Lathe Stand

Ned Bulken

Member
Messages
5,529
Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Finally decided to get around to making my lathe stand. I'm 6'3" tall, and my elbow height is 48". So, I wanted to have the spindle height just below that. On my delta midi the spindle is 13" high, so I want the table height to be just about 36". I had some legs left over from some old bunk beds kicking around, which were a 2x6 with a 2x4 glued and screwed onto it. I figured, black paint aside, they were just about perfect for my purpose.


I had thought of using the torsion box from my old bench, but decided that was a bit too deep.

lathetable.jpg


So, I looked around and found another cast off from the bunk bed ; a wooden I-beam of sorts. This was used to support the plywood platform, and it had 3/8" carriage bolts securing it to the side rails. I decided that would make a good 'spine' for the lathe stand. I screwed and will bolt the 4 legs to the I-beam. I'm going to put a piece of 1/2" plywood under the feet of the lathe, and will screw that down to the legs.

lathestandlegs.jpg


I'm going to add a ballast box lower down on the legs, as well as a set of trestle feet to add some stability front/rear on the stand too. I was getting tired so I decided that it could wait until tomorrow (or, whenever I manage to get out there again)

I found some l-brackets in the scrap bin, so they'll serve to hold up the ballast box.
lathestandend.jpg


the upper bracket will hold a tool rack eventually.
 
Looking good so far Ned!

Good and stout can't be beat!

Think about some cross bracing of some sort, maybe on the back, to stop the stand from racking.

Cheers! :wave:
 
Looking good so far Ned!

Good and stout can't be beat!

Think about some cross bracing of some sort, maybe on the back, to stop the stand from racking.

Cheers! :wave:

Stu,
I will add that to my 'to do' list. Those legs will obviously hold the weight, but as you noticed, they're a little wobbly as they stand right now. And as you can guess, the price is right... free!


edit:
one more thing... for some reason my boys thought that black was cool... their school colors are red and black, so that's why the legs are black. I'm going to pick up some oops paint though, I'm not all that keen on black though, so I'll get a lighter shade on it just for aesthetics.
 
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Stu,
I will add that to my 'to do' list. Those legs will obviously hold the weight, but as you noticed, they're a little wobbly as they stand right now. And as you can guess, the price is right... free!


edit:
one more thing... for some reason my boys thought that black was cool... their school colors are red and black, so that's why the legs are black. I'm going to pick up some oops paint though, I'm not all that keen on black though, so I'll get a lighter shade on it just for aesthetics.

Aesthetics on a lathe stand..... :huh: :eek:

Ned, you have WAY TOO MUCH free time on your hands :D

heck, I've yet to paint my lathe stand.....or my bandsaw......or my cart for the planer...... or the fixture for the SMCS stand......;) :D

Don't worry about paint, just cover the stand with curlies :thumb:
 
Stu,
normally I'm the same way, but those black legs have been annoying me for a couple of years now. Lori tends to be pretty tolerant of self expression, so the boys have painted their rooms as they wish, and the black bunk beds. I figure it'll only take a coat or two of oops to get rid of the black. I"ve even got a can on hand that i used to paint the ends of some turning blanks. $3 to get rid of the black and a little time, both good investments.
 
Ned, good looking lathe stand. I am not sure that I have ever painted or put finish on a piece of shop equipment. I build and am usually to eager to use it to wait on finish. :D
 
Understand about the black legs... but like all the other guys, my lathe stand is natural 2x4 pine and not painted.... if I did anything I may have put a sealer on it so the chips will fall off more eaisily. also have a plywood box stand that I use for the chop saw or the little band saw whichever I'm using at the time.... I can swap them from the top to the storage underneath... it's still plywood color.
 
Lookin' fine and stout. Do be sure to use your level to check it out six ways from Sunday. An out of kilter bench will affect the lathe bed and subsequent alignment causing you nitemares with turning. Make shims and be prepared to use them. Check before and after mounting the machine.
Next, we want to see it in use.
 
Lookin' fine and stout. Do be sure to use your level to check it out six ways from Sunday. An out of kilter bench will affect the lathe bed and subsequent alignment causing you nitemares with turning. Make shims and be prepared to use them. Check before and after mounting the machine.
Next, we want to see it in use.

Will do on the shims, and putting it to use. Side project will be building a shelf for my grinder. Don Orr suggested that I keep the to 'relatively' separate to keep the grit and such out of the lathe motor. I've got a plan for that, just have to get that corner behind the lathe fully cleared out first.

looks like it just might work :thumb::thumb:

sure hope so!
 
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