Who needs a lathe?
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:24 am
I needed to re-turn the tenon on a finished stem tonight. But the pilot on my tenon turner is sized for a .128” hole and I’d already drilled the stem to 5/32”, so I needed to make a new pilot. But I don’t have a lathe. No problem – I just chucked a piece of ¼” rod in the drill press and turned it down to the size I needed.
I’ve actually done turning like this quite often. I use to be a machinist so I have dozens of lathe bits in my toolbox, but you can buy HSS lathe tools from any of the online tool suppliers. Stay away from carbide because you can't resharpen them without special grinding wheels. HSS tools can be sharpened with a bench grinder, or belt/disc sanders.
I’ve actually done turning like this quite often. I use to be a machinist so I have dozens of lathe bits in my toolbox, but you can buy HSS lathe tools from any of the online tool suppliers. Stay away from carbide because you can't resharpen them without special grinding wheels. HSS tools can be sharpened with a bench grinder, or belt/disc sanders.