# Car Scratchbuild (Not Mine!)



## Brent Gair (Jun 26, 1999)

This is way beyond my current ability.

I was checking some Taig Lathe sites tonight to see what was new. I've thought about using the lathe for custom (model) wheel work.

I found a link to a site where a guy has REALLY taken scratchbuilding to the max. This is what I aspire to do...if I live long enough to develop that much talent. Thought you guys might like to see his work. There's 40 pictures in total.

http://public.fotki.com/cafox513/model_car_scratchbu/s1.html


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## NUM11BLADE (Feb 16, 2002)

Wow pretty slick on the wheels. 

Anybody making cannons? 
Turning them would seem straightforward, would drilling out the center be tricky.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Couldn't believe those pix. :freak: Loved his closing statement on his last page.  rr


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## Gray-headed Art (Aug 16, 2002)

NUM11BLADE said:


> Wow pretty slick on the wheels.
> 
> Anybody making cannons?
> Turning them would seem straightforward, would drilling out the center be tricky.


Boring a cannon barrel (or for that matter, any sort of hollow "tube" isn't at all difficult on a lathe.

It does require a tailstock with Morse taper, and a Jacobs chuck though, large enough to hold the proper size twist drill.

Art


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## Brent Gair (Jun 26, 1999)

NUM11BLADE said:


> Anybody making cannons?
> Turning them would seem straightforward, would drilling out the center be tricky.


Making cannons on small lathes is actually one of the more common projects. I've never made a canon per se, however, the 4" aluminum barrel on my Hyperatomic Space Blaster is basically a simplified mini-canon:

http://groups.msn.com/Margaret6547/miscellaneous.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=53

Center drilling is really one of the BIG advantages of using a lathe. It's much easier on a lathe than on a drill press.

If you look at the lathe setup picture on the first page of that model car link, you'll see a "drilling tailstock" on the right hand side of the lathe. The tailstock has a device called a "dead center" which is a conical point in perfect aligment with the headstock (the headstock centers the work being turned). The outer portion of the dead center is threaded to receive a drill chuck...which can be seen in the photo. This is all mounted on a "ram" which means the whole dead center/drill chuck assembly can be pushed into the work using a lever (also visible in the photo if you look carefully).

This results in an arrangement where the drill is perfectly centered along the axis of the spinning work piece. This is, by far, the easiest and most accurate kind of drilling that I have ever done. I bought some cobalt drill bits for my lathe and, just for test purposes, I tried drilling a hole down the center of some 3/16" diameter stainless steel rod. It worked perfectly and would have be almost impossible to do by other means.

There are limitations in terms of size. If you are drilling, obviously you can't drill deeper than the length of the drill so you have difficulties drilling more than a couple of inches. My particular drill chuck is only 1/4" which limits drilling diameter (a bigger chuck can be used).

You can also BORE holes which is even more accurate than drilling. Boring is great for larger holes. It doesn't use a drill bit. It requires a "boring bar" which is a device that shaves and internal hole with a cutting bit. It allows for large diameters (you can bore a 4" diameter hole on a Taig lathe!). However, again, there are depth problems because the boring bars must be firmly supported and long length causes problems.

Basically, making centered holes on the lathe is not difficult and it one of the big pluses of using a lathe. You just have to account for the small size of the equipment used here.


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