Pedal Base

hackaday.com/2013/04/26/foot-powered-lathe-is-a-tour-de-force-of-joinery-techniques

Concept

The pedal base is just a mechanical gain platform for me to attach other tools to.

Design

I currently have two competing designs

Bike Base

Buy a cheap bike (salvage or Craigslist) and take off the front and use the back wheel as the drive. For this I would add concrete to the spokes of the wheel to act as a flywheel.

Belt Drive

I could also make one myself out of wood using belt drives. This is mechanically much simpler, but slightly less efficient.