I have been playing around with various lathe setups.

1) First I was using my drill press and sandpaper as a vertical lathe to make various wooden and acrylic pens.

2) Then, I set up a corded drill mounted to a board with a fixture to hold my pieces and made lathe tools out of various screwdrivers and nails with lathed handles.  I used this to make some fun tops out of branches off our apricot tree.

3) Last weekend, I found an old lathe fixture, a 1/2 hp motor, and some v-pulleys at an estate sale, so I built a folding lathe table with the motor on a pivoting bracket to tension the belt.   Today, I made a head with a top hat and a couple of snowmen to try out the new setup.

Here is my newest lathe setup –

 

woodworking