Starvin Larry

Just think of the possibilities-you could make it into a metal  lathe fairly easily,just need a moving carriage and tool rest/holder,along with a better chuck,or chucks in many cases.

Still not that big of a modification,I may build one myself once I’m caught up on work.

Think about real old school machine shops,like WWI era.

All of the machines in the shop worked off of the same main belt,usually a big thick leather belt that drove several overhead shafts.Each machine had it’s own belt up to the big shaft that was powered by either steam,waterwheel,or diesel or gasoline engines.

That one shaft powered up to a dozen machines,sometimes more.

With this type of set-up you can make stuff out of wood or metal-probably a good idea to have the bicycle chain turning a gear hooked up to a generator to charge a few 12v deep cycle batteries,which could be used-with a voltage inverter to power a motor so you would not have to pedal all the time.

I’m sure with a longer chain,and a second generator set up,two people pedaling could produce a useful amount of power.

Add more chains,more gears,and more people pedaling,set up multiple generators so it’s one for each person who is pedaling-that would at a minimum be able to keep some lights on in your shop.

It all began with baseball

In 2014, Lewis traveled to a school in the Dominican Republic town of Punta Cana to teach woodworking. “Baseball is religion there,” Lewis told me. He said he thought about bringing bats, but decided to bring a lathe so the kids could make their own. Transporting a full-size lathe—which can weigh more than 400 pounds—was obviously out of the question. So Lewis and two friends, Eric Foster and Chris Darnell, set to work designing a lathe that could be built on-site with a few basic tools and that wouldn’t need electricity.

They first tried a pole lathe and a treadle lathe, centuries-old designs that rely on taut ropes and foot-pumping to turn the wood. Neither worked. “I’m an experienced turner and in good physical shape,” Lewis said. “But running a treadle lathe was just too hard.” That’s when Lewis and friends turned to pedal power. Scott began by cannibalizing a colleague’s donated bike for parts. The rear wheel formed the basis of the flywheel; they cut off the part of the frame holding the pedals and cranks; and the front axle became a tensioning roller. Lewis and his father teamed up on the metalworking.

View of the repurposed bike parts used in the pedal-powered lathe design.

Scott packed the brackets, bike parts, and woodturning tools in boxes and suitcases for the flight to the Dominican Republic. Once in Punta Cana, they bought the wood they needed and enlisted the schoolkids to build the lathe.

The kids couldn’t wait to begin pedaling and turning. During Lewis’s three-week visit, the kids made spin tops, yo-yos, bowls, and—of course—baseball bats. Here are some highlights of the trip. (The video was done to coincide with Scott’s article in American Woodturner.)