I installed a three-phase asynchronous electric motor, making it a capacitor start from a single-phase network.

This made it possible to grind long and durable workpieces like shovels and other garden tools.

To fasten a wooden blank to the engine, it was necessary to make a sleeve with fixation with a locking screw on the rotation shaft and an E-shaped tip inserted into the center of the wood saw cut.

All the photographs show that my lathe was made a long time ago, and is stored in a workshop where moist air penetrates. Within a few years, there were clearly visible signs of corrosion. Do not allow such cases with your tool.

If you think about creating a design for a woodworking lathe not from a drill, but due to an asynchronous motor, then it is better to use a three-phase voltage of a standard value of 380 volts to power it. Power loss will be minimal.

For a single-phase 220 V network, you can connect a frequency converter, which will allow you to use all the power inherent in the design of a three-phase asynchronous motor. Such devices are commercially available at a reasonable price. They are convenient to use on different engines.

When equipping the turner's workplace, pay increased attention to safety measures and the selection of electrical protection. Be sure to connect the electric motor only through an automatic switch, which eliminates accidents associated with short circuits and overloads.

The need to connect a power tool through an RCD is determined by local conditions. But in critical situations, protection is not superfluous.

The design of the tailstock can be improved by including a thrust bearing in the center, for example, size No. 607. The friction spent on the rotation of the workpiece will immediately decrease, and its combustion will be excluded.

housediz.ru

With skillful hands and material, a lathe from a drill can be made in a weekend

What kind of devices were not made from an ordinary hand drill! This power tool is so versatile that you can save yourself the expense of buying multiple handheld machines.

Consider a specialized option for using an electric drill - a lathe

Let's make a reservation right away - there are industrial designs that are sold in electrical equipment stores. Having spent a certain amount of money, you can purchase a finished copy and process wood and metal products in a home workshop. But domestic Kulibins are not looking for easy ways, and strive to make a home-made machine from improvised materials.

Primitive lathe from a drill

I must say that despite the apparent complexity, this is one of the most affordable devices in the manufacture. The technological level of the design is unlimited, and is determined by the materials that you managed to find.

First, let's look at what the simplest lathe consists of.

Drawing for the manufacture of a homemade lathe
  1. Bed.
  2. It is the basis of any stationary power tool. It determines the relative position of the main parts of the machine, and ensures the stability of the structure. If the bed is massive enough and has its own legs, the tool is installed on the floor and actually becomes stationary. The compact bed is mounted on a table or workbench, and then the machine can be easily moved to any convenient place.

  3. Front grandma.
  4. Responsible unit on which the spindle or chuck with a rotary drive is mounted. As a rule, in compact models, this unit can move along the bed, but only for setting the relative position of machine components or centering. During operation, the headstock must be securely fixed. On large stationary lathes, this part is generally integral with the bed.

  5. Rear grandma.
  6. A movable assembly that provides clamping of the workpiece to the spindle (chuck). The main principle is perfect alignment with the headstock. This component of the machine must move freely along the bed, allowing you to set the workpiece of any length. A properly made tailstock has fine adjustment of the stop cone. After fixing the knot, you can adjust the clamping force.

  7. Handyman.
  8. Acts as a caliper for a lathe. On a compact device, it is a stop for cutters held in the hands of the operator. It must be able to move along the frame and be securely fixed in the working position.

IMPORTANT! The headstock and tailstock have one degree of freedom - movement occurs along the axis of rotation of the workpiece. The handpiece must move both along and across the axis.

This is necessary so that the cutter lever from the tool rest to the workpiece is as short as possible. Otherwise, it can simply be pulled out of your hands, which will lead to injury and damage to the workpiece.

How to make a lathe with your own hands?

If you have a universal workbench with a flat and durable tabletop, you can do without a bed. In this case, the drill is fixed on the table by the neck using a clamp with a clamp. This design combines both the headstock and the rotation drive.

Option for attaching a drill to a tabletop

Opposite the cartridge, a stop is installed coaxially, playing the role of a tailstock. It can be made literally from a pair of bars and an adjusting screw ground under a cone. You can attach the device with a clamp. If the workpiece is not very massive, this design is quite efficient.

Stop for centering the workpiece along the axis

A handyman can be a bar of a suitable size, again fixed with a clamp. If you have time and material, you can make a simple woodworking machine placed on an impromptu bed.

Elementary lathe from plywood and several bars

On such a device, you can turn handles for tools or doors, knobs and balusters for railings, as well as other decorative elements made of wood.

IMPORTANT! In the manufacture of any of the described designs, it is necessary to mutually center the axis of rotation of the spindle (chuck) and the cone stop of the tailstock.

And yet, it is better to make a lathe according to the rules. Assessing the stocks of raw materials - sketch a drawing. The dimensions and shape of the fasteners are selected according to the available electric drill, and the expected dimensions of the manufactured products.

Drawing of tool placement and center on the bed

You should get a rigid independent structure, on which the mutual centering will not change. The bed is fixed on the table, and all other components move smoothly relative to the guide. On such a machine, workpieces of large diameter can be processed, only for this you need to purchase or make a washer plan with a mount in a drill chuck.

General view of the lathe

The location on the bed allows you to turn your fixture into a metal lathe. Only processing blanks from steel will still not work. And to make cylindrical products from aluminum alloys, bronze or brass is easy. If you work with a file or sandpaper wrapped around a bar, you can get by with a handyman. To work with real cutters, it will be necessary to make a caliper with a screw feed mechanism.

Accessories

Before designing a homemade machine, consider installing additional devices on it that expand its capabilities. Many home craftsmen are wondering how to make exactly the same products in several copies without trying on a template every 30 seconds. A so-called copier can be adapted to a wood lathe.

And then you can repeat the part according to the first copy as many times as you like. Blanks can be painted with patterns, make spiral notches. Such a machine can be used for winding transformers. As soon as you put it into operation, a lot of ideas will instantly arise to increase the versatility of the device. Therefore, before proceeding with the implementation of the plan, evaluate all promising improvements and think them over at the stage of drafting the project.

Many people need a lathe. It allows you to process different materials, and to shape cuts and blanks. There are various sizes of lathes on the market, from small to bulky. However, the best quality of the machine can only be guaranteed when you make it yourself, so now we will look at how you can make a small lathe using a hand-held electric drill.

We make a mini lathe from a drill in the video:

So, first we need a piece of plywood, to which we need to glue two wooden blocks in advance to get something similar to a table, then a drill, which should have a handle, or another home-made mount, a blank for testing the operation of the machine (in our case, foam) , two types of sandpaper - fine and large, as well as two wooden bars.


First of all, we have to make a mount for the drill. Therefore, it is necessary to put the drill on a table, that is, on a piece of plywood, circle it with a marker, make a hole for the bolt on the top of the handle. You should pay attention to the fact that the drill should stand upside down, and this is necessary so that the tool does not overheat, because the drill has cooling fins on the sides and bottom. In order to secure the drill, you just need to remove the handle bolt, pass it through the hole in the plywood and fasten the handle back.


Next, we have to manufacture the rear beam of our machine. To do this, we need a wooden block and a small diameter drill (slightly larger than a barbecue skewer). We drill a hole on the bar, fasten the skewer instead of the drill to the drill, draw the bar through it and fix it on the plywood with hot glue.


It remains to take care of the next part of the machine, which will allow us to shape our workpieces. To do this, we need a second bar and sandpaper. Just glue the paper on both parts of the bar.

The workpiece that we want to process is put on a barbecue skewer. After that, it remains only to give free rein to the imagination and, with the help of sandpaper of different sizes, shape our blanks.


In this way, you can create a mini lathe with your own hands, which will be ideal for processing foam plastic and small wooden blocks. The same technology can be used to create more powerful machines that will allow you to process more serious materials.

An inexpensive and powerful enough mini-wood lathe for making small souvenirs or minor repairs can be done by hand. The basis will be a conventional two-speed drill with a power of at least 500 watts. The following is a step-by-step instruction for the manufacture of a machine on which you can produce products with a maximum size of 160x400 mm.

Machine capabilities

There are many uses for a drill machine besides turning:

  • fixing the emery stone, using the stop, you can sharpen knives, drills, chisels with your own hands;
  • at a right angle along the edge, you can process parts made of plexiglass, plexiglass or wood. It is necessary to install a plywood circle with sandpaper in the cartridge, and instead of the stop, a wooden stand is attached, on which the part is placed;
  • using a rubber wheel and a set of sandpaper, you can polish and grind any parts made of wood or metal;
  • if you fix the felt disk, any metal utensils are polished to a perfect shine.

Housing and headstock

The rack (case) for the machine is easy to make from a board or thick plywood. A round slot is made in the body for the drill itself (the size must be such that the tool fits snugly) and for the tightening bolt. After that, a groove is sawn with a width of not more than 2 millimeters.

The rack is attached to the base with metal corners. A drill is inserted into the slot and tightly tightened with a screw.

More reliable racks for attendants are obtained from textolite or metal sheet. When assembling the case, it is necessary to achieve alignment of the slots in both racks.

The central part of the headstock is made of a metal rod tapering into a cone at one end. An M8 thread is sawn in front of the cone for 15 mm. A nut is screwed onto the rod, a cone and a small segment of the rod peep out of it.

Tailstock with fixed center

A wooden blank of the same shape as for the headstock is needed. The middle is made of hardened steel grade U8. A sleeve is machined from it with its own hands, inside which a thread is made with parameters M14x1.5. On the side, a move is made for a locking bolt with an M6 thread. An M24x3 thread is made from the edge of the sleeve to install a nut that will hold the sleeve. A suitable flywheel is removed from the water tap.

Components of the incisal stop are made of steel. A bracket is made from a 6x10 mm metal strip. The cylindrical mandrel is made with a diameter of not more than 15 millimeters, and the edges of the bracket are welded to the tube. Also, an emphasis in the form of a corner is attached to the rack. The mechanism is bolted to the workbench. To screw in the bolt, a special nut with a wide shoulder is made, which is attached to the bottom cover of the workbench with screws.

Workpiece clamping

In order for the product to turn out to be of high quality, the wooden blank must be dried. Before mounting in a lathe, it should be trimmed or turned, leaving about 3 mm for processing in the machine. Two small recesses are made at both ends, the edges of the nut are inserted into them. The blank is placed between the middle of the attendants and is firmly pressed with a stopper.

When the workpiece is installed, do-it-yourself incisal stop is placed with an interval of no more than 2 cm to the workpiece. The working surface of the cutter should be located at the height of the center of the blank.

For woodworking on a do-it-yourself machine, the following types of cutters are suitable:

  • peeling or semicircular for preparatory work;
  • flat for fine finishing;
  • cutting and cutting.

Instead of incisors, sharpened wood chisels are suitable. You can make them yourself from files, which are brought to the required profile shape with the help of a grindstone.

  • It is better to process wood on a homemade lathe by turning on the drill at low speeds.
  • During operation, the cutter should be at an angle of 25-30 degrees to the blank.
  • The final shape is achieved in several approaches.
  • Grind and polish the finished product at maximum speed using sanding paper (numbers greater than 60 for grinding, greater than 200 for polishing).
  • The polished product is varnished or painted directly in the lathe. And only the dried up is cut and removed.

A drill lathe that performs simple turning of various materials will bring great benefits in a home carpentry workshop.

Mobile turning units for machining parts using an electric drill as a drive are offered in various versions in today's tooling market.

Nevertheless, for a home craftsman it is better to make a lathe from a home drill with your own hands, using improvised materials and parts - this will save a lot.

At the same time, due to the correct selection of component parts and the scheme of such a unit, it is possible, if necessary, to expand its functionality.

The design of a homemade lathe from a drill

The drawings of a lathe from a drill consist of four most important components: a bed, a headstock, a tailstock, a caliper (handguard).

A homemade lathe from a drill must necessarily have a reliable stable base, which ensures the quality, accuracy and ease of processing various materials.

The most accurate industrial units for metal, wood, and other materials are equipped with a massive frame on legs.

It is better for a home master to make his machine more mobile. Accordingly, the bed should be light or collapsible.

With its help, the machine can be installed on a table, workbench, cabinet, moving it as needed.

The main thing is that the bed performs its main function, being a rigid reliable foundation on which the main functional units of the machine are correctly located.

Headstock - the main task of this node is to rigidly fix and ensure the rotation of the workpiece.

During operation, the part must be rigidly fixed in one place and not move under the influence of vibrations.

On the other hand, the headstock can move in the longitudinal direction.

This makes it possible to optimally position the working units of the device depending on the size of the workpiece being processed.

On stationary industrial machines, such a functional unit is included in the monolithic design of the integral frame.

A homemade lathe, made from a do-it-yourself drill, uses a perforator or drill as this important functional part of the device, which is easy to remove if necessary.

The tailstock is a movable unit of the machine, which can be easily fixed in the right place on the bed. Due to mobility, workpieces of different lengths can be installed.

The main thing is that the axes of the spindle assembly and the tailstock are well correlated with each other.

Properly made such a device should have the most accurate adjustment of the stop cone.

The correct scheme of the mutual arrangement of the two "headstocks" allows you to securely fix the workpieces during their processing.

Caliper (handguard) - the main task of this element of a lathe from a household drill is to act as a stop for cutting tools, which are mainly held by hand.

This device can move along the frame in the longitudinal and transverse directions, and be rigidly fixed during operation.

It is important to set the support in such a position that the leverage of the cutting tool to the workpiece is as short as possible.

This will ensure safety when working with various workpieces.

It is important to consider that in a homemade lathe, the caliper has the greatest freedom of movement, moving in the longitudinal and transverse directions.

This ensures an optimal working position with the correct lever arm of the cutter.

The remaining two mobile units of the unit must move only along the guides along the axis of the workpiece.

Making a turning unit with your own hands

When creating a turning fixture with a drill in a home workshop, various available tools and capabilities are used.

For example, a workbench or table with a flat work surface can effectively serve as a rigid bed and a solid base.

The drive of an electric drill or puncher is used to ensure the rotation of the workpiece, and the tool chuck allows it to be rigidly fixed.

To effectively perform its functions, the drill is fixed on the frame with a clamp, which is called a clamp, and a collar rigidly fixed on its neck.

The opposite stop with a tapered end is easiest to make from two blocks of wood and an adjusting screw.

Such a device is installed strictly opposite the fixed drill, performing the functions of the tailstock.

If in the conditions of a home workshop the lathe is planned to be used mainly for processing wood blanks, then it is advisable to fix such an emphasis using a conventional clamp.

For the manufacture of a handrest, you can also use a wooden block, which is attached to the surface of the base with a clamp.

Thus, using simple available materials, you can easily make a wood lathe from a drill with your own hands.

Such a unit will become an indispensable assistant in the manufacture of decorative wood products, handles for various tools and doors.

With its help, beautiful wooden interior elements can be made that bring a unique charm to the room.

If it is necessary to turn metal blanks using home-made machines from a drill, you should use accurate drawings, focus on the technical parameters of a drill or puncher.

The frame of such a unit should be heavier and more durable.

The rigid design of the machine for metal, which maintains a stable centering of the headstock and tailstock, allows you to process soft metal workpieces in a home workshop.

When using a special faceplate fixed in the drill chuck, it is possible to process bulk workpieces.

If on such machines the workpieces are processed using a file, a needle file, then it is enough to use the clamping option as a handpiece.

When working with turning tools, you should use a support that moves in the longitudinal and transverse direction using a screw mechanism.

Expanding the functionality of a homemade machine

Equipping the unit with additional nozzles, the use of special devices will significantly expand the capabilities of the lathe.

At the same time, it is important to initially think over the design so that it can always be improved.

A special attachment, called a copier, will allow small-scale mass production of certain parts according to an exact template.

With the help of advanced machine options, it is possible to wind transformers, apply spiral nozzles and paint on a rotating workpiece, obtaining unique beautiful patterns.

Thus, for most home craftsmen, making a lathe using a drill as part of the unit's design is not something impossible.

At the same time, each master will expand its functionality, based on their needs.

The quality of this device directly depends on the use of certain components and materials.

Round wood and copper crafts are good to make on a small home lathe. What do a lathe and a drill have in common? For an ordinary person, far from production, nothing. But for the modern Kulibin, this is a real Klondike of ideas. A person with imagination and skillful hands can easily make his home lathe from a drill.

Purchased or homemade lathe - which is better?

The cost of small factory-made lathes makes one think of an alternative solution to this problem. A self-assembled turning machine can be much cheaper. To bring your idea to life, the most expensive thing you need to buy is a drill or a hammer drill that has the function of a drill. Consider the option of manufacturing a lathe from for a private home business. The simplicity of manufacturing such a necessary and useful equipment is amazing. The simplest lathe can be made in one day "on the knee". In the manufacture of the most unpretentious lathe, you will need wooden bars, plywood, tin, good glue and other materials.

Materials for the manufacture of a lathe

Before thinking about how to make a lathe, you need to calculate if the cost of the necessary materials will turn out to be more than the cost of a factory device? To do this, it is better to look at a list of all the necessary materials and equipment, determine what is available and calculate how much you need to spend on the missing items.

A set for a lathe from a drill is as follows:

  • electric drill;
  • a sturdy table or workbench;
  • at least three clamps;
  • self-tapping screws;
  • bolts, screws and nuts;
  • files;
  • incisors;
  • sandpaper.

But if your home business has grown to require high productivity and precision steel fabrication, then you need to fork out and purchase an industrial lathe with a powerful electric motor, a rigid bed and tooling mounted on it.

What is a lathe made of?

Any lathe has the following main components in its design:

  1. Lathe bed. Foundation in machine tool building.
  2. Headstock with a power unit, in this case a drill.
  3. Rear grandma. Its location along the axis must correspond to the axis of the headstock. Otherwise, marriage will come out during work.
  4. A stop is required to install the cutting tool. Its location should be as close as possible to the workpiece set for processing. It is desirable to make such a support table that will allow you to safely work on a homemade lathe from a drill.
  5. The machine bed determines the main location of the lathe units and ensures the reliability of the entire unit. A powerful bed, equipped with reliable legs with correctly installed and coaxial nodes, is a full-fledged lathe. A small bed can be installed on a massive table or workbench. The assembled lathe from a drill on a bed of this type is easy to carry and transport.
  6. Purchased factory equipment will make it easier to work on a lathe from a drill.

It should be noted that the processing of materials on the resulting device will be limited. On such a home-made device, you can process wood, copper, aluminum and its alloys, that is, any soft materials. On a do-it-yourself lathe, a steel part cannot be machined from a drill.

Work process

A piece of thick plywood works well as a bed. It has a flat surface, which will help in coaxial installation of the headstock and tailstock. The drill can be fixed by any available method. The main condition is that it must be hardwired. In our case, consider an example using clamps.

Let's prepare the main element of power traction. For the convenience of assembling a homemade lathe from a drill, we will prepare a clamping fixture for fixing the drill. Let's take a metal clamp, having previously altered it a little.

It is necessary to fix the clamp, which will later clamp our drill. Let's fasten it to the frame. Clamp the drill with a clamp attached to the clamp. Thus, a rigidly fixed headstock with a power unit was obtained.

Support for lathe

In a similar way, we will make the tailstock of the lathe from a drill. It is necessary to install the tailstock using a second clamp, always in the same axis as the front. For ease of operation, a bearing with a pressed-in axle, sharpened under a cone, is perfect for the tailstock. A cartridge can also be used as a fastener for a part.

We need the third clamp for the support table. This is the so-called caliper by professional turners.

For the convenience of moving the caliper along the axis of the part, it is desirable to make a rigid groove on the base of the bed. The manufacturing method is as follows:

  1. Two even strips are cut out of plywood along the length of the lathe.
  2. Then they are rigidly attached to the frame.
  3. A caliper base is inserted between them, ensuring its reliable movement along the axis.

Such a simple and reliable fixture will provide ease of processing parts.

The ideal caliper for a lathe from a drill is one when the caliper has the ability to move both along the axis of the lathe and across it. With it, the turner will be able to freely hold the cutter during processing. The caliper is brought close to the part, which ensures complete safety in operation. If the stop is far from the workpiece, then the turning tool can be pulled out of your hands.

Tool required to machine the part

You can process a part fixed in a lathe with cutters. This is especially true for those parts that consist of various alloys. The cutter is securely mounted on a support, which allows you to grind copper, brass products and parts from other soft metals. As a cutter for processing a wooden workpiece, a sharpened locksmith's file - a rasp is suitable. Will cope with the work and file. A well and properly sharpened piece of an automobile spring also works great as a cutter.

How to fix a large diameter workpiece on the machine?

To attach large-diameter workpieces to a lathe, you will have to stock up on a plan with a washer, which is attached to the chuck of an electric drill. Its use makes it possible to grind parts of large diameters.

On a home-made machine, you can carve balusters for stairs, make wooden dishes with your own hands and at your discretion. The machine is perfect for the manufacture of round candlesticks, and indeed any round wooden product and products made of soft types of metals.

How to replicate wooden products from blanks?

To replicate balusters to a staircase under construction, for example, you can use a copier. What is a copier and how to work with it? Everything is ridiculously simple. The necessary product for the stairs is being made. An additional device is made from a drill to a compact wood lathe, on which a baluster made in exact dimensions is attached. The second copy is made according to existing sizes.

Many have seen craftsmen working on duplicate keys. A "native" key is inserted into the copier, and all the bulges on the workpiece duplicate its bulges. There is no need to constantly measure the part. The machined part is an exact copy of the original. The principle and approach are the same.

Drawings of a lathe from a drill

By adding a homemade lathe with just a few details, you can significantly expand the functions of such equipment. With it, you can paint a part or carve a twisted mesh along the entire length of the workpiece. You can use the unique capabilities of a drill not only in a lathe. It is possible to make on the same frame and which will work no worse than the factory one. The diameter of the drill depends on the chuck in the drill. Adapters or drills with shanks suitable for the cartridge will help to increase the diameter. Making a milling machine, having learned and understood the capabilities of a drill, will not be difficult.

Electricians will appreciate the use of a homemade lathe when winding windings for transformers at home.

In conclusion, we can state: a seemingly simple power tool, with proper and proper use, can expand its capabilities and become indispensable equipment in home production. The main thing is that before you try and learn how to make a lathe, you need to be patient.