The Metal Lathe Made With A 3D Printer

[@Borgedesigns]

This video needs more footnotes than a Discworld novel. Some things of note that didnt fit in the video for one reason or another: -Square gravers are what the watchmakers lathe would use. I ordered some, but they are yet to arrive. Should provide significant advantage -It has the option to be bolted down. I didn't this video which only really shows during the wood lathe section. -The drilling option REALLY needs work Probably some other things idk

[@ThreeAngrySquirrels]

Your motor would be able to deliver more of it's power if you put a flywheel on the back of the chuck axel.

[@elijahclifford863]

For bed extensions - I dont have an idea for the rails themselves but for the printed sections you could print joint-able parts like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYqbqpdnbpakjKc

[@mistaecco]

Today I learned where the scattershot focus in the discworld audiobooks comes from! Time to hit the library and start the series from the top with my eyes instead 😉

[@TekDrgn]

Originally thought this video was neat. Saw the Discworld footnote comment and smashed subscribe immediately

[@mattiasfagerlund]

Buy the cheapest cordless massager (looks like a gun) you can get. 3D print funnels for your openings and fill the with concrete. Vibrate the thing using the massager and the concrete will flow like water. Well, almosr. I use it to liquefy plaster all the time!

[@Borgedesigns]

I have been told my concreting is "the least satisfying thing on all of youtube" by a friend aha, good tips.

[@BernasLL]

That's a great tip. Have one and everything. But don't put "massager" on quotation marks, that makes it far worse xD

[@srboromir452]

Might be able to find an old used dental plaster vibrator for cheap as well

[@mattiasfagerlund]

@@BernasLL haha, I'll keep that in mind!

[@kde5fan737]

If you don't want to buy one of those I'd suggest sitting the wet concrete on top of the washing machine when it is going into it's spin cycle. Some of these new machines have VERY high spinning speeds & I'd bet both top fill & side fill would work.

[@snijkwodd]

To make it easier next time for cleaning the concrete, spray some cooking oil on the plastic ( even inside is ok to make it flow to every corner ) first then pour your concrete ( use a tiny squirt of dishsoap to make it flow better in the mix and add a bit more water your mix is very dry and compressive strength does not matter for your purpose ) then wipe the surfaces with a wet rag / paper towel it will come off 10000% easier

[@SarahKchannel]

I have been dreaming for years to make a mini lathe. Yet I came to the same conclusions when just contemplating it, it wont be rigid enough. Now you concreting approach changed that ! Thanks for the inspiration !!!!

[@Borgedesigns]

Im glad people are getting the takeaway with the concrete. My design is probably a bit over complicated but the basic premise can be applied to so many printed applications

[@SarahKchannel]

@@Borgedesigns rest assured, if I designed it would be most likely way more complicated. I think yours was pretty simple and elegant for what it does ! Me I would have to add a cross slide and some form of auto feed :). I was actually thinking of using the 3D as a mold for aluminum casting the base.

[@waltonchan3931]

Great idea to scrounge office printers for guide rods and other components!

[@-hyphenated]

Finally, my dream of desk machining is in reach

[@simon.scurtu]

Quite literally, "in reach"

[@XxIcedecknightxX]

Ever heard of a jewelers lathe?

[@Decapent_Tater]

@@XxIcedecknightxX Hadn't heard of a DIY one, personally.

[@XxIcedecknightxX]

@@Decapent_Tater me niether, good thing he didn't say a DIY one.

[@pontiacg445]

Always has been, a sherline is less than a grand. As a bonus, it's not a joke of a badly designed noodle like this thing.

[@mmr159]

My man… you do ALL this genius work but then just throw cement at it. Design funnels in under 5 minutes and make your life easier and projects so much cleaner! Love your work and look forward to more.

[@oneandy2]

Very cool. Have you ever read the Dave Gingery "Build a workshop" series? Book 1 is a foundry for melting aluminum. Book 2 is building a lathe from scratch, largely from aluminum castings using the foundry constructed in book 1. Using a 3d printer to make your casting patterns, I bet someone could follow that book alot more easily than when it was written.

[@TaylorJonPeters]

This is so fantastic. I would love to see bolt mounting points to fix to a desk!! I also wonder what it would look like if you had a mini tool holder with a lead screw to be able to do more precise work !!!

[@Borgedesigns]

Thanks :) IT does have mounting points I just poorly illustrated it. In hindsite, the extra 40 or so for a cross slide setup could be worth it so ill think about it in the future.

[@mastermaker666]

Cheap spray clear-coat does the same, it protects the surface and makes it easier to clean and on darker colors it completely hides layer lines even if you don't fully sand them away(generally just scotchbriting the surface to make the clear-coat stick will still see layer-lines gone with darker filaments)

[@darkwinter7395]

Use epoxy-granite instead of concrete. It's dimensionally stable, and concrete isn't.

[@feilko2170]

hahaha dimensionally stable.. like he has some tolerances to keep 😭

[@Karaon]

@@feilko2170 that's exactly both thoughts that poped in my head. why tf concrete but on the other hand... well... he's not working with car parts

[@gzaos]

I think the point is to make it heavier, also cheap.

[@Luka1180]

@@gzaos Stability is more important

[@Bitfrogess]

Love it! Can't wait to see further iterations. I highly recommend swapping out regular bearings for angular roller/thrust bearings. Regular bearings aren't designed for the load you're putting on them.

[@samandoria]

Ive been on the same path as you, good to see the method has some viability. In my experience you really should add some form of fiber reinforcement to the concrete. Cyano-acrylate glue(super glue) is great with concrete if any fine cracks are formed. It's also good as a surface finish to the exposed concrete parts. This both hinders particles from coming loose and adds surface tensile strength that concrete lacks and hinders cracks to develop in the first place.

[@littlehills739]

scaner - printers units have nice free stainless rods if u see them for e-waste on the street

[@therealzar]

Love your videos since I saw them... the thing I like the most which sold your channel to me, is minecraft songs playing in the background. Theres something peacefull and calming in your videos. Good to watch. Keep up the good work

[@Chris-oj7ro]

I love what you're doing with exploring 3D printed concrete forms. I feel this technique is vastly underutilized, and it offers incredible strength and precision for a relatively low effort and cost.

[@fleaniswerkhardt4647]

cement mixed with general purpose epoxy resin works amazingly well in this sort of application.

[@duanescott7475]

Brilliant project. Please find it in your heart to upload😂. I have built a 3d printed CNC, Drill Press, Ball vice, Heat set insert press, belt sander, and was searching for a 3d printed lathe.... None grabbed my interest until I saw your design. Please, please, pretty please upload the files. ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@MaximilianonMars]

Is the concrete desired for its mechanical properties? For rigidity? The density of concrete (not cement, which on its own is much lighter) is 2400kg/m3 whereas plaster is 2275kg/m3. I'd go with the plaster for ease of use and possibility of redoing it/chipping it out or dissolving it if there are problems later.

[@CrabtreeCAD]

Wow, impressive. I've been big into 3D printing for about 5 years now, but have always wanted my own little benchtop lathe. I recently bought some books on building lathes from scratch using rudimentary casting techniques, and was thinking of using lost PLA casting, but never considered 3D printing a lathe itself! Very cool, I didn't expect this to work as well as it does.

[@amandahugankiss4110]

office printers are amazing for parts. if you can get an entire copy center you are set. dozens of steppers of all sizes. same with servos and solenoids. more belts, sprockets, pulleys, and precision shafts than you can shake a stick at. they are beyond heavy, though. like, vending machine heavy. ALL your friend kinda heavy..

[@Klaevin]

uh-oh. he's using his lathe to upgrede itself. before you know it, you'll be on machinist youtube with a "real" lathe, a mill and an old mill you're "definitely upgrading into a CNC mill"

[@AlexJoneses]

hand turning steel is wild

[@declanbull6263]

I absolutely love it and I definitely need one for myself! I've always had an interest in machining but both the cost and weight of the machines always deterred me, until I came across yours. Love your work and I love the open source community, keep it up!

[@tylersmith1468]

Commenting so the YT algorithm will promote this. This is very impressive. Thanks mate.

[@KeithOlson]

That would be perfect as a child's first DIY lathe. It looks easy enough to build without costing a lot and will get them well established as 'Makers'.

[@meikgeik]

Would love to see a version where the concrete is more contained, or the base can be mounted down to a bench instead? Maybe just a printable hand rest cover to cover where the concrete is poured in, so you hands aren't rubbing it occasionally?

[@mm-ly9df]

the spindle rigidity is something to really work on, but this is quite inspiring

[@3DPI67]

Nice! I like the combination of cement and 3d printed molding.

[@wzr3293]

this would be the kind of lathe i would give a kid as an introductory machine honestly, its cheap, its relatively safe (as long as you are using a suitable motor) and would open up a new category of desktop warfare lol

[@LordDecapo]

Definitely my favorite 3d pronted lathe yet!

[@markjacksmarkjacks]

Use a pastry tube to feed cement accurately. Use something like Tyvec and just roll it into a cone and cut the tip to the right size.

[@homemadetools]

Nice work opening up a new world with 3D printing. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum last week 😎

[@DanteYewToob]

Dude, just using a bag for the concrete… lol dump it in a zip bag, cut the corner off and pipe it into the slots like frosting. Much cleaner and more accurate, and you can add a milkshake straw to get it into the small areas too. That mess was entirely unnecessary…. Hahaha but something I’d probably do too if I was too lazy to just go buy bags.

[@artpuh]

More stability, more concrete!😂 You are crazy, so much better 😂

[@refaellidoryashar1307]

next time you should use a heat gun to bring back the color to the sanded print...and i hope that one day you would builf a 3D printer with your idea of making strong 3D printed parts win concreat! keep doing great videos :)

[@lolslim690]

I had a feeling some of those rods were from printers when I noticed flat side at the end of one of the rods, I have disassembled multiple laserjets and have many 6mm rods with flat side to them. I also have motors which one was bad and I pulled that metal cover off that has a magnet ring inside and use it to hold bolts when I disassemble dvd drives / hard disk drives.

[@ChrisR2020]

Might I make a small recommendation? I see you are using aluminum extrusions and 3D printed plastic for the body of your lathe and steel fasteners to connect everything. I would suggest instead 3D printing the shape of the body of the lathe, and then using it as a positive to make a sand casting mold with. Then you could potentially mill out the portions that need to be precise after casting. This would allow you to use at least brass, possibly even steel for the body of the lathe, which will greatly improve its functionality. You can use a relatively makeshift mill using the current designs to do the finishing work on the casting.

[@Feralhyena]

Only question: why cement and not shot & epoxy? Seems like it'd be cleaner.

[@TheLaXandro]

An interesting idea I just had, if you need precise parts on a lathe like this, you can 3D print flat templates to screw to the tool rest and slide the tool over. It'll require a bit of calibration, but with a pattern parts can be done precisely and, more importantly, reproducibly.

[@dj1NM3]

I really hope you used taperd roller bearings in the headstock, otherwise there will always be unavoidable wobble on the spindle.

[@markcastonguay7906]

He clearly didn't use tapered roller bearing as the need to be held under a compressive load to work right. i would guess he used common deep groove ball bearings.

[@dj1NM3]

@@markcastonguay7906 That does explain the large wobble of the headstock spindle, whenever force is applied in the video. A bit of an oversight, really.

[@delgueda]

This is amazing, please make it available to humanity as soon as you can!

[@MayorOfLuckyBoyNV]

A stylish design! Very retro.

[@kulsumagro]

Hi. You have made very nice 3D instruments. The idea of filling 3D printed parts with concrete is really good. This makes the instruments more stable. I would like to suggest you to make an instrument to inject the concrete into the 3d parts to make the job more easy and clean. Thank you for sharing your ideas

[@stanislavdenysenko2007]

1:18 I didn't see what kind of washers there were. Since regular ball bearings have axial play, a little trick needs to be done at this point. The central (or outer) races of two adjacent bearings must be preloaded in opposite directions. I haven’t figured out how to do this in such a machine yet.

[@yannmegard4008]

Very nice. I love the idea of the concrete to give mass and resilience to 3d prints. Besides the fact that everything in your video is quite professional, I love that you stay humble and realistic on your project. Bravo and I wish you a lot of success in life in general.

[@DawidekEngineering]

Awesome build man! This is something I originally thought of when building my lathe except with CNC control. Your execution is better than myself. Good work!

[@Dangineering]

This is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing the files, I am definitely going to be making one of these for myself!

[@Luigik99tv]

Great project I really like it ! Make sure to include also a way to clamp or fix it to the bench!

[@XXCoder]

interesting, though I see bit too much deflection on collet

[@user-ok6so1nt3u]

Amazing work. My favorite creator in the 3d printing space.

[@osmanpasha_diy]

What do you think about a typical 775 motor in this usecase? Does it have enough power? Maybe change gear ratio to reduce speed of spindle? Another question, why didn't you mount the headstock to the extrusions themselves?

[@designer9205]

hi. What is the name of your watch on your hand?

[@HairyStuntWaffle]

salvaged stepper motor to drive a lead screw/belt? could be a nice upgrade.

[@kde5fan737]

I really like this and I agree you really need some kind of tool holder and if there is any way to make it slide paralel to the spindle, that would be great, even if it's only an inch or so. If you can lock the tool in place (distance from centerpoint) and then slide, it would make a huge difference but IDK how hard that would be. I would be almost more excited to see a copying/cloning setup (forget what you called it) so you can replicate the shape of other pieces or at least use a profile guide (which could be incorperated with the slide above!!). How are the vibrations? Would you consider making the base a little heftier & making a bunch of mounting holes where it could be bolted onto some old plate iron or steel? If you want to add more weight while reducing vibration, what about filling the cavity with lead &/or steel shot of various sized (so they "nest") and maybe fill the rest with sand & then sel or cap the openings. I've heard keeping the material loose is best for absorbing vibrations as the movement is transferred into the shot/balls & the move/bounce (hardly observable) dissipating the vibration while actually generating heat! in large systems this type of setup actually needs active cooling from what I've been told (similar to coal catching on fire while in rail cars from the friction from vibration) - so it must be doing something! Awesome job!

[@rexmundi8154]

You’re on a decent path, but the runout in the headstock looks pretty bad. It doesn’t seem like headstock volume would be an issue, so I’d go with taper bearings and make it bigger. Also reduce the overhang. Maybe go with a drawbar and collet system. You already have a watchmaker’s lathe with those presumably. I’d also go with a granite epoxy mix instead of concrete. Thin concrete is not very strong.

[@c0gitator]

This may have been said elsewhere, but it would be great if you could add a couple of flat portions to the base where you could either clamp the lathe to your workbench or secure it with carriage bolts. That should really tamp down vibration while adding a degree of security.

[@peterxyz3541]

NICE!!!!!! Next project...a bigger, concrete cement lathe like in the 1919s

[@ExercisingIngenuity]

This build seems really accessible, would be a lot of fun to try and make one of these!

[@The3DPrintingGrandad]

Impressive. I have been thinking about a project like this for a while.

[@wormball]

1:48 howtobasic moment

[@SergeiPetrov]

Are you saving cement? ))) It made sense to make the headstock and bed three times thicker.

[@Onyxx98]

your machine making projects are so creative, i love it Subbed

[@quirkydad6083]

This is cool! Can't yto see the final

[@poepflater]

masking off the parts you want to keep clean will be easier then cleaning after. true when applying anything thicker than water...

[@MatchaMakesThings]

Absolutely wonderful project.

[@0xDEADBEEF666]

This is a cool project and you've yielded some great results. If the "It doesn't replace this" section being at the beginning , it would have made my eyelid twitch less as a hobbyist machinist who takes himself too seriously.

[@amandahugankiss4110]

have you looked into epoxy granite as apposed to concrete? i would imagine cost could be a factor; though on a smaller project that may only add twenty bucks or so. stuff looks beautiful and you can mix and match your aggregates for density and color and whatever else turns you in that afternoon!

[@questioning3388]

Use a grout bag to add the concrete. Less mess.

[@joshuavanmeerveld7230]

Hey, great concept, very interesting! You should check out if you haven't seen it the "Turnado" by Eccentric Engineering, it's an accessory for metal lathe to allow free hand, radius and pattern turning. Uses a flat metal plate instead of ways. I think a diy version is exactly what this type of lathe needs. I think a version with tapered roller bearings with a spindle that can adjust their clearances and some way to reduce the stick out of the collet holder/work pieces would go a long way. Also I think for the drilling bit (tailstock) you need a more rigid/thicker connection to the chuck and mounting to the rest of the lathe. All in all I would say it has a ton of potential, great work!!

[@JAM35_]

What watch was that? It's really cool looking

[@PDXPiggy]

Have you considered filling your prints with fine sand and printing a snap cover for the holes? That would be far less messy :)

[@aseeker2109]

Brilliant

[@alexkoef1255]

Old tech + New tech + Brain = Super!!!

[@tomiem1386]

Great work man, cant wait to see where you take this thing in the future!

[@admadea]

You've inspired me to draft up my own attempt at something like this, given my junk pile contains many components similar to those in your parts list....

[@nonyabidness5784]

Help me encourage him to upload his design/files because that would be a brilliant basis for mods and improvements!

[@jamest3188]

this is a strange request, but I need a Key Cutter machine and they are like 1200$ so i was wondering if you possibly make plans for one? i guess its basically a variant of a lathe, but with a grinder/vice attachment. anyway, thanks in advance if you take on this next project!

[@abludungeonmaster5817]

Awesome work. Maybe it is possible to use bismuth as the weight? Just pour and weight for it harden....

[@clutch2827]

Genius!

[@Ryxxi_makes]

have u tried epoxy resin or is cement just better ?'

[@josephpk4878]

Ever see the video of the guy that makes a lathe from traditional tools and techniques? He literally starts with a bow and string and forms each part as he goes. Absolutely amazing. This project is awesome and I'd love to have this in my printing shop. * Would love to study the STL for this, but can't seem to find it on the Thingiverse page...

[@eddietowers5595]

Awesome video. If it were up to me, I’d make this video an educational standard. Specially tackling the King of Machines, the lathe, of which when created or made is a legacy machine, by default.

[@pinaz993]

If you can turn pens on it, you can bootstrap your way to abetter lathe if you need one.

[@dowhilegeek]

1:45 in, and I feel like this cool project could benefit from 2020 c-channel, instead of two independent 2020 extrusions.

[@TheChillieboo]

Awesome!

[@jmherbst87]

Do you have the specs abd configs of your printer and slicer somewhere?

[@ericlotze7724]

0:14 Good video to plug there

[@SOLO-QUE]

Bro, your videos are inspiring. You should have more subs. Thanks for the examples of what is possible with a little imagination. Great work. Maybe if you made something outrageous the algorithm would pump you a bit more.

[@AlexWithAStar]

Any idea when this will be released?

[@boombox8675]

i wanna know what watch is that. i love that beige and orange color

[@HRZN-xj9um]

Droopy likes your lathe

[@trekintosh]

I was not expecting concrete lmfao. It’s actually a pretty good idea, just shocking.

[@BonhartofEbbing]

FOSSCAD are gunna' love this

[@RustyInventions-wz6ir]

Very interesting. Nice work.

[@SaitoGray]

With need a variable speed motor, and probably a way to tranform it into a CNC. But the cost would not be worth it if you don't have all you need on hand. Interesting project, i really want to build a lathe one day but i need at least the equivalent of the Chinese 700€ machine to be worth it.

[@8bitghostnuts]

A new challenger in the aluminium pronunciation debate has appeared

[@kayezero703]

Very impressive

[@wulfboy_95]

Instead of concrete, why not use epoxy granite? It dampens vibrations pretty well apparently.

[@satibel]

I'd say cost and availability, though you may want to add fiber and polymer to the concrete as a middle ground to make it more resistant to vibration.

[@AndrasBuzas1908]

It seemed to move around, could you fix it to the table?

[@minigunlabs]

Are you planning to make a CNC lathe machine?

[@zozozoli]

i want to make a similar lathe for a time now, so here is a few questions: How do you make sure that the axle of the rotation is paralel to the bed? Or it is not as important? Also the motor pulling on the axle could get it out of paralel I picked up a cheap rotational tool, like dremel and planning to use that as the motor. It has speed control and I plan to get some geared belt. any thoughts? I also sourced the cast iron base of an old sewing maching, and planning to use it as a base, so it does not move around while using it, like yours did :D

[@satibel]

since it's a hand machine, as long as the bearings are concentric, the bed being exactly parallel probably doesn't matter much. if you're talking about the die grinders that take like a 3-4mm shaft, be careful, they are often running at like 20k+rpm, so an 8 to 1 or so reduction may be needed, and even then on the low end you're looking at 5k rpm, which is still 625 rpm with an 8 to 1. imo a 0-3000 rpm drill might be more appropriate and doesn't need any gear reduction (and you can still get one for like 20 euro) his moved cause it wasn't bolted down, but it can be.

[@zozozoli]

@@satibel Im talking about those rotary sanders, cutters, used to carve in wood or engrave into metal. not as powerfull as a die grinder, but still has a lot of rpm and I will need reduction and I hope that will give me more tourqe. Look up dremel 3000. what I have is a no-brand knok of but pretty similar in power. What I need a lathe for is more of a precision work like making mini screws or pins with custom treads so I fear that my bed setup needs to be more precise.

[@satibel]

​@@zozozoli yeah that's what I meant, apparently die grinder is usually used for the higher power versions and rotary tool for the one you have. but my point still stand, the range might be a bit of an issue unless you have swappable gears, the dremel 3000 does 5k-35k rpm . though if you use 2 5:1 stages, that'd work as you can simply swap one to a 3:1 or 2:1 if you need higher speed. basically you'd want something like a 300-5k rpm range if you wanna do steel from what I looked at, so 7:1, maybe 5:1 for the highest speed, and 20:1 for the lowest so a 4:1 fixed and a swappable 1.75 - 5:1 so a 16T into a 80T|20T swap and a 16:64 (using GT2 belts)

[@zozozoli]

@@satibel thats a good idead to have extra gears so i can change on the go Thanky for the info and your toughts!