Giant Lathe "Turns" Whole Logs

Giant Lathe "Turns" Whole Logs WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 26-3-32 When Gerald Green needs a special tool for something, he usually makes it himself. So over the years, the Queen Creek, Arizona handyman has built sawmills, booms, dozer blades, and rock forks. Recently, he came up with one of his most interesting ideas - a giant "log lathe". FARM SHOW readers Harlan and Jackie Dalthorp, Young, Arizona, were so impressed they wrote to tell us about it. Green uses his log lathe to turn down logs to a uniform diameter for building houses. The lathe consists of a 32-ft. long frame made of 8 by 16-in. rectangular steel tubing. Like smaller shop lathes, it has a powered head stock and a tail stock that can be adjusted to fit the length of the material. An electric hydraulic pump powers a 2 hp hydraulic motor that's geared down to turn the head stock at 15 to 20 rpm. "Because logs are not uniformly sized, turning them too fast might throw it off balance and could damage the lathe or even be dangerous," Green says. A second hydraulic motor, powered by the same pump, pulls a tool trolley across the top of the log, using gears and roller chain. The tool trolley carries two router heads, powered by a 10 hp 3-phase 220-volt electric motor. The first router head takes off up to 2 in. of material, evening out the surface and taking out slight bows in the log. The second router head takes off about a quarter of an inch more, smoothing the log. The big lathe handles logs up to 16 in. in diameter and 26 ft. long. It will peel a 12-in. diameter log down to 9 in. in one pass. Green says it sometimes takes multiple passes to turn a log down to the right size. The tail stock can be adjusted in 2-ft. increments from 6 ft. up to 26 ft. "It takes about a half hour to peel and size a 14-ft. log," Green says who's turned enough logs to build 14 houses. Green has two log lathes for sale. He'd also be willing to consult with anyone interested in making either a lathe or a sawmill. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerald Green, 20134 Superstition Drive, Queen Creek, Arizona 85242 (ph 480-987-0308).

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