Do you put additional weight in your lathe stand

Chris, and Billy, I'm sure you are correct about the Mustard Monsters, but the DVR is a MUCH lighter lathe, and comes without a stand, or if it does have a stand (did it Jay?) it is the thin steel one. I understand that they now sell the cast iron legs for the DVR, but I'd rather build my own

"Bill, you turn some great stuff and wierd shapes and yes you should have a hunkered down mass to support that pressure. But for the most part a regular turner needs only a well designed stand and not a over weighted monster."

Bill,

First off, thanks for the compliment. You're right that, given what I like to turn, I absolutely need a big old thing, and you're also right that if I were trying to do pens (an activity which my beloved Doorlink has banned), my set up would be massive overkill. Not only that, but the lathe I have probably couldn't do a good pen.

But are we helping Jay here? I've been given to understand that he's getting a DVR xp (a lathe I would die for, by the way). That's a 180 lb lathe, last time I checked, a bit on the light side, so I'd be a little leery about huge out of balanced chunks. But I'm also given to understand that Jay is a sane and rational man, and likely won't be doing insane things on it (like, say, three foot high birdhouses turned out of solid logs...

Picking through all the good advice here, I think there may be two things that are easily missed. First, these things are really messy, and clean up is a problem. For me, curls fly behind the stand, and get down between the stand and the wall, as well as between the ways. I've got a nice ecosystem of bugs and spiders between the stand and the wall, due to all the shavings, and I haven't solved that problem yet. At least I can vacuum them out from between the ways, but even that's a hassle.

Second, believe it or not, stance is important. I can't easily get one foot underneath when turning. It's a problem. The good news is that I'm not standing solidly like an NFL quarterback... I'm standing a little lightly, ready to jump out of the way... But most of the videos I've seen have a section on how to stand while turning. I just have to fast forward past that part...

Anyway, I hope all this is helping Jay. I have a feeling there's not really a right answer, and we all need to see the whole thing as a process, or a journey...

Thanks,

Bill

hey jay, ya` know redhead makes "drop-in" anchors for concrete.....you drill a hole, drop the anchor in and use an off the shelf bolt of whatever length required to fasten stuff to the concrete........best part is if you change your mind it`s reversable.....just remove the bolt and move the lathe, there`s a 1/2"-3/4" hole in the floor that has the insert down below the surface of the concrete so you could reuse the anchor or fill it in with a patch material for just a couple of bucks....sounds cheaper and faster than building a custom weighted stand.....

Thoughts

Hi guys

Well, thanks for all the advice and counsel.

I have decided that I will put weight into it, as much as I can reasonably fit.

I bought the steel stand, I am putting plywood inserts inside the legs, that way I can fill those cavities with sand

Tod, I need mobility so no go on bolting down (although I did think long and hard about that)

I bought steel wheels, 200 load rating a piece, two fixed two swivel. I figure I can make some wedges to go under the mini-beast if it moves around.

I am planning on bolting a piece of 3/4" ply across the legs, with a recess cut out for my toes, and then build a box on top of that (gluing and screwing from below) so I will have two shelves (the bottom and the one that goes on the brackets in the legs) Then later on I can add drawers if I think they will help. I am going to put sand in the bottom box as well


I am going to raise the lathe off the bed with plywood pads

That is it so far!

Jay

Jay have you thought about the overall height of the spindle? I read somewhere that the spindle should be at or around the same height as your elbow. I raised mine to that height and it is much more comfortable now. Anyone else have thought on this?

My bad, I didn't realize the topic was specific to the DVR. And I agree that light lathes need to be weighted.

Jeff

Yes, my calculations included spindle height. That is why I am only putting a 3/4" plywood board between the stand and the wheels/ Any thicker and I would be getting too high. I thought about smaller diameter casters but the load rating dropped too much.

Jay

Billy

Sorry I didn't put the lathe type in the orginal post,

Jay

Stu, You think too less of equipment not up to standard. (whatever Standard is) You have one of the most over-engineered lathe stands I have ever seen and I really doubt you should need a weight ballast. But you do so have at it. In fact what you post is some well made goodies and I am impressed with your work. I differ that you think Non top drawer lathes can't perform as well as the top of the line. I have worked in schools with the High end quality from Jay Faye & Eagan, Olivers, Best Powermatic has to offer as well as middle of the road Rockwells and Deltas...they are all excellant tools and were mounted on stands only a few degrees off , A 5 degree splay is more than enough so consuming great shop space is not an issue in my opinion. Here at my Dust Bowl Man-Cave I have JUNQUE lathes, One I reconstructed into a bowl lathe from a E-bay grab China made that cost new around $125 I got it for $7 but I wanted parts, Another is an old guy that was SWMBO's grandfather's home workshop small spindle lathe, (1940s) bushings and such not bearings. And the most recient is another E-bay purchase Tubular lathe, All perform to satisfaction. Perfect? NO ! Do-able? Yes! and most likely on the same scale as most hobby turners.

Remember the Lathe only provides turning motion , the tools and the opperator do the rest. With the pictures posted a bowl such as that should not need massive legs or weight.

Stu, You think too less of equipment not up to standard. (whatever Standard is) You have one of the most over-engineered lathe stands I have ever seen and I really doubt you should need a weight ballast. But you do so have at it. In fact what you post is some well made goodies and I am impressed with your work. I differ that you think Non top drawer lathes can't perform as well as the top of the line. I have worked in schools with the High end quality from Jay Faye & Eagan, Olivers, Best Powermatic has to offer as well as middle of the road Rockwells and Deltas...they are all excellant tools and were mounted on stands only a few degrees off , A 5 degree splay is more than enough so consuming great shop space is not an issue in my opinion. Here at my Dust Bowl Man-Cave I have JUNQUE lathes, One I reconstructed into a bowl lathe from a E-bay grab China made that cost new around $125 I got it for $7 but I wanted parts, Another is an old guy that was SWMBO's grandfather's home workshop small spindle lathe, (1940s) bushings and such not bearings. And the most recient is another E-bay purchase Tubular lathe, All perform to satisfaction. Perfect? NO ! Do-able? Yes! and most likely on the same scale as most hobby turners.

Remember the Lathe only provides turning motion , the tools and the opperator do the rest. With the pictures posted a bowl such as that should not need massive legs or weight. If you clamp on a sideways log, any lathe will have trouble purring. Also some folks get chatter from poor technique and assume it is lathe movement, so they pound it down with weight to correct their own error. Any of those problems are adverse to the way any of them were designed, A oneway with its massive structure will walk when you chunk up a log.

If you want weights and such that is your concern but as several have said, it is personal preference. I would not consider it unless the problem occurs. But a poorly designed stand will creat a need when a few modifications in the design will serve the same purpose. The weights only compensate for poor design

Chuck Beland said:

Question,
I was lead to believe that if you bolt yours to the floor you could possibly bend,twist something out of alignment, or cause serious damage to something.


Chuck

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I would tend to agree.

my lathe that`s bolted down is steel not cast.....haven`t noticed anything funny?

tod evans said:

my lathe that`s bolted down is steel not cast.....haven`t noticed anything funny?

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I think the only reason Tod bolts his down is so his dogs don't take it outside as a play toy.

OK guys, BACK TO ME!

Do you have any thoughts/comments about my plan?

Jay

Oh that's right you started this.

I think your plan sounds great. I think you have thought and planned it out well. Then you let us in on your plan....not sure that is always a good idea

Make sure to post pics on your progress.

Good plan...but don't be too crazy about the height thing. Make it all solid and how you want...then adjust "your" height if need be. A pad and/or wood platform that you can put in front will make all the difference in the world. If you're like most...standing will be an issue on the joints.

Your plan sounds good Jay. leave the sand in the bags.

One other thing, make DARN sure there is a way for the curlies to fall, yes FALL out from under the ways, a little 3/4" gap between the stand top and the lathe bed is NOT good enough, trust me, I know

Bill S. I agree that the best thing is a good foundation. One other thing that I did not mention, as I has little bearing on Jay's situation, is the actual vibration even when turning. I mostly turn late at night, well actually early in the morning, and I'm in the concrete Dungeon of our 7 floor building. Any vibration from any tool is easily transmitted up the concrete to the rest of the building. In my early turning days, with the C-man lathe, I did bolt that sucker down, and my wife could hear me roughing out a bowl at 2 AM

The sand and the isolation pads I made has eliminated any such vibration from my lathe, or at least I'm not getting frantic 2 AM calls on the intercom saying "WHAT ARE YOU DOING..........???

I also certainly understand that you can "Git-R-Dun" with a piece of equipment that is far inferior in many ways to a top of the line modern lathe, but, I will note, when I see top turners turn, they turn really fast, and they all say that they can only do that with everything being smooth, but then again, I'm not a top turner, so maybe it don't matter

All in all an interesting topic, and a nice friendly discussion.

Cheers!

Stuart Ablett said:

All in all an interesting topic, and a nice friendly discussion.

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My favorite part of the forum

Bill Simpson said:

If you want weights and such that is your concern but as several have said, it is personal preference. I would not consider it unless the problem occurs. But a poorly designed stand will create a need when a few modifications in the design will serve the same purpose. The weights only compensate for poor design

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I know a professional turner who's lathe is a chunk of concrete oh about 1000 lbs or more with pillow blocks fastened to the top & I think a 2 HP motor turning I think a 1 1/4" shaft. He turns stuff one wouldn't dare put on a light duty lathe.
He probably has $200 or a little more in it.