Making a mobile base for a lathe

That gives me some ideas, it is a jet 1236 with the stamped steel legs on it. I was thinking about keeping this base and adding wheels to it that raise and lower. I don't think I will have to add too much bracing to the current stand since it is pretty sturdy. I have on more than one occasion just grabbed the lathe and drug it across the shop. I like what Bill posted but I also kinda like Tod's idea.
 
i have an older 1236 myself (back when they were blue), and out of necessity i needed to make a mobile platrform for it and the grinder. here are the pics of what i have built.
 

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the platform for my lathe is basically 2-6' 2x4's with 5-2' 2x4's, and 2 pieces of 5/8" plywood, along with 4 swivelling casters. easy enough to roll in and out of my dad's garage. he wanted to know why i made it 6 ft long when the lathe is only 5 ft long. i told him as i was setting the grinder in place, where else would i put the grinder? :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
My concern with a mobile base is getting the bed out of alignment if the floor isn't perfectly flat everywhere the base must be moved. But, if it must be moved out of necessity, it must be moved. Stu did it so it must be (kinda?) feasible.
 
I have some really nice large casters that are rated for a few hundred pounds each. I think I will go with the idea that Bill found. Any thoughts if I could adapt the stamped steel stand or if I should make a new wood cabinet for it?
 
My concern with a mobile base is getting the bed out of alignment if the floor isn't perfectly flat everywhere the base must be moved. But, if it must be moved out of necessity, it must be moved. Stu did it so it must be (kinda?) feasible.

frank, i've had my lathe on it's mobile platform for most of this last summer, and have hauled it in and out of the garage numerous times, and have had no problems. that's also taking into account that my dad's garage floor and driveway are only fairly level. (stu isn't the only one up on wheels:D:rofl:) as far as the casters go, my casters are hd specials, rated at about 200 lbs each, which is more than sufficient, since the whole thing, lathe, platform, and grinder stand, and grinder is probably just shy of 300 lbs. once i get to it's favorite spot on the driveway, and the casters are locked, it's quite stable, and has no tendency to want to dance. the lathe itself is secured to the base with 3" lag screws driven into the hidden cross members.
 
I have some really nice large casters that are rated for a few hundred pounds each. I think I will go with the idea that Bill found. Any thoughts if I could adapt the stamped steel stand or if I should make a new wood cabinet for it?
The problem with the stamped steel stand is it doesn't have enough weight to stabilize the lathe without adding sandbags or other weight to it. The cabinet helps with the weight and gives you more storage as well.

I moved my Jet 1236 to one of my stationary bench tops to stabilize it. I don't plan to do any large projects so this will work for me.
 
Thats what I was thinking Bill, I am going to make a cabinet with hollow plywood legs and fill them will sand and probably put some drawers in it too.
 
Thats what I was thinking Bill, I am going to make a cabinet with hollow plywood legs and fill them will sand and probably put some drawers in it too.
Sand? Sounds familiar. I made a mobile cart for my scrollsaw. It's about 27" long by 16" wide by 20" high. I put three drawers in the operator end of it and filled the other end with bricks! No problem with tipping. :thumb:
 
This is what I use for my table saw. I just lift up one end and the casters drop down. To set back on the casters, lift it again, pull the cord to retract the casters under it and wheel it (caster it?) away.
And no, the saw blades are not rusty as they appear to be.
Mike
 
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frank, i've had my lathe on it's mobile platform for most of this last summer, and have hauled it in and out of the garage numerous times, and have had no problems. that's also taking into account that my dad's garage floor and driveway are only fairly level. (stu isn't the only one up on wheels:D:rofl:) as far as the casters go, my casters are hd specials, rated at about 200 lbs each, which is more than sufficient, since the whole thing, lathe, platform, and grinder stand, and grinder is probably just shy of 300 lbs. once i get to it's favorite spot on the driveway, and the casters are locked, it's quite stable, and has no tendency to want to dance. the lathe itself is secured to the base with 3" lag screws driven into the hidden cross members.

Stability isn't what I'm concerned with. But, on an uneven surface the lathe bed can get a bit twisty causing the head/tail to not line up properly.
 
Stability isn't what I'm concerned with. But, on an uneven surface the lathe bed can get a bit twisty causing the head/tail to not line up properly.

I understand what you are talking about. I have a cement floor that is pretty level so this shouldn't be a problem. I started the stand this evening, I used 2 layers of 1/2" ply sandwiched in between 2 pieces of nice ply for each leg I capped the edges of the ply sandwich with 2x6s that have a dado in them. This essentially created an I beam. So 2 of the I beams are stood vertically for the legs. I connected the 2 legs with 2x6s at the front and back at the top and a 2x10 stood on edge at the bottom. So far its very ridged, its not terribly heavy but I have a solution. I found 2 wheel weights lying around. They are solid cast iron and probably about 75 pounds each. All I have to do is figure out how to attach them to the legs. I need to attach the top to the stand and do the casters and its all finished. I would like to put in some drawers but I think that I'll hold off on that for now. I have too many other things to do so this will be a quick project.
 
I have the stand about finished up, I was just going to use sand to weigh it down but after I got the sand in I relized that it wasn't heavy enough. Soooo I added the wheel weights too and now it it stinking heavy. I would guess that the weights are 100# each and about #75 of sand so the whole stand would be around 300# and that's without the lathe. Now if I can get some time to put the lathe on it and check it out.
 
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