I had to make 6 circles recently, 1/8" thick, 6" diameter. They needed
to be nice, so I always intended to lathe turn them. Trouble is, when
I've done it before using a plasma cutter and a compass-style circle
guide, the smallest variation in the angle of the torch head while
cutting left the blanks just inaccurate enough to be a pain to turn on
my small lathe. So this time I cut them square from 6" wide flat
stock, center drilled the squares, and mounted them on my quick and
dirty turntable, which was cobbled for a previous project from a
modified $10 HF boat winch . Added an adjustable arm to hold the torch
head locked in position, and started cranking. It worked so well that
I almost could have skipped the lathe turning. You'd think the
winch-turntable would need a separate ground to the material, but the
current carries through the gear train and bushings without problem.
It's overkill for 1/32 accuracy, but you might find it useful for
other projects. Very low tech, here's a photo
http://www.citlink.net/~wmbjk/images/winchturntable.jpg

Wayne

Funny, I'm working on a small winch too! I am going to simply remake the drum,
but different. Then I'm planning to cut the gear off the original drum and weld
it onto this one.

The design is for a table hoist system for an H-frame hydraulic press. I'm
modifying the winch to reel cable in and out both sides instead of just one,
then I'll mount it in the middle of the top and make pulleys on the top corners
and hang the cables from brackets on the outside of the H frame. Hope it works.

Grant