MrBubblehead
Member
So I picked up this old king lathe a few years back. It had its issues but I cleaned it up and replaced all the bearings, I used it happily for a year.
After a bout a year the Reeves drive broke and was nearly impossible to find parts for so I used it as a single speed lathe for awhile but it really took the enjoyment out of it.
Not being in a position to upgrade or replace I lost interest and it became a flat surface to store things on.
Last fall I picked up a free treadmill from a neighbor and tore it apart hoping to be able to use the motor. My biggest hurdle was making/acquiring a pulley to adapt the lathe to a serpentine belt. My step father got a 3d printer for Christmas and this solved my pulley issue. We designed and printed a pulley that fits perfectly on the king spindle. Fabricated a mount that allows the motor to hang to tension the belt.
A little bit of wiring and I now use the original switch to turn on the treadmill controls and use them to set my lathe speed. And this thing has a lot more power than the old king motor ever dreamed of making. And I'm guessing the rpm range is from 100-3000 or so at the push of a button.
I thought I had better pictures of the pulley but that was the first attempt. We had it setup to take the king set screw. But that pulley was just a hair loose. So we tightened up the measurements and removed the set screw. It went on with a couple of taps and has been working perfect. Pulley is just PLA and we are curious to see what it wears like. Also planning to 3d print some guards for the motor.
This has made me interested like the first time I used a lathe.
After a bout a year the Reeves drive broke and was nearly impossible to find parts for so I used it as a single speed lathe for awhile but it really took the enjoyment out of it.
Not being in a position to upgrade or replace I lost interest and it became a flat surface to store things on.
Last fall I picked up a free treadmill from a neighbor and tore it apart hoping to be able to use the motor. My biggest hurdle was making/acquiring a pulley to adapt the lathe to a serpentine belt. My step father got a 3d printer for Christmas and this solved my pulley issue. We designed and printed a pulley that fits perfectly on the king spindle. Fabricated a mount that allows the motor to hang to tension the belt.
A little bit of wiring and I now use the original switch to turn on the treadmill controls and use them to set my lathe speed. And this thing has a lot more power than the old king motor ever dreamed of making. And I'm guessing the rpm range is from 100-3000 or so at the push of a button.
I thought I had better pictures of the pulley but that was the first attempt. We had it setup to take the king set screw. But that pulley was just a hair loose. So we tightened up the measurements and removed the set screw. It went on with a couple of taps and has been working perfect. Pulley is just PLA and we are curious to see what it wears like. Also planning to 3d print some guards for the motor.
This has made me interested like the first time I used a lathe.
