My new toy...err...tool

I made this out of some scrap wood a bolt, a nut and two washers, which I reduced the diameter on with my bench grinder and cordless drill. The drive pin is a 1/2 square piece of hardwood. I fitted it to the crank by drilling a hole in the crank and then using my scroll saw to square the corners.

This is how it fits

I bought a spruce 4x4 to play with today and spent some time on the lathe and the router crafter. This is the biggest and most complex thing I have ever turned. I might add that it was also the scariest thing I've ever turned. Good practice, but I sure would like to spend some time with someone who is a turner.

I had one of those router crafters when I was 19. I think I spent 90% of my shop time on it. I actually made a bench for it, mounted a 3/4 hp motor under it on a lever with springs, belted it to pulleys. One of the pulleys turned a threaded rod that had a mount to it. That mount attached to the router mount. I would turn the motor on, which spun the wood. I believe I just used 1/2” tube stock as the shaft to mount into the crafter and hold a pulley assembly. No bushings. A dumb, excited kid. Then there was a clutch to engage the threaded rod belt. That moved the router along. When it got to the end, the threaded rod mount hit a light switch to turn off the motor. The other end of the threaded rod was ground down to accept a drill to spin the threaded rod back to home place. Three passes and I had a rounded blank. I would sand the previously finished blank with a dirrefent grit of sand paper during each pass. I think I could turn and sand four table legs in less than half an hour. I thought it was something else. Eventually, that wore down the plastic bushing in the crafter. Later, the crafter was stolen. I still try to imagine how it all worked when I’m bored driving sometimes. I can’t piece it all together completely. That was over twenty years ago.

Anyway, about 2005, I saw they were still for sale new. But, from a UK company with a different brand name. Exact same build, though. Had to pay like $75 in tariffs. But, I still have it. Awesome little machine.

Here are a couple of photos of the crank that I made. Since I work with both metal and wood, I decided to make mine out of metal.

Frank