I'm setting up a cold shop, and needed a lap wheel
In most cases, when faced with a make-or-buy decision, I buy. If the product is mass produced, it's almost always better to buy. In this case, I decided to make
The bowl is a stainless mixing bowl from a local kitchen store. It's strong and it looks nice
The main shaft is 1" stainless steel, drilled out to provide center feed cooling. The bearings are strong. All rotating components are sealed
The disk was the tricky part. Neither my mill or lathe can handle the full 12" diameter. So, I milled it in sections, out of 3/8 steel plate
It was then balanced by hand, with a disk sander and dial indicator
I made this unit for my use and have no plans to offer it for sale
Proto 1 seems to work great!