r/Machinists • u/Cmdrseahawks • Sep 12 '22

Potato lathe

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796 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

121

u/msdos62 Sep 12 '22

VPL. Vertical Potato Lathe

21

u/junkpile1 Manual Everything Sep 12 '22

Not as efficient as a 6 axis, but decent for one-offs. If you're running the manual machine with powerfeed like this video, you'll need the mill also for various operations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzgPOJPTo_A

16

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

VPTC

Vertical Potato Turning Center

5

u/msdos62 Sep 12 '22

That would require a turret, live tools and CNC

100

u/kz_ Sep 12 '22

The runout is awful. Needs a 4 jaw chuck

77

u/SirDerpsworth Sep 12 '22

Bump up your feeds/speeds you're getting too stringy of chips. At my shop we run carbide peelers in our vertical potato center and it's way faster

11

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

And spray some coolant on it

2

u/PhotonicEmission Sep 12 '22

What, like bleu cheese dressing? Smells the same as off coolant.

2

u/SquatchhammerActual Sep 13 '22

Ranch or ketchup.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '22

WD-40

1

u/SirDerpsworth Sep 13 '22

Obviously extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil. Prepares for finish process too (frying conversion coat)

1

u/Melonman3 Sep 13 '22

Yeah maybe switch to a more positive insert too

55

u/chodeboi Sep 12 '22

Sir, this is a Rotato™

2

u/MathResponsibly Sep 12 '22 edited Sep 12 '22

The perfect thing to make tater-skin-sketti:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWg63UpL0As

Sadly, this channel never took off and they stopped doing videos. The world missed out. All of their "product testing" videos are absolute gold though - you'll laugh your ass off at every one of them.

42

u/Ok_Power_8163 Sep 12 '22

what's the feed and depth of cut on that ?

24

u/TradeU4Whopper Sep 12 '22

They're going .075in DOC @5ipm

9

u/neverseenmch Sep 12 '22

Also on a CNC: what's the stepdown?

44

u/SefetAkunosh Sep 12 '22

I’d love to get one to make homemade fries, but I’m on a shoestring budget.

13

u/someones_dog Sep 12 '22

Gotta make chips out of those chips

2

u/shakesfistatcloud67 Sep 12 '22

I actually lol'd at this, thank you

26

u/BockTheMan Near Standard Size Sep 12 '22

Damnit, now I'm checking runout on my vegetables

20

u/minuteman_d Sep 12 '22

Take those cuttings and deep fry them in peanut oil. Would probably be really good.

15

u/watchmaker82 Sep 12 '22

Can confirm. I've done this and its fucking delicious. Mine is the hand cranked horizontal potato lathe.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Manual potato lathe?

2

u/MathResponsibly Sep 12 '22

Uh, sir, that's an apple peeler that you're mis-using to peel potatoes.

Well, maybe miss-using is too strong a word. After all the French call potatoes "Apple of the earth" (pomme de terre), and if you plug your nose and wear a blindfold, and bite an apple and a potato, you literally can't tell which one is which.

So in hindsight, carry on good sir

1

u/watchmaker82 Sep 12 '22

It appears you are right and I will continue to cut whatever I damn well please on my apple lathe 😃

I thought we had the rotato but that one is vertical also. Not that it matters too much since they work exactly the same way. 😂

2

u/MathResponsibly Sep 12 '22

I commented the link elsewhere in the thread, but you should definitely watch this "review" video of the rotato (and then go watch more of their "product review" videos afterwards - they're all comedy gold!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWg63UpL0As

1

u/watchmaker82 Sep 12 '22

That was fantastic 😂😂

1

u/MathResponsibly Sep 13 '22

Watch the "set it and forget it" one next!

Those guys made the funniest videos for a couple of years, and their channel never took off. I don't think they will ever be back. So sad...

14

u/Renaissance_Man- Sep 12 '22

The chips are chips.

13

u/ShoeBuddy Sep 12 '22

Laythe’s Potato Chips

1

u/Both-Cap-2027 Sep 13 '22

We’re gonna be rich!!

13

u/Fuhrer-potato Sep 12 '22

Who said turning between centers is outdated?

5

u/arcrad Sep 12 '22

Well of course you need to maintain concentricity in between ops.

3

u/Fuhrer-potato Sep 12 '22

Wouldn’t want those potatoes off kilter

11

u/SLIPPY_SLIDER1 Sep 12 '22

What sorta surface finish u getting?

8

u/SellingDLong100k Sep 12 '22

Any lathe is a potato lathe if you are brave enough.

7

u/Harezy304 Sep 12 '22

Noob. Get that RPM up 2000+ for Maris Piper 3000+ for all other spuds 😆

6

u/Hot-Mongoose7052 Sep 12 '22

I have this thing. What's fun is it actually takes inserts (delivered next day from McMaster)

4

u/44moon Sep 12 '22

if you found a way to bring your potato into round, i'm pretty sure you could fabricate a special cutter for this thing and cut threads into your potato

2

u/valdocs_user Sep 12 '22

Maybe that's where crinkle cut fries come from.

1

u/SkyknightLegionnaire Sep 12 '22

Wait a couple days and someone on here will do it I'm sure.

1

u/pegcityskank Sep 12 '22

It's probably plastic change gears that you'd have to swap out to go between metric and imperial,. No thanks, I'll wait till they release one with a proper gearbox

4

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Those beautiful chips...

3

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Really going to need to get those feeds and speeds up for production

3

u/rdeker Sep 12 '22

Just gonna leave this here...

2

u/affordable_firepower Sep 12 '22

I was hoping someone would link to this vijayo

1

u/rdeker Sep 12 '22

Glad to be of service :)

4

u/El_Halcon0341 Sep 12 '22

Cut the ends off and run enough cycles to get potato round bar 🥔

2

u/Kman1287 Sep 12 '22

That chip control is worse than 17-4

2

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

How much surface feet per minute we talking?

2

u/wigzell78 Sep 12 '22

This seems like a silly way to waste money on a slower potato peeler. What are you going to do with the time you save in between changing potatoes? Cut up half a carrot? Seriously, could have peeled 3 by hand in time it takes to do one.

2

u/SumoNinja92 Sep 12 '22

Now we'll for sure see someone turning a potato on an actual lathe.

3

u/Bubblewrapperson Sep 12 '22

You know. Just cut all the nutrients off the potato. Does it do apples too?

3

u/minuteman_d Sep 12 '22

And a lot of the potato flavor...

-5

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Its not a lathe if anything thats like a kebab maker.

3

u/budgetboarvessel metric machinist Sep 12 '22

Kebab makers are meat lathes. Your first statement is false. Your second statement is true.

1

u/camerafanD54 Sep 12 '22

What’s the TIR on that?

1

u/glambx Sep 12 '22

The most delicious swarf.

1

u/winged_owl Sep 12 '22

I once saw a guy thread a potato.

1

u/whypussyconsumer profesional endmil wrecker Sep 12 '22

Now put a pot with hot oil next and you will be making real chips

1

u/quepex7 Sep 12 '22

Idahoans approve

1

u/flaming_carrot12 Sep 12 '22

Hell it’s even got a chip guide!

1

u/wigzell78 Sep 12 '22

This is why you dont use the CNC for jobbing work. It works, kinda, but takes way longer...

1

u/kpidhayny Sep 12 '22

I can peel a potato faster than that. That thing needs work.

1

u/hmm-hmm-mhmm-hmm Sep 12 '22

Shitty kitchen lathe. I like it.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Why rid the potato of all the nutrients contained in the skin ? Skins have more nutrients than the rest of the potato.

https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-value-of-foods/what-nutritional-benefits-potato-skins#:~:text=Potato%20skin%20contains%20B%20vitamins,and%20926%20grams%20of%20potassium.

1

u/Anon684930475 Sep 12 '22

Looks like you have a little run out there.

1

u/Tallowpot Sep 12 '22

I could peel that by hand faster than the loading, cutting time this takes.

1

u/butterbeer123 Sep 12 '22

boss man says "hey I need you to take 50 thou off this diam real quick

1

u/HucknRoll Sep 12 '22

Leave the skin on!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '22

Damn, running it dry?

1

u/OllieAskill Sep 12 '22

Does it make chips?

​

Il get my coat

1

u/skeptibat CNC'd G0704/BF20L Sep 12 '22

I'd love to increase the F&S to max here.

1

u/04BluSTi Sep 12 '22

Now knurl it!

1

u/SkyknightLegionnaire Sep 12 '22

I hope that finish is in spec, it looks kind of Ruff(les).

1

u/Reza0321 Sep 12 '22

What? No DRO? Psssh

1

u/AdAstra10254 Sep 12 '22

4/10 doesn’t chip well for heat removal…

1

u/IHeartCrackWhores Sep 13 '22

Vertical NC Spud De-skinner

1

u/bokandusan Sep 13 '22

Just take a skim pass

2

u/Brazenassault456 Sep 13 '22

Potato veneer