Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

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Steamin
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Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Steamin »

Found a seasonally appropriate use for a surplus 10" Cushman chuck!
Lathe chuck Tree stand base
Lathe chuck Tree stand base
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NP317
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by NP317 »

Are you sure the tree is centered?
:lol: :roll: :lol:
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Bob D. »

If it was on a rotary table you would be sure to get the good side of the tree showing…..
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liveaboard
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by liveaboard »

Bob D. wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:58 pm If it was on a rotary table you would be sure to get the good side of the tree showing…..
You could motorize it!
Wait, what about the lighting wires...
Add a control, it could run one rotation then reverse.
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by jcfx »

liveaboard wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:45 pm You could motorize it!
Wait, what about the lighting wires...
Add a control, it could run one rotation then reverse.
Slip ring !
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Bill Shields
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Bill Shields »

Been going around on slip rings for 60+ years.

My father in law built it for my wife when she was 10 ->

It originally had a 3" diameter pot on it for a small live tree.

Over the years, I have enlarged the 'pot' (now a piece of 8" pipe) to handle larger trees, replaced the wiring.

Belts are original, only added oil once in the 40 years we have been running it.

We have had an 18' tall tree in it (ridge pole height of our living room) -> never again.

even at 2 RPM, a tree that size is whistling along at the outer edges. The motor gearbox is a combined unit and changing the motor to something variable speed not really a viable option ($$$$$!!!!)
tree stand.jpg
Normally it lives in a wood box to hide the mechanism and deaden the sound of the not-very-quiet motor

people ask about the wiring -> and I say 'it goes for a while in one direction, then stops and unwinds'.

yes...people sit there and wait for it to reverse. :shock:

every once in a while someone asks me to build them one -> and I start with $1000 as a starter price to get the materials.

nobody has ever asked a second time or come up with the cash.

which is good because UL would have a heart attack if they saw the exposed 110VAC slip rings sitting under a pot full of water that is filled by hand with a flower watering pot.

The family inside-joke (not so inside any more) -> The Christmas tree sits on a prayer rug I purchased in the Middle East 45 years ago.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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liveaboard
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by liveaboard »

That's a wild setup!
I made a dozen rotating sculpture stands for OH's work; people ask about the power to the light in the center.
But my trick is the light does not rotate, it protrudes through the hollow shaft.

Made without any machine tools. So long ago that I don't have a digital picture.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Bill Shields »

Used a lathe to make the slip rings.

All else done with torch, stick welder, sawzall, drill press, drills and taps

Looks like it too...but runs just fine.

Today would use a variable speed drive. Otherwise would change nothing.
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RSG
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by RSG »

NP317 wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:09 pm Are you sure the tree is centered?
:lol: :roll: :lol:
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Bill Shields
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Bill Shields »

centering with a 3 jaw chuck is much easier on an artificial tree than with a real tree.

our 'pot' is basically a 4 jaw chuck.....

drill a 1/2" pilot hole in the end of the tree, set it down on a 'spike' in the middle / bottom of the water pot, start adjusting until the wife is happy it is straight.

Makes even finding a live tree annoying -> since you want one that is 'nice all the way around' and 'straight'.
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Bob D.
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Bob D. »

What? No taper attachment for the hedge trimmer to make the tree concentric? Must be the base model……
3/4" Juliet II 0-4-0
3/4" Purinton Mogul "Pogo"
3/4" Hall Class 10 wheeler
3/4" Evans Caribou/Buffalo 2-8-0
3/4" Sweet Violet 0-4-0
3/4" Hunslet 4-6-0
3/4" Kozo A3. Delayed construction project

1 1/2" A5 Camelback 0-4-0
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Bill Shields
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Re: Lathe chuck xmas tree stand

Post by Bill Shields »

concentric is not really the problem - big holes in the back where there are missing branches is the problem.

ever seen how they do it at commercial tree farms?

they have just what you describe on the end of a hydraulic arm mounted on a Kubota tractor. (narrow to fit between rows of trees)

when I was young, used to be high-school kids in the summer with hand held trimmers and short ladders.

Today, if they cannot get their phone to do it, they are not interested.

I guess that is progress....

but even with all that, our current 6' tree (with the owner's discount - they are neighbors), was $104

specifically remember that our 18' tree (20 years ago) cost under $50 because nobody wanted it - tool big -> so wife and i said 'what the heck, at that price we can do it - once.'
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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