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John Schmitt wrote:
On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:22:51 +0100, doozer
wrote:

My latest project is to build a foot powered wood working lathe but
there
are a few points that I am having trouble with design wise and I would
appreciate some advice.

Have you thought about a spring pole lathe? Far simpler to make, although
the action is intermittent.

Doesn't have to be intermittent if you incorporate a flywheel. Bike
transmission could be good - you'd have a freewheel and gears for
different diameter turnings

If you can find it, the US magazine "Fine Woodworkig" had a design some
years ago that used a bicycle chain from the treadle to drive a bicycle
sprocket and gearbox coupled to the flywheel. The freewheel allows the
treadle to return on the upstroke while the flywheel (and the work) carries
on forward.

Why not just use the back half of a bike? Attach a pivoted footplate to
the crank, and weight the wheel (lead pipe might be good for this - wrap
it around the rim and secure with wire or zip ties) to make a flywheel.
A 5-speed freewheel could be welded solid, one chain to the crank and
another to the lathe spindle.