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I was looking around for an expandable drum and found them for about $7500. I looked at cabbing machines but they are way to expensive for my needs, Has anyone made there own and are willing to share some info.
Bob

Bob,

Kingsley North sells expanable drums for $60-$100.00 , I must be missing something because $7500 sounds crazy. Even a fully decked out machine will be around $1000

http://www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/cat ... ?catID=115

Sorry Rick, That was a typo, I meant $75.00. I am wondering if people have set up there own cabbing unit. I have a heavy duty dewalt grinder like the one in the picture below, I no longer use it and thought I could change the arbor and come up with some kind of design.
Bob

his glass sells a spindle extender that'll turn your grinder into a handheld "lathe"

http://www.hisglassworks.com/cart/3M_Sp ... I_5NMXLSqg

Thank you Rick, that's what I needed.
Bob

Interesting. How would you provide water to the "lathe"?

videos here

http://www.hisglassworks.com/cart/cart. ... nt&page=16

I made my own "lathe" using parts I got from Covington (spindle), motor and mounts from Grainger, stuff I had around, and expandable drum from HIS. It was an 8" and was in the $75-$80 range. I use belts from HIS. It was pretty easy to build and works like a champ. I just drip water from a 5 gallon jug onto the drum. I have some posts on my blog, and have pictures around somewhere. The only adjustment was figuring out how fast to spin the wheel so the belt doesn't slip. I rigged up a ghetto variable speed by using an expanding pulley. Not the best solution but for $20 it kept with my cheapskate tendencies. Total costs including a really nice motor was about $350-$400. It's a dual arbor so I have diamond wheels on one side and the drum on the other.

bob proulx wrote:I was looking around for an expandable drum and found them for about $7500. I looked at cabbing machines but they are way to expensive for my needs, Has anyone made there own and are willing to share some info.
Bob

Hi Bob,
This is probably way more info than you are looking for and no doubt beyond the budget you are looking to spend.

However I still thought I would post this reply because the subject of home built lathes/cabbing machines has come up before and why people have responded saying that had built their own, many times the details and pictures of working units were not included.

Below are few pictures of the home built glass engraving lathe project I completed last December.

- The arbor assembly, shaft, and pulleys are from Covington. I did swap out the 1" x 23-3/4" TGP shaft for a 36" Stainless Steel Shaft and swapped out the aluminum pulleys for heavier duty cast iron ones with multiple set screws. As a result, there was a little bump over the price shown on the following link (if I remember correctly about a 75.00 bump in total).
http://www.covington-engineering.com/ar ... _open.html

- The 1/8" heavy duty powder coated steel stand assembly was acquired from Rocklar woodworking. This particular stand assembly allows one to customize it by selecting different leg heights and stretchers lengths so to appropriately size it for what one is going to mount on it. Also it comes disassembled so the shipping costs to get it delivered were substantially lower than ordering a unit that was welded together or having to approach a metal fabricator to custom build such a stand.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... te=ROCKLER

- The top mounting platform is 1.75" thick maple butcher block that was cut/stacked/bolted together to raise the standing working height and allow for greater freedom in working around the different sized wheels/drums one might want to use. I watched for discounts/sales at Sears which resulted in a lower than list price and since I was able to pick it at the local Sears, no shipping cost.
http://www.sears.com/john-boos-1-3-4-in ... ockType=G1

- The motor I used was actually a new surplus Baldor 1-HP 1725 RPM 3-Phased continuous duty TENV washdown rated motor I picked up off of ebay for a fraction of the cost of retail.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310255735502?ss ... 1423.l2649

The motor mount to allow for variable belt tensioning was purchased from Grainger. I wanted the motor mounted below the arbor and close to the floor so as to cut down on transfer vibration to the shaft and keep the center of gravity low so the unit was not top heavy.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON ... Pid=search

- For motor speed control and to convert from single phase to 3-phase, I used KB Electronics Variable Frequency motor drive (KBDA-24D). It allows one to really dial in the speed the wheels are turning at.

http://motorsandcontrol.com/products/kb ... -gray.html


All-in-all the cost to build the lathe came in around $1300.00 including shipping/handling of the various components. Now this is right around where the turn-key offerings (arbor, shaft, mounting surface, motor, pulleys, etc) from Covington are at so why did I bother building my own?

I needed this unit to fit in a particular space with the flexibility of being able to move it around and there were certain things about the Covington turn-key offerings that I thought could be improved upon (motor/arbor mounting so as to reduce run-out chatter at the shaft end, greater freedom of access when working around wheels/drums themselves, the ability to vary the speed past 3 fixed settings).
Definitely didn’t have the money (or room) for a Spatzier or Jim 9000 so tried to build a unit that would run as true and chatter free as possible without breaking the bank and also while using easily acquired components.
I am quite happy with the result. While it will never be in the same league as a Spatzier or Jim 9000, the unit is incredibly smooth running with the flexibility I was looking for and will work well until such a time my skills at glass engraving can truly justify a machine of that caliber.

- Al

Hi Al, that is the same arbor that I use, and I use a similar belt tensioning system. I opted out of the variable speed, which would have at least doubled my investment. I learned a lot about clearances for my large pieces and will be redesigning the mounting system. I just bolted everything to a very sturdy base I made. This was a 1/2" plywood sheet with 3/4" MDF top and bottom sandwich which weighs a ton. I like your quality build. Anyone with some skills can do this. Now if I could only find a source of old stones instead of diamonds, I'd be ecstatic.

Thanks Al and Jeff, that's a lot of good info. You are both set up for more kiln carving than I need. What I am trying to set up for is basically to clean up the freshly cut edges before slumping. I think the extender rick mentioned above may work well on my grinder with water added for my needs.
Bob

HI Bob,
Just got back into town, so late to this party

I made mine with an arbor from Lortone (about $400) and a local motor from a motor shop($85).
very easy to do.
Drums and wheels added about 250.

Barry

Barry Kaiser wrote:HI Bob,
Just got back into town, so late to this party

I made mine with an arbor from Lortone (about $400) and a local motor from a motor shop($85).
very easy to do.
Drums and wheels added about 250.

Barry

Thanks Barry, I will look into that. How was your fishing trip.
Bob

Al Bray wrote:

bob proulx wrote:I was looking around for an expandable drum and found them for about $7500. I looked at cabbing machines but they are way to expensive for my needs, Has anyone made there own and are willing to share some info.
Bob

Hi Bob,
This is probably way more info than you are looking for and no doubt beyond the budget you are looking to spend.

However I still thought I would post this reply because the subject of home built lathes/cabbing machines has come up before and why people have responded saying that had built their own, many times the details and pictures of working units were not included.

Below are few pictures of the home built glass engraving lathe project I completed last December.
clip

- Al

Ron Coleman nods in approval.

Bob, I used this before I bought a WBS, still do for a quick job on small pieces. Maybe you could pick up a used one on ebay or Craigs list.

http://www.lortone.com/combos_laps.html

You could buy the parts from most lapidary supply stores.

Don Burt wrote:

Al Bray wrote:

bob proulx wrote:I was looking around for an expandable drum and found them for about $7500. I looked at cabbing machines but they are way to expensive for my needs, Has anyone made there own and are willing to share some info.
Bob

Hi Bob,
This is probably way more info than you are looking for and no doubt beyond the budget you are looking to spend.

However I still thought I would post this reply because the subject of home built lathes/cabbing machines has come up before and why people have responded saying that had built their own, many times the details and pictures of working units were not included.

Below are few pictures of the home built glass engraving lathe project I completed last December.
clip

- Al

Ron Coleman nods in approval.

Hi Don, who is Ron Colman, That name sounds very familiar.
Bob

Ron was an engineer, woodworker, glass artist and probably a few more avocations that I don't know about. From Columbus Ohio. He passed away early last year. He was a contributor to this board for years. If you search on a topic and find his opinion, its a keeper.

Don Burt wrote:Ron was an engineer, woodworker, glass artist and probably a few more avocations that I don't know about. From Columbus Ohio. He passed away early last year. He was a contributor to this board for years. If you search on a topic and find his opinion, its a keeper.

Thanks Don, now I remember. I used to enjoy going to his site.
Bob