For packing joints.
I made a little baseball bat years ago for that purpose and recently had fun making more different ones for friends.
As you can see I used a piece of rebar for the bat.
I "turned" it using a drill and angle grinder then going through different grains of sanding:
The lightsaber's hilt was made the same way, using a dremel tool to get more control on the details.
The "blade" is made of Corian, a synthetic stone commonly used for countertops.
The sword required a lot more precision to make and ended up okay but looking closely nothing is really symmetrical or straight...
I grinded it from a random stick of metal, the pommel is made from aluminum and the grip is two layers of sewing thread soaked in superglue, sanded, then superglued again.
A cross-guard would have added a lot of character but I didn't find a nice and easy enough way to do it, and I was short on time...
I am a big fan of makeshift lathes, for tasks that don't necessitate a full metal workshop. Though I do hope to have a small lathe one day.
Nice setup! Everything looks nice and sturdyish ^^
How clean was the finish on that bar and how did you spin it?
I need a vise... I'm still free-handing the angle grinder and it's super hard to be consistent.
Edit: sorry I only looked at the "lathe" pic and hadn't read the words which answered all my questions :)
Thank you for the kind words! All of the tools I used were things that were laying around. I'm marginally better at woodworking than metalworking, so that's why the jig holding the bar was all wood.
I did think about attaching the motor from a disused drill press to spin the bar, but that seemed like it would invite all manner of complexity.
Lathe is in my future, but I kinda want a CNC first. But a CNC lathe would be god-tier.
Well I am a woodworker myself and I gotta say that bench looks clean af, nice job!
I also think about that sort of things every time I need a lathe and have tried repurposing old motors, but i haven't yet made a semi decent one.
I feel you, I crave so many tools...
Well, since I've already linked to two of my not-quite-a-lathe projects, I might as well link to the one which started it all: https://sh.itjust.works/post/16087080
This one does have a motor, but not a conventional one at all. And this only worked because the thing I'm turning would need a center hole drilled through anyway.
Woaw now that's a nice jig I'm going to keep in mind for later use!
I love the multitude of solutions people can think of to get to their goals.
Props on making your own stuff!