Wes, there is a shop-made hand crank near the bottom of my 9x20" lathe page,
for an idea that was fairly quick to fabricate.
http://www.kwagmire.com/shop/lathe/9...cessories.html

I don't know what this type of joint/capture device is called, but I
remember it being used to secure the handlebar stem on an old bicycle.
When the center bolt is tightened, the wedge-action locks the crank arbor in
the spindle ID.

The center hole was drilled, the angled cut was made, then the hole was
filed at the clamping end to allow the drawbolt (allthread) to shift
sideways to allow the end piece to pull off-axis. Since the spindle
pass-thru hole is under 1" on this small lathe, filing the center hole
seemed necessary for using a 3/8" drawbolt.

The handwheel knob is a ball bearing assembly with a short piece of nylon
round stock pressed into the bore, drilled and tapped for a 1/4"-20 bolt.
I had tried using an aluminum bar with a longer offset for the crank, but it
was a bit cumbersome, and the handwheel proved to be very easy to turn while
wathching the threading operation.

The handwheel isn't left in the spindle, as it's very badly off-balance. I
pull the power cord from the wall outlet and disengage the drive belt when
using the hand crank.

For the short offset of the handwheel, and because the lathe is small, the
hand threading method doesn't require a lot of effort.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Wes" wrote in message
...

Well the lathe that I have access to won't hand crank worth a chit unless
I
leave it in neutral from the start. I'm curious about the lathe I'm
fixing.
Since the motor and varidrive is out, I wonder if threading the whole
shaft
at home using a crank is an option. I only need to turn .75" at 14 tpi.

I'll look into the feasability in the morning. It isn't like tying up the
lathe until I get done is a problem.

Any tips on making an expanding arbor for spindle? Mine is 1 3/8" id.

Wes


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