(safety disclaimer) the large disc turning is not really the intended use of the lathe and was really just a torture test, the tool caught a lot and just stalled the motor but with a larger motor this could be quiet dangerous. This lathe is really meant for less than 10mm parts. On the topic of "hand tools should not be used for metal parts", this is not a new concept and small parts have been turned this way for centuries and still are by some. Sherline sells tool rests for this type of tooling for their lathes. I understand the safety concerns but the motor here is tiny, 1000rpm and taken from a printer. Even on the large off center workpiece with giant saw notches to catch the tool, I never felt any force of note because the motor is just too small. When the tool did catch the motor would just stall. This one has been a while in the making There are just 2 days left of the Prusa awards for 2024! I am a finalist and there is a cash prize that would fund dozens of tools like this. If you like my work and would like to see more of it it has never been easier to support me, just go vote! www.printables.com/awards Im also trying a slightly less detailed style for the build. Not many people watch that section so condensing it a bit makes sense for me. Thankyou all for watching :)
a standard tool-post/compound-slide should be included in the design of the next lathe (assuming you're going to also experiment with increasing the general size of the lathe) Also a better waze than the aluminium extrusion should be planned around to enable the slow upgrading of the lathe by the end user.
This is a cool design. I think a good idea for a future upgrade would be a better tool post potentially with a leadscrew driven Z and X axis and a compound slide
You may make some shorts about a minute long to satisfy the curiosity of ADHD fish memory viewers. 10 minutes is already quite a short video, and there's really nothing stretched and excessive here, all the information is on point. Great concept by the way, I'm interested to try something similar
"Hmmm. I dont have much money but I need this tool. Ahh. I'll just print myself one." I don't comment on many videos, but this just blew my mind. You showed perfectly how powerful a 3D printer with a genius mind can be. Endless possibilites. This is the stuff I love about 3D printing. You can just go "nuts" with it. Hats off for you! Respect that you share with others this kind of stuff!
You can't in fact go nuts with it :( 3d printers and plastics can only do so much, I tried to build a mechanical computer but it's just not consistent enough.
his idea of making the 3d printed frame heavier than wood or metal, by just pouring concrete into the 3d printed frame, is such a cool idea that solves a big problem for my 3d printed large objects feeling too light and thus cheaper. heavy feels expensive.
For your sake, my dear friend, I decided to use a translator, in our time it is not so easy to devote time to another in helping, but I will do it. since I could not look at that nuance having the following knowledge: when you sharpened a cutting tool, then for too long without lifting it off, held it on a whetstone, note that the metal at this moment turned red and then white, in Russia this effect is called: tempering colors. this is when the metal acquired a blue color. the metal became annealed and its strength dropped many times, it will be a bad cutting tool. please cool the cutting tool when sharpening, do not bring it even to a light dark color. I hope I explained it clearly. With respect from Russia
There was Mr. Gingery who promoted building "Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap" series. Your work is highly complementary to his vision, plus adding a vision of your own.
Anyone interest in this should get the Gingery books. Even if you use this process, he does some things better. Cutting the head stock on the lathe gets much better alignment than this process that puts it in place than pours. Gingery does many things that are not right either, but he did some things right that this gets wrong.
@@Borgedesigns watch the build of Gingery lathe on Makercise UA-cam channel. One of main things that he does is boring out the headstock on unfinished lathe so he gets it perfectly aligned. But gingery lathe has a proper support that moves along the bed as it is cutting so it is much more important then on your "watchmaker type" lathe. Please note that he cast his lathe from aluminium. For that a 3D printed models could be very useful.
This looks genuinely useful. Some ideas for V3: Little fingers all over the inner surfaces to hold onto the concrete. Over time the concrete will come loose from the plastic, and the whole thing will feel less solid. Caps for the exposed concrete. You don't want sand and grid over your projects, and it will look better. Better concrete. Concrete engineering is a vast subject, and I'm sure you can do much better along any metric you think would improve things. (e.g. concrete that sticks to plastic or is slightly less brittle) Complete, live links to everything you have to buy in a github project. This is guaranteed to chang over time. You'll make updates for a while, but later you'll prefer that later builders of your lathe project do their own homework, and if you've made a way for people to send pull requests with updates, you'll have made something that lives on without your input. There will also be better inventory lists for the US, EU, China or wherever. An order request link to PCBWay or something similar to have them just print and machine your parts list. A benchy test makers of your project can use to test the quality of their build. Parts of your lathe that can be made on your lathe. Adjust your build so that these parts are upgradable. Sooner or later a real machinist is going to get hold of your project and laugh at it and say "if you do this, it will be ten times better" and you can take their suggestion. and make your lathe 10x better. I wonder if resin impregnated sand would work better
Good suggestions for sure, github and documentation in general is something I need to get better at. PCB way is also a good shout, there are parts like the bearing alignment pieces that are designed to be CNCd for those who can so making that as easy as possible is a good idea. I have considered epoxy granite type things many times but ultimately get put off by the cost, however I do mean to experiment wit it. thanks for the feedback.
It seems what is being called concrete in the video is really just a mortar mix of sand and cement, gravel wasn't noticeable anyway. GP epoxy resin mixed well with raw cement as a filler would work really well in this application.
Wouldn't the concrete at the bottom of the lathe still be a little wet or soft? Does it not take longer for the water to evaporate from the small openings?
@@ZergRadio Thankfully, concrete doesn't dry, it cures. The water becomes an integral part of the concrete and doesn't need to evaporate for the concrete to harden. The concrete chemically bonds with the water. In large concrete pours, the curing can generate enough heat to cause the water to evaporate--so, in some cases, they'll spray the concrete to keep the top surface a little wet so it's not starved of enough water to cure properly. (this is highly dependent on the concrete, the pour, the formulation, the temps, etc etc)
This is how you adapt 3D printing to existing manufacturing and construction techniques. Not just "Giant nozzle pouring concrete" or "I made this part entirely out of plastic and it doesn't have the mechanical properties I need it to anymore." This is a wonderful blend of understanding the assignment, the parameters, and using 3D printing to create a professional looking mold, that positively contributes to the function of the project. Using concrete for filler is a great idea for a smaller machine like this. Captive nuts, bolts, and rails allow for modularity in the design. All extraordinarily well done!
Make sure to add a set of lock nuts to your spindel end to be able to apply the appropriate pretension on your tapered roller bearings. This will add spindle rigidity and improve surface finish and overall precision.
Looks awesome. I would recommend a TPU wiper seal for the work facing bearing. Without some way to keep chips out of it it's probably going to get destroyed pretty quickly.
That's what I was going to say, definitely needs something to keep the chips out of the bearings. Also some way of preloading the bearings would be great.
I always criticized bench tools being made with 3d printers, I mean they are great, but nothing about plastic screams stability and precision, but this, filling your 3d printed parts with concrete is absolutely the way to go, I'm convinced. And I like how you don't go overboard with your 3d printer, you accept that some parts, just cannot be made of plastic. Respect
Agree. People go completely overboard with 3D Printing, the best example being the continuing effort to build houses. The truth is: 3D printed houses suck.
@@TruthDoesNotExist with a yield strength of approximately 50MPa and an elastic modulus of 3GPa PLA is simply an inferior material choice expecially when compared to a fairly weak A36 structural steel, with an elastic modulus of 200GPa and a yield strength of 250 Mpa. you would need a shape with approximately 70 times more stiffness to make something out of PLA in order to come close to what steel can do. The weakest part about this is that he is using 3d printed molds which is the contact surface for his bearings. he would have much better outcomes if he used steel or aluminum molds. or just used cast iron instead of concrete. and then machined the cast parts. um-support-files.ultimaker.com/materials/2.85mm/tds/PLA/Ultimaker-PLA-TDS-v5.00.pdf
I've made a bunch of 3d printed clamps and small bench vices and I'm floored at how strong they are, they've endured a summer of proper work and still work just as good as when I printed them. Trick is lots of walls
Instant subscribe from me, I know in WWII they poured concrete lathes for cheap machining on artillery shells. Sika polymer fortifier for regular mortar/concrete does wonders for sticking to plastic if you're not using it, costs ~$15 for a gallon.
Genuine danger to be aware of: large magnifying lenses should never be left exposed and unattended anywhere where sunlight can reach them. They can and have started fires on bright sunny days. This is the reason why most large desk mounted lenses have flip covers for when not in use. Oh, and awesome project!
I had a friend who left her stitchery Persian rug for a doll house too close to the window and the magnifying glass. Months of work gone in an instant.
i was a critic of mk 1 lathe, but this one seems good. ultimate baller move would be to use this to bootstrap an even beefier lathe that can handle steel.
@@manitoba-op4jx mediocre could mean dangerous when you give it to overly optimistic people. I am with borge that it was cool to show but not to give. this one looks a lot more sturdy and safer. A LOT less like of something going horrible wrong.
I remember in my feandfathers garage, he had a myriad of lathes and old tools. He had the basic understanding of being a machinist and wood worker because his generation was used to making the tools they needed. We have lost that over the last couple generations. I see videos like this and i see the reimergence of human ingenuity and it makes me hopeful and happy. Well done man. This is one step in bringing us back to independence and self agency.
This is a brilliant design and build. You have talent! As a picky person, I do notice something with the 3D printed parts. Or at least some. Especially those "rails", like at 5:39 where you put some stuff on it to get a smooth surface. I noticed that on that piece, when you first placed it where it belongs, that there were a lot of filament strands on top. Strands that didn't melt together well. Been there, done that! I hate when that happens. But I found a solution, that at least, works for me. Actually, 2 solutions, but one you may or may not like. The 1st one, is to enable "Ironing", perhaps printing those parts separately and tweaking the settings for ironing so assure it works on that entire surface. Ironing does 2 things, as I suspect you know. For one, it makes a really smooth and solid finish. It also creates more strength, especially if you increase flow for the ironing portion. The 2nd thing I use is "Fuzzy." With my old printer, which was trash, I used "fuzzy" in order to hide not-so-good layer lines. It worked well. I now have 2 new machines, Creality Ender 3 V3 Plus printers. When I print something where I need to have a really smooth look to it, for one, I print at a layer height of 0.08. I'll often use ironing for top surfaces that are seen and depending on the project, I may use Fuzzy as well. The print plate/bed is reversible. One side smooth, the other textured. I always use the textured side and when I use Fuzzy, I have it tweaked to where it looks almost identical to what the textured plate produces. This way, a consistent look on all parts. I don't know the slicer you use, but there's a newer feature on Creality Print (and I think it's in Orca too), called "Scarf". When set right, not only does it totally hide any seams, but with the right settings, can create a very smooth and if one likes, shiny sides to the prints. The end results with all the above are parts that almost look molded. Just a thought.
As a person trying to become a machinist, I really enjoy your videos and am likely going to use these concepts when build my own CNC machines for my home shop. If you plan to make any further improvements think it'd be really neat to see you add a gear box and lead screw for feed and rpm control on an actual carriage with a mounting tool holder instead of hand turning, maybe even a way to cut threads with a single point tool as well. In my opinion the use of concrete in molds is actually a really good idea for machine tools like mills and lathes, much like cast iron its rigid and dampens vibrations fairly well, although I've seen other examples of DIY machines using a mix of epoxy resin and gravel which might work better. For the stuff I'm planning to do, more hard steel would probably be needed for ways to adjust the spindle and the actual machine ways
4:51 "I haven't found a neat way to do this" Try a plastic piping bag, you can cut a hole the size that you need and it allows you to build up some pressure as well. I use this method with similar DIY projects.
@@fsxnico sorry, what I mean is that since he's 3d printing anyway, print a funnel / guide / spout that fits the exact hole that he'll be pouring into.
This is pretty great! Your open source shop vision is what I hoped would come from 3d printing! Great work! An interesting idea to build could be a power hacksaw (I know these were fairly popular to build in the 80’s, before horizontal bandsaws became more popular).. not to say some of the woodworking community haven’t dabbled around with printing parts for homemade upright bandsaws as well! Eventually making a machine shop from scratch with the help of 3d printing seems amazing- eventually the tools will help build more tools: really tapping into the rep-rap idea. Keep going your channel is awesome!
A few summers back, I spent a while planning out something very similar to this. Then I got a job that ate all of my free time and ended up buying a Unimat 3 on ebay instead, so I never really got around to seeing if it would work. I'm really glad someone has actually done it. One thing I would really, really recommend looking into would be making this adaptable into the Unimat 3/4 (or even the older SL/DB) system. There's a pretty large ecosphere of interchangeable parts for each (M14x1.0 threaded chucks, live centers, etc), as well as a pretty big range of aftermarket parts available from the usual online chinese sellers.
For a neat way to fill the voids with concrete, have you ever watched a baker using a piping bag to decorate a cake? Basically it’s a plastic or parchment cone with a hole at the bottom. The baker fills the cone up with icing and then squeezes out a thin line of icing on to the cake. I am thinking you could use a bigger, tougher bag, possible suspend from a bungee hung from the ceiling, and squeeze the concrete out in a similar way.
Nice project✌🏻. Here are some of my notes (please take it as an improvement for your project 👍🏻) : - use oil instead of grease for spindle bearings as lathes use oil (less resistance, less power loss). - use some dust cover for bearings or else those will be gone in no time - use a shaft lock nut or locking ring for bearings for proper bearing clearance/preload - use a plate to hold the 4 bolts on the top of the spindle housing, which will give more rigidity - use some concrete sealing at least, as concrete is porous and will "drink" any fluid, and moisture
Oil in lathes yes...but only in lathes with a oil filled head.Most smaller ones are only greased,as the oil bad is for the gearbox more then for the bearing. A proper grease will work as good as oil .
@@Mr.Bearded.Mechanic yeah sure.in High Speed you need oil But there are greases Up to 12k RPM IT would Help If He uses a chines Spindel. You get housing,Spindel with Plate for Chuck ,bearings And you can preload IT. His bearings are inside Plastic and also the part flexes so much that you csnt add preload . So the bearings are dead proberbly very soon. There is plenty of improvments and Just 2 more Stock parts to buy. I mean this lathe is for Sure around 100€ in parts rigth now At least 100€
my great grandpa used to say that the lathe was the greatest tool in a shop because its the only tool that can replicate itself. he would often use the lathe to bootstrap it and make improvements for it. he ended up making a massive bed for it so he could turn super long bar stock. i wish he was still around today to see 3d printing! i wonder what he would say about it or the things he would make. my great uncle was also a machinist and was obsessed with vacuum forming, which was kind of the 3d printing of its time, but he was stuck making object with a flat side and draft angles
Are you sure they aren't? Looked like some rings of plastic and little slots and things. Seems like the engineering in the rest of this would imply the guy knows what he's doing and preloading a roller bearing is pretty basic. Also those are some pretty nasty loads from the interrupted cut on that face plate and it doesn't vibrate too much, I'd think it must have been loaded up at least 'by eye', i.e. loaded up a bit in some way, even if not shimmed to the micron which would seem incongruous with the general ethos of this build.
This is terrific. I did some early research into what I called secondary injection techniques for printed parts back when I worked at Honda in R&D in 2008 / 2009. It never occurred to me to look into concrete. Amazing results for such little expense (other than intelligence, blood, sweat and tears). Well done mate.
Tapered bearing pairs should have some preload built into the design, usually in the form of a nut to compress the bearing stack together. I’m not sure how you would achieve this without a thread cutting tool, but maybe it can be implemented in the next iteration?
I have seen preload springs that you slide onto a shaft and compress with a locking collar, but I'm not sure if they have enough force to be useful here?
@@joeofloath that reminds me, a stack of belleville washer with a collar that is fixed when the stack is compressed could work, but will induce vibration if not careful. Still better than no preload tho
Good attempt!! You're going to have to do something about that toolpost and crossslide design if you're ever wanting to cut things accutately or consistently over a length tho! Looking forward to seeing what changes you make in the future!
@Chris Borge, have you seen the "Machine shop from scrap" books by Dave Gingery? They are made from Aluminum castings, but might have some ideas you could copy. This is an awesome tool. 10/10!
Very cool project! Just for future reference on making gravers, you were correct that you do not want to get the pre-hardened steel red hot or it will lose it's heat treatment. However you have to go much further than that and not allow it to heat above the desired temper temperature. For instance if it was previously tempered to a straw (yellowish brown) color but then while grinding it the steel turns blue, that means you have reduced the temper to a lower hardness. So you need to keep the steel cool and never let the temperature go beyond the desired temper temperature. You can think of it this way, hardening the steel makes it as hard as it can get (but too brittle to be good for much), then tempering reduces the hardness but makes it stronger, and this effect continues the hotter you temper it.
This is incredibly cool! The concept of an open source lathe is also amazing. I know the concrete does the brunt of the work, but I wonder if a more advanced filament like PPA-CF would help increase the overall rigidity and durability even more.
2:57 - When assembling parts like this, you can print them with interlocking features to air in alignment and assembly. Think dovetail or even puzzle pieces.
Very good tip, just remember to have a bit of tolerance for such pieces, depending on your printer, filament and settings it could range from 0.025mm to 0.25mm. Print smaller parts and find out how much tolerance you need!
It might be a good idea to reinforce the concrete with some steel wire or mesh. Also, put rocks and gravel in the mold before pouring the concrete if there are large spaces that needs filling. If you can get your hands on crushed iron ore that makes great ballast as it is heavier than regular sand.
I really REALLY like that one. If the next version feature a post holder for a study holding of the tool (you will probably need a redesign and a lead screw) i will definitely print one (and throw some money on patreon, because your video are awesome)
impressive build for what it is, and that price point. Interested to see how you'd tackle coupling a carriage and cross slide to the rotation for a full set of basic functionality. but what blows me away is the idea of filling prints with concrete, that's brilliant. i'm gonna use that for sure.
Overall a great little thing. The only thing missing is some sort of preload for those bearings and a proper spacer from a metaltube on the inside between bearings. They will last a lot longer if they have preload and will deal with the radial forces a lot better. :)
Amazing! Thanks for putting this out there. I have had the need for a low power lathe many times, but not enough to justify the costs and thought there was no way to 3D print one. This is very encouraging. I get the feeling that there is some untapped potential in this. E.g. on a traditional lathe accuracy seems to be effected quite a bit, depending on how tight the bearings in the head stock are squeezed together.
Like someone else mentioned, this is an incredible undertaking reminiscent of the Gingery lathe tutorials! I’m really curious to know if you’re going to use this lathe to somehow create its own cross slide and precision screws, though I can’t imagine how. Dealing with the runout and bed twisting seems like it would always require a surface plate, but I’m sure there’s a way around it! Awesome work man.
Must protect the bearing faces, the exposed rollers will result in completely destroyed bearings in no time (on a real lathe, even just some dust in the air is not good). Also, you need to preload tapered roller bearings like this, meaning something needs to push the bearings into their tapers with considerable force (usually done with a thread and a lock collar). I realize this is not the way you'd want to do it because of not wanting to need machining, but I'm sure you could devise otherwise or a clamp of some sort. Just beware of plastic's creep if going to clamp. Very impressive CAD modeling to make all this!
This is amazing work. I like the idea of using 8020 for t-slotted surfaces. It's probably good enough for this and you can even get pulleys with pressed bearings that slide along them well. I'd really like to see a tool post though. You can get trapezoidal lead screws for pretty cheap and Igus even sells 3D printer filament that will last reasonably long as a lead-screw nut.
These lathe attempts are getting better. Still, no walls under 6 extrusion widths please. The spindle is the most complex part of making a lathe. ER chuck is a good compromise to get an off the shelf part. Consider threading the stem for a thread on collar and placing a tube over it so you can tighten into the bearings for zero clearance. Consider running the 8020 bed fully under the headstock and using pillow blocks to firmly clamp the roller bearings in the headstock down tight to the extrusions. Should eliminate some flex between tool post and headstock.
I love this. I haven't thought or seen this type of tool and machine manufacturing. It's so practical and easy. Thanks for publishing this on UA-cam and making it opensource. Also excellent video quality I love the use of minecraft music!
This is easily one of my favorite channels. Largely inspired by your projects I had a dream (a literal dream) in which i started a company of bolts and fittings, and partnered with every public university of my country to build and maintain a 3D printing/light machining lab in each one, alongside a shop where the fittings and tools could be bought at production cost. In my dream we built a comunity that developed technical manuals for printing and building this kind of machine. I teared up a little when I woke up. Hope you keep the channel up and running - each video is just as dear and expected to me as those from Primitive Technology.
3D printing gives you so many opportunities, but not many can find them. I just love it, when i see people finding a new way of obtaining machines, that cost way more than a printer, a bunch of instruments and little creativity.
You could have printed perfect fit funnels for pouring! 3d printers are very flexible. Also tighten your Z axis coupling looks like that kind of artifacting. Amazing project and very interesting use of technology. Concrete cast mills is a very good advancement in technology.
This was a very ambitious project. I am inspired by your example. Your lathe was more capable than I thought it would be in the beginning. I have always wanted small benchtop versions of tools like this, but found them to be very expensive and usually not very well made. It is clear that you set out on a mission to create a tool that was low cost with out being low quality. Good Job!
Brilliant! Wish I'd thought of this. Now my questions: Concrete has a MUCH greater strength in COMPRESSION than in TENSION. The lathe bed is a beam. Beams involve bending moments, therefore both compression and tension. Will the concrete crack? When cracks form, will the frame lose stability and allow the cutting tool to shift around? How's it working out? Will it be necessary to "preload" the concrete beam by having a metal tension member running the length of the concrete beam down the neutral axis of the beam section? Compress the buh-Jesus out of the concrete. This is how bridges are designed to eliminate tension by making all stresses compressive, and none tensile.
I love the composite materials (as I've mentioned before). Is there a way to forego the super glue? I'm betting that having fins in the material, a snap fit, and something like a dovetail may allow for a tight, consistent fit without requiring glue to hold the body together during curing. The internal "fins" would hold the body to the set concrete. I simply CANNOT wait to build my own. I already have a 24V motor and power supply. Metal working will transform my maker journey. Transform.
If you put the concrete into a gallon ziploc bag you can cut off the corner to have a makeshift piping bag. That will give you excellent control when inserting it into the mold
I agree 3D printed metal lathes is the pathway to a very steep learning curve for beginning lathe hobbyist.... Lessons learned here at this stage of the game can be relatively cheap and applied to much grander projects... I am very impressed with your lathe and look forward to watching your progress...
since it's on a timing belt you could use a stepper as a virtual divider and add a second axis for gear cutting relatively easily. (you could even use an inexpensive ramps or grbl board to control it)
This is the first time seeing your channel, I can't wait to see the other 3d printed concrete projects. I have used epoxy with vase mode in a few projects and considered concrete for larger 3d printing projects as a mold but had not thought of combining the ideas and now I am excited to get designing.
Please check the outer race of the bearings, front one seems to be spinning in the mount meaning the preload may have gone which is possible for a plastic preload sleeve in the headstock. These bearings must be loaded in compression (opposing pair configuration). Well done land awesome build!
This was a nice little "leapfrog" over a few intermediate steps in the progression of lathes. I have used a medieval "bow lathe" for turning wood, then used those better parts to create the next iteration to create even better parts and then castings... each one builds upon and improves upon the previous and each level makes extensive use of "hand tools" to create the next... including new tools. We have learned a great deal over the centuries, and continue to learn and improve upon our tools with every iteration. When all one has are "hand tools" and there are no options for precision equipment available, you either learn how and create what you need.... or you do without.
Ingenious to combine the concrete in the print. I've seen other people talk about using printed forms, but this one is truly a cool application! Nice work. I'd be curious to see how the concrete holds up to long term use and vibration. There are also epoxy concrete blends that might be suitable to give the weight and strength of concrete, but a more refined finish.
I recently watched a lot of your videos, and really enjoyed them. Nothing like an interesting, well edited and nice shot video to entertain yourself and get ideas of how to use concrete in my prints. However, I keep watching how you destroy your 3d prints when inserting your inserts. You can buy insert tips for your iron for a few bucks (I discovered them a few moths ago and the make a word of difference)😅
You made me laugh man not exactly only your comment but the timing that UA-cam showed me the comment as it filtered through its little box read it exactly when he said it. perfectly timed humor 😂
Excited to see if you'll come up with a whole series of tools like this. 3d printed power saw for example. Genuinely never thought about this as a thing 3d printing could do.
very nice, i recon as said, the ~~tool head/spindel~ ~in the most important items in a lathe, you CAN buy the old Lathe to rebuild this, same as in Adam savage video, and possible build one around that pro old, jewellery/dentist Lathe, i believe it was one of those, video should be easy to find. I remeber him saying that the toolhead on those are so good made, as old items usually are.
I can't tell you how much I love this. It might actually be one of the best concepts I've ever seen. The video as a whole actually - honestly fantastic!
Thank you for tackling this. This has been a difficult problem for years with many attempts and many failures. It'll be interesting to see the community improve on this original working design.
This is a really cool project. I’ve wanted a metal lathe for a while, but both cost and space prevent me from being able to do that. This lathe, while being restrictive by its small size, might be a first tool to cover some of the smaller things I’d like to try. Couple of suggestions… Instead of concrete, use sanded resin to fill the cavities. Either fill from the bottom such that there is no topside resin/concrete exposures, or print covers, just to pretty things up.
Need to add fiberglass chopped strands to your concrete (technically cement/mortar) mix to add more structure & some reinforcement to your concrete fill. It should make your concrete-filled tool structures a bit stiffer & much more long-term durable.
I love the idea of using 3D printing and concrete! (I'm a mod over at /r/concrete and I'm a tech person) Keep in mind that concrete has most of it's strength in compression, and the reinforced kind (adding steel) has force in extension. I'd be curious to see a larger CNC version of this perhaps with some additives for even high strength. You may get pretty close to the stiffness of a cast iron machine but much cheaper! Keep it up.
Would be interesting if you would use a dial gauge to see what type of runout you have on this and the old lathe when applying pressure. Have been looking for a cheapish/rugged and modifiable watchmakers-lathe and i think this shows some promise. I would probably go with using epoxy-granite plus a welded steel-skeleton for a bit better rigidity between the spindle/bed/toolholder, but we have all different requirements. Thanks, and hope you don't mind that i might steal a few ideas. :)
Whilst other people have talked about Gingery (I own the books, they're great) I'm more interested in in how far one can reasonably take the concrete lathe project with 3d printed formwork. Concrete lathes are not 'new' as I'm sure you know, but the last time I read anything about them it was a yahoo group dedicated to compiling the information about them that very likely died over a decade ago. I'm glad this video demonstrating concrete's capacity for providing proper rigidity to these 3d printed machine shop tools 'took off', and I'm ecstatic to see it's a video from a South Australian.
Ive always been curious about the feasibility of 3d printing a concrete machine frame and using aluminum extrusions to mount linear rails, and an old 3d printer to piece together a CNC lathe, using belts to gear down the outputs significantly you should be able to get decent torque and accuracy, plus 3d printers can be found or bought for super cheap now
Awesome! i made a simple CNC lathe from an old 3d printer just to turn RC foam Tires, But it way less robust as yours. Would love to see the toolholder mounted on a guide rail with ballscrews so you can crank the tool to the positions. Then it will be easier to have constant measurements over a turned bar or something, like on a real metal lathe. Great Work!
This is an awesome project! Where did you get the spindle? Concrete is not dimensionally stable. Have you done any experiments on that? Plaster of Paris is also cheap, dimensionally stable but less strong. It may be worth experimenting with that. And of course there is also the tried and true Epoxy Granite used for this kind of machine tools for a long time...
Plaster of Paris can be improved by using white school glue! Makes it less brittle/vibraty too. If you want it really tough, adding fibrous material does it (like hair... Ewww)
(safety disclaimer) the large disc turning is not really the intended use of the lathe and was really just a torture test, the tool caught a lot and just stalled the motor but with a larger motor this could be quiet dangerous. This lathe is really meant for less than 10mm parts.
On the topic of "hand tools should not be used for metal parts", this is not a new concept and small parts have been turned this way for centuries and still are by some. Sherline sells tool rests for this type of tooling for their lathes. I understand the safety concerns but the motor here is tiny, 1000rpm and taken from a printer. Even on the large off center workpiece with giant saw notches to catch the tool, I never felt any force of note because the motor is just too small. When the tool did catch the motor would just stall.
This one has been a while in the making
There are just 2 days left of the Prusa awards for 2024! I am a finalist and there is a cash prize that would fund dozens of tools like this. If you like my work and would like to see more of it it has never been easier to support me, just go vote!
www.printables.com/awards
Im also trying a slightly less detailed style for the build. Not many people watch that section so condensing it a bit makes sense for me.
Thankyou all for watching :)
a standard tool-post/compound-slide should be included in the design of the next lathe (assuming you're going to also experiment with increasing the general size of the lathe)
Also a better waze than the aluminium extrusion should be planned around to enable the slow upgrading of the lathe by the end user.
This is a cool design. I think a good idea for a future upgrade would be a better tool post potentially with a leadscrew driven Z and X axis and a compound slide
can you please add links for the parts use in the build. All of the bearings and nuts used in the build.
Whilst I apprieciate the craftmanship, diy lathes....I just cant see how its worth even trying for a safety point of view
You may make some shorts about a minute long to satisfy the curiosity of ADHD fish memory viewers. 10 minutes is already quite a short video, and there's really nothing stretched and excessive here, all the information is on point.
Great concept by the way, I'm interested to try something similar
"Hmmm. I dont have much money but I need this tool. Ahh. I'll just print myself one."
I don't comment on many videos, but this just blew my mind. You showed perfectly how powerful a 3D printer with a genius mind can be. Endless possibilites. This is the stuff I love about 3D printing. You can just go "nuts" with it.
Hats off for you! Respect that you share with others this kind of stuff!
Before this video I saw the 3D printer I have as a tool to create toys, now I can imagine it as a tool to create more tools.
The fact that saving up for ONE tool can actually get you access to many has so much open potential
You can't in fact go nuts with it :( 3d printers and plastics can only do so much, I tried to build a mechanical computer but it's just not consistent enough.
Hear, hear.
his idea of making the 3d printed frame heavier than wood or metal, by just pouring concrete into the 3d printed frame, is such a cool idea that solves a big problem for my 3d printed large objects feeling too light and thus cheaper. heavy feels expensive.
For your sake, my dear friend, I decided to use a translator, in our time it is not so easy to devote time to another in helping, but I will do it. since I could not look at that nuance having the following knowledge: when you sharpened a cutting tool, then for too long without lifting it off, held it on a whetstone, note that the metal at this moment turned red and then white, in Russia this effect is called: tempering colors. this is when the metal acquired a blue color. the metal became annealed and its strength dropped many times, it will be a bad cutting tool. please cool the cutting tool when sharpening, do not bring it even to a light dark color. I hope I explained it clearly. With respect from Russia
There was Mr. Gingery who promoted building "Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap" series. Your work is highly complementary to his vision, plus adding a vision of your own.
Anyone interest in this should get the Gingery books. Even if you use this process, he does some things better. Cutting the head stock on the lathe gets much better alignment than this process that puts it in place than pours. Gingery does many things that are not right either, but he did some things right that this gets wrong.
@@henrymiller1820 Could you please elaborate or link to resources about what Mr Gingery had wrong ?
@@henrymiller1820 Gives us a great starting point!
his work is an inspiration for sure. Similar ideas, but new technology.
@@Borgedesigns watch the build of Gingery lathe on Makercise UA-cam channel. One of main things that he does is boring out the headstock on unfinished lathe so he gets it perfectly aligned. But gingery lathe has a proper support that moves along the bed as it is cutting so it is much more important then on your "watchmaker type" lathe. Please note that he cast his lathe from aluminium. For that a 3D printed models could be very useful.
This looks genuinely useful. Some ideas for V3:
Little fingers all over the inner surfaces to hold onto the concrete. Over time the concrete will come loose from the plastic, and the whole thing will feel less solid.
Caps for the exposed concrete. You don't want sand and grid over your projects, and it will look better.
Better concrete. Concrete engineering is a vast subject, and I'm sure you can do much better along any metric you think would improve things. (e.g. concrete that sticks to plastic or is slightly less brittle)
Complete, live links to everything you have to buy in a github project. This is guaranteed to chang over time. You'll make updates for a while, but later you'll prefer that later
builders of your lathe project do their own homework, and if you've made a way for people to send pull requests with updates, you'll have made something that
lives on without your input. There will also be better inventory lists for the US, EU, China or wherever.
An order request link to PCBWay or something similar to have them just print and machine your parts list.
A benchy test makers of your project can use to test the quality of their build.
Parts of your lathe that can be made on your lathe. Adjust your build so that these parts are upgradable. Sooner or later a real machinist is going to get hold of your project and laugh at it and
say "if you do this, it will be ten times better" and you can take their suggestion. and make your lathe 10x better.
I wonder if resin impregnated sand would work better
Epoxy granite
Good suggestions for sure, github and documentation in general is something I need to get better at. PCB way is also a good shout, there are parts like the bearing alignment pieces that are designed to be CNCd for those who can so making that as easy as possible is a good idea. I have considered epoxy granite type things many times but ultimately get put off by the cost, however I do mean to experiment wit it. thanks for the feedback.
It seems what is being called concrete in the video is really just a mortar mix of sand and cement, gravel wasn't noticeable anyway. GP epoxy resin mixed well with raw cement as a filler would work really well in this application.
Wouldn't the concrete at the bottom of the lathe still be a little wet or soft? Does it not take longer for the water to evaporate from the small openings?
@@ZergRadio Thankfully, concrete doesn't dry, it cures. The water becomes an integral part of the concrete and doesn't need to evaporate for the concrete to harden. The concrete chemically bonds with the water.
In large concrete pours, the curing can generate enough heat to cause the water to evaporate--so, in some cases, they'll spray the concrete to keep the top surface a little wet so it's not starved of enough water to cure properly.
(this is highly dependent on the concrete, the pour, the formulation, the temps, etc etc)
the idea to pore concrete into 3d printed molds a genius. Really putting the 3d printer in a new light... loving it!
This is how you adapt 3D printing to existing manufacturing and construction techniques. Not just "Giant nozzle pouring concrete" or "I made this part entirely out of plastic and it doesn't have the mechanical properties I need it to anymore." This is a wonderful blend of understanding the assignment, the parameters, and using 3D printing to create a professional looking mold, that positively contributes to the function of the project. Using concrete for filler is a great idea for a smaller machine like this. Captive nuts, bolts, and rails allow for modularity in the design. All extraordinarily well done!
Make sure to add a set of lock nuts to your spindel end to be able to apply the appropriate pretension on your tapered roller bearings. This will add spindle rigidity and improve surface finish and overall precision.
Very good idea thanks
Looks awesome. I would recommend a TPU wiper seal for the work facing bearing. Without some way to keep chips out of it it's probably going to get destroyed pretty quickly.
That's what I was going to say, definitely needs something to keep the chips out of the bearings. Also some way of preloading the bearings would be great.
I always criticized bench tools being made with 3d printers, I mean they are great, but nothing about plastic screams stability and precision, but this, filling your 3d printed parts with concrete is absolutely the way to go, I'm convinced. And I like how you don't go overboard with your 3d printer, you accept that some parts, just cannot be made of plastic. Respect
PLA is an incredibly strong plastic, you just have to know how to tune your print setting for what you want
Agree. People go completely overboard with 3D Printing, the best example being the continuing effort to build houses. The truth is: 3D printed houses suck.
@@TruthDoesNotExist with a yield strength of approximately 50MPa and an elastic modulus of 3GPa PLA is simply an inferior material choice expecially when compared to a fairly weak A36 structural steel, with an elastic modulus of 200GPa and a yield strength of 250 Mpa.
you would need a shape with approximately 70 times more stiffness to make something out of PLA in order to come close to what steel can do. The weakest part about this is that he is using 3d printed molds which is the contact surface for his bearings. he would have much better outcomes if he used steel or aluminum molds. or just used cast iron instead of concrete. and then machined the cast parts.
um-support-files.ultimaker.com/materials/2.85mm/tds/PLA/Ultimaker-PLA-TDS-v5.00.pdf
I've made a bunch of 3d printed clamps and small bench vices and I'm floored at how strong they are, they've endured a summer of proper work and still work just as good as when I printed them. Trick is lots of walls
@@TruthDoesNotExist I'm a PETG convert, PLA is great but it's prone to degredation
Instant subscribe from me, I know in WWII they poured concrete lathes for cheap machining on artillery shells. Sika polymer fortifier for regular mortar/concrete does wonders for sticking to plastic if you're not using it, costs ~$15 for a gallon.
Genuine danger to be aware of: large magnifying lenses should never be left exposed and unattended anywhere where sunlight can reach them. They can and have started fires on bright sunny days. This is the reason why most large desk mounted lenses have flip covers for when not in use.
Oh, and awesome project!
Wow, I never realized that. I have one and I figured it was just a dust cover. But it makes sense!
I had a friend who left her stitchery Persian rug for a doll house too close to the window and the magnifying glass. Months of work gone in an instant.
I loved playing with magnifying glasses in the sun….. burning holes in paper, setting fire to matches …😂😂
Even thick glass bottles laying around can do this. And it is possible to light fires with lenses made of ice.
i was a critic of mk 1 lathe, but this one seems good. ultimate baller move would be to use this to bootstrap an even beefier lathe that can handle steel.
then use that lathe to make a milling machine, haha
yeah theres a reason I never released the v1 lathe ahaha, it was very mediocre at best.
@@Borgedesignsmediocre is infinitely better than nothing
@@Borgedesigns The point of prototyping isn't to make a good product on the first try.
@@manitoba-op4jx mediocre could mean dangerous when you give it to overly optimistic people. I am with borge that it was cool to show but not to give. this one looks a lot more sturdy and safer. A LOT less like of something going horrible wrong.
The C418 Aria Math really is a nice touch! NICE WORK ON THE FRIKING DESIGN BRO!!!! THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!
I remember in my feandfathers garage, he had a myriad of lathes and old tools. He had the basic understanding of being a machinist and wood worker because his generation was used to making the tools they needed. We have lost that over the last couple generations. I see videos like this and i see the reimergence of human ingenuity and it makes me hopeful and happy. Well done man. This is one step in bringing us back to independence and self agency.
This is a brilliant design and build. You have talent!
As a picky person, I do notice something with the 3D printed parts. Or at least some.
Especially those "rails", like at 5:39 where you put some stuff on it to get a smooth surface.
I noticed that on that piece, when you first placed it where it belongs, that there were a lot of filament strands on top. Strands that didn't melt together well.
Been there, done that! I hate when that happens. But I found a solution, that at least, works for me.
Actually, 2 solutions, but one you may or may not like.
The 1st one, is to enable "Ironing", perhaps printing those parts separately and tweaking the settings for ironing so assure it works on that entire surface. Ironing does 2 things, as I suspect you know. For one, it makes a really smooth and solid finish. It also creates more strength, especially if you increase flow for the ironing portion.
The 2nd thing I use is "Fuzzy."
With my old printer, which was trash, I used "fuzzy" in order to hide not-so-good layer lines. It worked well.
I now have 2 new machines, Creality Ender 3 V3 Plus printers.
When I print something where I need to have a really smooth look to it, for one, I print at a layer height of 0.08.
I'll often use ironing for top surfaces that are seen and depending on the project, I may use Fuzzy as well.
The print plate/bed is reversible. One side smooth, the other textured.
I always use the textured side and when I use Fuzzy, I have it tweaked to where it looks almost identical to what the textured plate produces.
This way, a consistent look on all parts.
I don't know the slicer you use, but there's a newer feature on Creality Print (and I think it's in Orca too), called "Scarf". When set right, not only does it totally hide any seams, but with the right settings, can create a very smooth and if one likes, shiny sides to the prints.
The end results with all the above are parts that almost look molded.
Just a thought.
As a person trying to become a machinist, I really enjoy your videos and am likely going to use these concepts when build my own CNC machines for my home shop. If you plan to make any further improvements think it'd be really neat to see you add a gear box and lead screw for feed and rpm control on an actual carriage with a mounting tool holder instead of hand turning, maybe even a way to cut threads with a single point tool as well. In my opinion the use of concrete in molds is actually a really good idea for machine tools like mills and lathes, much like cast iron its rigid and dampens vibrations fairly well, although I've seen other examples of DIY machines using a mix of epoxy resin and gravel which might work better. For the stuff I'm planning to do, more hard steel would probably be needed for ways to adjust the spindle and the actual machine ways
I've been pondering doing this for a 3d printer frame for about three years now. The added mass will help with vibration reduction.
4:51 "I haven't found a neat way to do this"
Try a plastic piping bag, you can cut a hole the size that you need and it allows you to build up some pressure as well. I use this method with similar DIY projects.
Or maybe just a funnel
@ with a funnel you have less control and you cannot create pressure, but yes it could have its applications
@@fsxnico sorry, what I mean is that since he's 3d printing anyway, print a funnel / guide / spout that fits the exact hole that he'll be pouring into.
@@DustinEwan yeah for sure there's a lot of possibilities with 3d printing. That could work too :)
design and print a funnel assembly that fits into the mouths and allows a direct pour without dripping onto the exterior surfaces.
This is pretty great! Your open source shop vision is what I hoped would come from 3d printing! Great work!
An interesting idea to build could be a power hacksaw (I know these were fairly popular to build in the 80’s, before horizontal bandsaws became more popular).. not to say some of the woodworking community haven’t dabbled around with printing parts for homemade upright bandsaws as well!
Eventually making a machine shop from scratch with the help of 3d printing seems amazing- eventually the tools will help build more tools: really tapping into the rep-rap idea. Keep going your channel is awesome!
A few summers back, I spent a while planning out something very similar to this. Then I got a job that ate all of my free time and ended up buying a Unimat 3 on ebay instead, so I never really got around to seeing if it would work. I'm really glad someone has actually done it.
One thing I would really, really recommend looking into would be making this adaptable into the Unimat 3/4 (or even the older SL/DB) system. There's a pretty large ecosphere of interchangeable parts for each (M14x1.0 threaded chucks, live centers, etc), as well as a pretty big range of aftermarket parts available from the usual online chinese sellers.
An idea for a future build (a repeat idea admittedly) a vibratory table to put your builds on as you pour your concrete.
It has been on the todo list for quiet a while now
Or to use as a seat for those lonely days in the shop.
@@jamiemacdonald436 😂
@@jamiemacdonald436I believe you're looking for a Sybian
@@evanbarnes9984 Almost forgot about those. The Sybian episodes on Howard Stern were hilarious. 🤣
Great improvement from v1, tapered bearings is the way to go to support th3 spindle, maybe a wider belt for the motor link. Thanks for sharing
For a neat way to fill the voids with concrete, have you ever watched a baker using a piping bag to decorate a cake? Basically it’s a plastic or parchment cone with a hole at the bottom. The baker fills the cone up with icing and then squeezes out a thin line of icing on to the cake.
I am thinking you could use a bigger, tougher bag, possible suspend from a bungee hung from the ceiling, and squeeze the concrete out in a similar way.
Nice project✌🏻.
Here are some of my notes (please take it as an improvement for your project 👍🏻) :
- use oil instead of grease for spindle bearings as lathes use oil (less resistance, less power loss).
- use some dust cover for bearings or else those will be gone in no time
- use a shaft lock nut or locking ring for bearings for proper bearing clearance/preload
- use a plate to hold the 4 bolts on the top of the spindle housing, which will give more rigidity
- use some concrete sealing at least, as concrete is porous and will "drink" any fluid, and moisture
Oil in lathes yes...but only in lathes with a oil filled head.Most smaller ones are only greased,as the oil bad is for the gearbox more then for the bearing. A proper grease will work as good as oil .
@@bosanaz2010 it depends on the spindle speed too, but any lube is definitely better than no lube!✌🏻
@@Mr.Bearded.Mechanic yeah sure.in High Speed you need oil
But there are greases Up to 12k RPM
IT would Help If He uses a chines Spindel. You get housing,Spindel with Plate for Chuck ,bearings
And you can preload IT.
His bearings are inside Plastic and also the part flexes so much that you csnt add preload .
So the bearings are dead proberbly very soon.
There is plenty of improvments and Just 2 more Stock parts to buy.
I mean this lathe is for Sure around 100€ in parts rigth now
At least 100€
Great build. Those ER collet extensions are a great way to make rigs with lathe properties. ER25, nice size.
your design language / aesthetics of your 3D printed tools is awesome. the future should look like the future!
2:10 the inserts are made for injected parts, there might be some long ones better suited for 3d prints (it works but the resistance is a bit worse)
my great grandpa used to say that the lathe was the greatest tool in a shop because its the only tool that can replicate itself. he would often use the lathe to bootstrap it and make improvements for it. he ended up making a massive bed for it so he could turn super long bar stock. i wish he was still around today to see 3d printing! i wonder what he would say about it or the things he would make. my great uncle was also a machinist and was obsessed with vacuum forming, which was kind of the 3d printing of its time, but he was stuck making object with a flat side and draft angles
The bearings need some preload
...and seals to keep the grease in and metal bits out.
This x1000, preload those bearings!
preload?
Are you sure they aren't? Looked like some rings of plastic and little slots and things. Seems like the engineering in the rest of this would imply the guy knows what he's doing and preloading a roller bearing is pretty basic. Also those are some pretty nasty loads from the interrupted cut on that face plate and it doesn't vibrate too much, I'd think it must have been loaded up at least 'by eye', i.e. loaded up a bit in some way, even if not shimmed to the micron which would seem incongruous with the general ethos of this build.
@@lachlanlander6002 yes like a truck differential pinions it eliminate the blacklash when the bearing is heating up
I like your vision, and you really showcased the potential of 3D printing. Also, merging 3D printed parts with concrete is incredibly inspiring.
Great build! A 3D printed funnel would really help with that concrete.
Or using a big plastic bag with a corner snipped off to "pipe" it in like filling a pastry.
This is terrific. I did some early research into what I called secondary injection techniques for printed parts back when I worked at Honda in R&D in 2008 / 2009. It never occurred to me to look into concrete. Amazing results for such little expense (other than intelligence, blood, sweat and tears). Well done mate.
4:48 that might be a silly idea but have you tried piping bags or just a strong plastic bag with the corner cut out?
About to say exactly this. Thanks, Chris for the always fab build videos.
Tapered bearing pairs should have some preload built into the design, usually in the form of a nut to compress the bearing stack together. I’m not sure how you would achieve this without a thread cutting tool, but maybe it can be implemented in the next iteration?
I have seen preload springs that you slide onto a shaft and compress with a locking collar, but I'm not sure if they have enough force to be useful here?
@@joeofloath that reminds me, a stack of belleville washer with a collar that is fixed when the stack is compressed could work, but will induce vibration if not careful. Still better than no preload tho
The cheap way is just two nuts that can be spread apart and fixed, to engage the thread grooves on either side.
Good attempt!! You're going to have to do something about that toolpost and crossslide design if you're ever wanting to cut things accutately or consistently over a length tho! Looking forward to seeing what changes you make in the future!
@Chris Borge, have you seen the "Machine shop from scrap" books by Dave Gingery? They are made from Aluminum castings, but might have some ideas you could copy. This is an awesome tool. 10/10!
Yes I have! but I need to finish reading them.
Very cool project! Just for future reference on making gravers, you were correct that you do not want to get the pre-hardened steel red hot or it will lose it's heat treatment. However you have to go much further than that and not allow it to heat above the desired temper temperature. For instance if it was previously tempered to a straw (yellowish brown) color but then while grinding it the steel turns blue, that means you have reduced the temper to a lower hardness. So you need to keep the steel cool and never let the temperature go beyond the desired temper temperature. You can think of it this way, hardening the steel makes it as hard as it can get (but too brittle to be good for much), then tempering reduces the hardness but makes it stronger, and this effect continues the hotter you temper it.
Solid advice.
This is incredibly cool! The concept of an open source lathe is also amazing. I know the concrete does the brunt of the work, but I wonder if a more advanced filament like PPA-CF would help increase the overall rigidity and durability even more.
2:57 - When assembling parts like this, you can print them with interlocking features to air in alignment and assembly. Think dovetail or even puzzle pieces.
Very good tip, just remember to have a bit of tolerance for such pieces, depending on your printer, filament and settings it could range from 0.025mm to 0.25mm. Print smaller parts and find out how much tolerance you need!
It might be a good idea to reinforce the concrete with some steel wire or mesh. Also, put rocks and gravel in the mold before pouring the concrete if there are large spaces that needs filling. If you can get your hands on crushed iron ore that makes great ballast as it is heavier than regular sand.
An alternative to a mesh is to mix reinforcing fibers into the concrete.
I really REALLY like that one.
If the next version feature a post holder for a study holding of the tool (you will probably need a redesign and a lead screw) i will definitely print one (and throw some money on patreon, because your video are awesome)
very minor thing, but i love how consistent you are with the print colors
Hello Printables Awards 2025!! I am calling it 1 year in advance
impressive build for what it is, and that price point. Interested to see how you'd tackle coupling a carriage and cross slide to the rotation for a full set of basic functionality. but what blows me away is the idea of filling prints with concrete, that's brilliant. i'm gonna use that for sure.
Overall a great little thing. The only thing missing is some sort of preload for those bearings and a proper spacer from a metaltube on the inside between bearings.
They will last a lot longer if they have preload and will deal with the radial forces a lot better. :)
Amazing! Thanks for putting this out there. I have had the need for a low power lathe many times, but not enough to justify the costs and thought there was no way to 3D print one. This is very encouraging.
I get the feeling that there is some untapped potential in this. E.g. on a traditional lathe accuracy seems to be effected quite a bit, depending on how tight the bearings in the head stock are squeezed together.
The man who can make his own machines can make anything. Very, very cool.
I just bought a 3D printer to make my own tools. Then I find your channel. I like the tools you create and share.
There’s somebody who is No. Good at 3-D printing. This is a circle with me and I’m so glad it exists.
Like someone else mentioned, this is an incredible undertaking reminiscent of the Gingery lathe tutorials! I’m really curious to know if you’re going to use this lathe to somehow create its own cross slide and precision screws, though I can’t imagine how. Dealing with the runout and bed twisting seems like it would always require a surface plate, but I’m sure there’s a way around it! Awesome work man.
Must protect the bearing faces, the exposed rollers will result in completely destroyed bearings in no time (on a real lathe, even just some dust in the air is not good).
Also, you need to preload tapered roller bearings like this, meaning something needs to push the bearings into their tapers with considerable force (usually done with a thread and a lock collar). I realize this is not the way you'd want to do it because of not wanting to need machining, but I'm sure you could devise otherwise or a clamp of some sort. Just beware of plastic's creep if going to clamp.
Very impressive CAD modeling to make all this!
This is amazing work. I like the idea of using 8020 for t-slotted surfaces. It's probably good enough for this and you can even get pulleys with pressed bearings that slide along them well. I'd really like to see a tool post though. You can get trapezoidal lead screws for pretty cheap and Igus even sells 3D printer filament that will last reasonably long as a lead-screw nut.
This is similar to the work I'd like to do, and have been able to do very slowly. Open source power tools.
It would be interesting to see if you can build one with a carriage with all the fixings
I hope to try a cross slide next.
These lathe attempts are getting better. Still, no walls under 6 extrusion widths please. The spindle is the most complex part of making a lathe. ER chuck is a good compromise to get an off the shelf part. Consider threading the stem for a thread on collar and placing a tube over it so you can tighten into the bearings for zero clearance. Consider running the 8020 bed fully under the headstock and using pillow blocks to firmly clamp the roller bearings in the headstock down tight to the extrusions. Should eliminate some flex between tool post and headstock.
Chris uploads, i watch
simple
same same
I love this. I haven't thought or seen this type of tool and machine manufacturing. It's so practical and easy. Thanks for publishing this on UA-cam and making it opensource. Also excellent video quality I love the use of minecraft music!
This is easily one of my favorite channels. Largely inspired by your projects I had a dream (a literal dream) in which i started a company of bolts and fittings, and partnered with every public university of my country to build and maintain a 3D printing/light machining lab in each one, alongside a shop where the fittings and tools could be bought at production cost. In my dream we built a comunity that developed technical manuals for printing and building this kind of machine. I teared up a little when I woke up. Hope you keep the channel up and running - each video is just as dear and expected to me as those from Primitive Technology.
3D printing gives you so many opportunities, but not many can find them. I just love it, when i see people finding a new way of obtaining machines, that cost way more than a printer, a bunch of instruments and little creativity.
I've been trying to find a small cheap lathe that could do metal and not just wood. Basically exactly this. I might build one.
You could have printed perfect fit funnels for pouring! 3d printers are very flexible. Also tighten your Z axis coupling looks like that kind of artifacting. Amazing project and very interesting use of technology. Concrete cast mills is a very good advancement in technology.
It's like a more modern concrete lathe, very creative and well thought out!
This was a very ambitious project. I am inspired by your example. Your lathe was more capable than I thought it would be in the beginning. I have always wanted small benchtop versions of tools like this, but found them to be very expensive and usually not very well made. It is clear that you set out on a mission to create a tool that was low cost with out being low quality. Good Job!
preload the bearings and maybe a few linear rails could create the slide
Brilliant! Wish I'd thought of this. Now my questions:
Concrete has a MUCH greater strength in COMPRESSION than in TENSION. The lathe bed is a beam. Beams involve bending moments, therefore both compression and tension. Will the concrete crack? When cracks form, will the frame lose stability and allow the cutting tool to shift around? How's it working out? Will it be necessary to "preload" the concrete beam by having a metal tension member running the length of the concrete beam down the neutral axis of the beam section? Compress the buh-Jesus out of the concrete. This is how bridges are designed to eliminate tension by making all stresses compressive, and none tensile.
I love the composite materials (as I've mentioned before). Is there a way to forego the super glue? I'm betting that having fins in the material, a snap fit, and something like a dovetail may allow for a tight, consistent fit without requiring glue to hold the body together during curing. The internal "fins" would hold the body to the set concrete.
I simply CANNOT wait to build my own. I already have a 24V motor and power supply. Metal working will transform my maker journey. Transform.
If you put the concrete into a gallon ziploc bag you can cut off the corner to have a makeshift piping bag. That will give you excellent control when inserting it into the mold
4:52 Check out pastry bags/piping bags with nozzles
I agree 3D printed metal lathes is the pathway to a very steep learning curve for beginning lathe hobbyist.... Lessons learned here at this stage of the game can be relatively cheap and applied to much grander projects... I am very impressed with your lathe and look forward to watching your progress...
since it's on a timing belt you could use a stepper as a virtual divider and add a second axis for gear cutting relatively easily. (you could even use an inexpensive ramps or grbl board to control it)
This is the first time seeing your channel, I can't wait to see the other 3d printed concrete projects. I have used epoxy with vase mode in a few projects and considered concrete for larger 3d printing projects as a mold but had not thought of combining the ideas and now I am excited to get designing.
Ps You earned a new sub with this one
Please check the outer race of the bearings, front one seems to be spinning in the mount meaning the preload may have gone which is possible for a plastic preload sleeve in the headstock. These bearings must be loaded in compression (opposing pair configuration).
Well done land awesome build!
This was a nice little "leapfrog" over a few intermediate steps in the progression of lathes. I have used a medieval "bow lathe" for turning wood, then used those better parts to create the next iteration to create even better parts and then castings... each one builds upon and improves upon the previous and each level makes extensive use of "hand tools" to create the next... including new tools. We have learned a great deal over the centuries, and continue to learn and improve upon our tools with every iteration. When all one has are "hand tools" and there are no options for precision equipment available, you either learn how and create what you need.... or you do without.
4:52 Cake piping set or bag?
Enormous concrete lathes helped win world war one. Fabulous to see the concept brought right up to date and into the home workshop.
Ingenious to combine the concrete in the print. I've seen other people talk about using printed forms, but this one is truly a cool application! Nice work. I'd be curious to see how the concrete holds up to long term use and vibration. There are also epoxy concrete blends that might be suitable to give the weight and strength of concrete, but a more refined finish.
Concrete filled 3d prints is a very clever construction technique! Thanks for sharing!
Imagine the use of this work, (in 3D printing) one day being used in space by first colonies. Keep it up!
I recently watched a lot of your videos, and really enjoyed them. Nothing like an interesting, well edited and nice shot video to entertain yourself and get ideas of how to use concrete in my prints.
However, I keep watching how you destroy your 3d prints when inserting your inserts. You can buy insert tips for your iron for a few bucks (I discovered them a few moths ago and the make a word of difference)😅
This is true. Buy a kit, please
0:33 Missed opportunity for "lathest attempt"
You made me laugh man not exactly only your comment but the timing that UA-cam showed me the comment as it filtered through its little box read it exactly when he said it. perfectly timed humor 😂
When you pour the concrete. The following day, take a wet sponge and use it to smooth the surfaces. It will give you an extremely smooth finish.
Excited to see if you'll come up with a whole series of tools like this. 3d printed power saw for example. Genuinely never thought about this as a thing 3d printing could do.
I love this idea of filling up 3D prints with concrete. I will apply it to 3D printed molds for making composite parts.
very nice, i recon as said, the ~~tool head/spindel~ ~in the most important items in a lathe, you CAN buy the old Lathe to rebuild this, same as in Adam savage video, and possible build one around that pro old, jewellery/dentist Lathe, i believe it was one of those, video should be easy to find.
I remeber him saying that the toolhead on those are so good made, as old items usually are.
I can't tell you how much I love this. It might actually be one of the best concepts I've ever seen. The video as a whole actually - honestly fantastic!
One idea for concrete filling might be a mortar pointing gun, depending on the size of your aggregate. Cool idea!
Thank you for tackling this. This has been a difficult problem for years with many attempts and many failures. It'll be interesting to see the community improve on this original working design.
This is a really cool project. I’ve wanted a metal lathe for a while, but both cost and space prevent me from being able to do that. This lathe, while being restrictive by its small size, might be a first tool to cover some of the smaller things I’d like to try.
Couple of suggestions…
Instead of concrete, use sanded resin to fill the cavities.
Either fill from the bottom such that there is no topside resin/concrete exposures, or print covers, just to pretty things up.
Greetings from the Netherlands. Amazing work, my compliments. I hope you continue developing with this philosophy.
Nice project, incredible innovation. Where is the parts list for the metal parts and or drawings for the custom ones.
Definitely going to add this to my library of design files. maybe when I get some space cleared out in the shop ill try doing one of these.
Probably the coolest 3D print project I've ever seen
Need to add fiberglass chopped strands to your concrete (technically cement/mortar) mix to add more structure & some reinforcement to your concrete fill. It should make your concrete-filled tool structures a bit stiffer & much more long-term durable.
I love the idea of using 3D printing and concrete! (I'm a mod over at /r/concrete and I'm a tech person)
Keep in mind that concrete has most of it's strength in compression, and the reinforced kind (adding steel) has force in extension. I'd be curious to see a larger CNC version of this perhaps with some additives for even high strength. You may get pretty close to the stiffness of a cast iron machine but much cheaper! Keep it up.
Would be interesting if you would use a dial gauge to see what type of runout you have on this and the old lathe when applying pressure. Have been looking for a cheapish/rugged and modifiable watchmakers-lathe and i think this shows some promise.
I would probably go with using epoxy-granite plus a welded steel-skeleton for a bit better rigidity between the spindle/bed/toolholder, but we have all different requirements.
Thanks, and hope you don't mind that i might steal a few ideas. :)
Whilst other people have talked about Gingery (I own the books, they're great) I'm more interested in in how far one can reasonably take the concrete lathe project with 3d printed formwork. Concrete lathes are not 'new' as I'm sure you know, but the last time I read anything about them it was a yahoo group dedicated to compiling the information about them that very likely died over a decade ago. I'm glad this video demonstrating concrete's capacity for providing proper rigidity to these 3d printed machine shop tools 'took off', and I'm ecstatic to see it's a video from a South Australian.
Ive always been curious about the feasibility of 3d printing a concrete machine frame and using aluminum extrusions to mount linear rails, and an old 3d printer to piece together a CNC lathe, using belts to gear down the outputs significantly you should be able to get decent torque and accuracy, plus 3d printers can be found or bought for super cheap now
Awesome! i made a simple CNC lathe from an old 3d printer just to turn RC foam Tires, But it way less robust as yours.
Would love to see the toolholder mounted on a guide rail with ballscrews so you can crank the tool to the positions. Then it will be easier to have constant measurements over a turned bar or something, like on a real metal lathe.
Great Work!
This is an awesome project! Where did you get the spindle? Concrete is not dimensionally stable. Have you done any experiments on that? Plaster of Paris is also cheap, dimensionally stable but less strong. It may be worth experimenting with that. And of course there is also the tried and true Epoxy Granite used for this kind of machine tools for a long time...
Plaster of Paris can be improved by using white school glue! Makes it less brittle/vibraty too. If you want it really tough, adding fibrous material does it (like hair... Ewww)