The power source is the same 1/4 HP fan motor as before (it's my only electric motor until I can get my hands on another unneeded fan or better yet washing machine). The spindle is a 3/8' plain steel rod, which passes through a piece of aluminum tube, that forms a perfect bearing when oiled. The faceplate uses the same Christmas tree stand system of centering and gripping workpieces, but I added gradations on it to help me out with centering. The tailstock slides along two 3/8" steel rods, and has a wood support to keep it rock steady when turning stuff, since the rods can flex enough that they are inadequate by themselves. When turning a 3/4" coupler, the coupler just fits around the outside taper of the chuck in the tailstock, which centers it nicely. There is a wooden toolpost that is independent of the lathe and just clamps to the table in front of it. I have a screw feed system so that I can carefully control the depth of cut. For cutting o-rings I bought the appropriate tool off McMaster and after some trouble managed to mount it to my insanely non-standard tool post. I have managed to cut some very nice o-ring grooves in 3/4" PVC couplers, that have a 99% seal inside 1.25" pipe.
Video of cutting an o-ring groove:
Pics:
The headstock, with the original variable speed controller from the fan:
The faceplate gripping system. The little holes are 1/8" apart for a reference point.
The cutting tool and some of its handiwork:
And finally the camera crane I used to film the video. Everything in sight is pretty ghetto, but I think this takes the cake.
