Taig Lathe Motor Mount

[kgstakes]

I have some questions,

 

Does anyone have a taig lathe?  

 

Did you use the motor mounting bracket or did you change it out for a large hinge?  If you are using a hinge, would you think there is any undo stress to the motor or the lathe headstock by using a hinge for mounting the motor and belt tension?  Something I've always done from the start is when I'm done with the lathe, I will remove the belt, that way I feel any motor weight on it will not stretch the belt.  My not have to but I do.

 

What other modifications have you done to your lathe?  This goes for any mini lathe that would make the lathe perform better.  Example: DRO or other type of accurate measuring.  (One of the things I'm working on getting, is a 4 jaw independent chuck).

 

Lastly, what have you made with your Taig lathe?  Miniature parts for ships, parts for other projects, etc.

 

Thank you for any advise on the above questions.  Would really be interested in knowing about the hinge motor mount.  I did this with mine and used a very heavy duty brass hinge ( 1/4" thick with about a 3/16 pin).  Also, makes moving the belt to a different pulley easier.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 01:32 AM by kgstakes

[paul ron]

its not unusual to diy mount a tool's motor using a hinge. the weight of the motor should be enough to tension the tool to the drive belt... if not, you can use bungies or other additional methods to tension the mount.

 

there is no additional stresses to worry about as long as its all aligned properly.

 

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 07:46 PM by paul ron

[kgstakes]

7 hours ago, paul ron said:

its not unusual to diy mount a tool's motor using a hinge. the weight of the motor should be enough to tension the tool to the drive belt... if not, you can use bungies or other additional methods to tension the mount.

 

there is no additional stresses to worry about as long as its all aligned properly.

 

 

 

 

Any other mods that you can think of that I should or could do to my Taig lathe ?  Other than buy more tooling and chucks and such 😆.

[paul ron]

im not familiar with these small lathes. i do have experiance on metal lathes, comercial machines, and wood lathes.

 

are you working metal? an oil drip pan under the lathe and an oil feeder may be worth looking into. do you intend to do threading? there are special toolings and accessories needed for that.

 

perhaps asking others here for literature and check out you tube videos to see how to properly and safely use your tools.

 

videos...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=taig+desktop+metal+lathe

 

best thing to do is use it, follow instructions, get plenty of practice.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 12:08 PM by paul ron

[wefalck]

There are several Web-sites specifically on the Taig and modifications etc. owners made. For instance this one: http://www.cartertools.com

 

And yes, mounting the motor on some sort of hinge was/is common practice, even by manufacturers. One can make this more sophisticated by providing locking/tensioning screws.

 

And yes again, removing the belt is good practices. Leaving it under tension may not stretch is, but may deform it in the way it has been put aside, leading to an uneven bumpy rund, at least initially.

 

I don't know what you are planning to do with the independent 4-jaw-chuck, but its use may imply that you need to have a dial-indicator and a mount for it to be able to center workpieces.

[kgstakes]

I’ll be turning mainly wood for miniature furniture and ship parts but I will also be turning brass and aluminum for scale horse drawn vehicle parts and other project parts.

 

A 4 jaw chuck independent would be for turning square stock (wood) for table legs etc.

 

Dial indicator is a must I would think with a 4 jaw chuck independent.  I know I could use and 4 jaw chuck (like 3 jaw) but I believe in the long run an independent chuck is the way to go if I decide to do more turning that needs to be real accurate measurements.

 

 I’ve looked online and see many mods but to do them I would also need a mill and I would like to get one but not right away.  I see that taig has an attachment for the lathe to use as a mill (which I’ll probably get for very light work) but don’t really know how good that attachment would be for heavy milling like some of the mods I’ve seen people do.

 

 I know the basics of turning on a lathe, but some of the “tricks of the trade” sorta speak, I don’t know.

 

 Examples of the work I do on the lathe

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wefalck]

Indeed, for square or rectangular stock or excentric turning a independent 4-jaw-chuck is really useful.