Working ON My Lathe Workstation

Stuart Ablett

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Location
Tokyo Japan
As most of you know, I like to fiddle with stuff, I have a streak of "Bodger" in me, as my Grandfather used to say :rolleyes:

I spend a lot of time at the lathe.......... OK, maybe TOO much time, but that is a topic for another thread :eek:

The faster/easier I can get things done, the better. A LONG time ago, I worked in a steel fabrication shop, Northside Steel, in my hometown, and I had a boss there named Dan. Dan was a great boss, worked you hard, but he also taught, all the time, everyday, all day. We built a lot of things there in that factory, and most of them required lots of parts, that had to be cut, etc, often by the thousands. He taught us all how to work efficiently, using our brains instead of our backs. I have to say, this has stuck with me (thanks Dan!) so at my lathe, workstation, I've been trying hard to make the space more efficient, and easier to use.

I moved my lathe into it's present spot a while back, and I built the one cabinet for it, but I needed some "on the wall" tool storage, and now I have some.

HI370204.JPG HI370203.JPG

I thin I have it mostly covered, and I still have space for more stuff when (not IF, but WHEN) it comes along.


HI370199.JPG HI370198.JPG
I also built an adjustable arm for my main light, this makes is MUCH more useful. I might have to add a spring or two to help the arm stay in place, or some friction pads (PSA sandpaper:D ) on the joints to make them slip less, but still, the light on the arm is SUCH an improvement, I have light right where I want it.


I show this to you guys, in the hopes that someone will have a better way to do something and share that too :thumb: :wave:

Cheers!
 
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You have a way with making the mostest from the leastest, at least, space wise. Were you a submariner in a previous life? ;)

You know Frank, on a different board, a guy there asked me the same question, as he WAS a former "submariner" :D :thumb:

I do what I can with the space I'm blessed with :eek:

Cheers!
 
Nice setup Stuart. I like the dust collection. Is having the light that close to the work better than a couple of spotlights mounted on the ceiling? I use a similar setup now (I usually find them at garage (tag??) sales for ~$1.00). I usually get ones with clamping bases so I can clamp them anywhere. However, I find the light fixture sometimes gets in the way so I was thinking in my new shop while I'm doing the wiring I'd mount a couple of flood lights over the lathe. I'm not sure though if that would shed the best amount of light on what I'm doing.
 

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Hi Barry

I've got a couple of those desktop lamps, but I've really no where to mount them at this workstation, the ceiling was the only way, and as the lamp hangs upside down, the springs are pulling the wrong way! :doh:

So I made my own :D

Wayne, here you go, I upgraded it a bit, I cut round ends on it and put some springs on it, to help it stay in place.

robo_arm_bits.JPG
Here are the basic components;
Two arms
Top flange
Bottom flange
Nuts, bolts, and washers
Not in the pic is a mounting block on the ceiling,
which is just a block of 3/4" plywood, with a bolt sticking out of it.

robo_arm_together.JPG
here is is all together, lying on the bench

robo_arm_in_place.JPG
Mounted to the ceiling, and with springs on the top joint and the middle joint.

robo_arm_bottom_light.JPG
I've turned it way out of position to get a pic of this bottom flange and the light.

robo_arm_middle_joint.JPG
The middle joint, you can see the spring I put on there,
it seems OK now, but I might have to move one of the
screw a bit to alter the tension on the spring.

robo_arm_top_joint.JPG
The top joint
You can see the spring there, I have since moved the screw at the top further around the arc of the arm by
about an inch, to the left and down, works well.
The springs are from a muffler on a motorcycle.

robo_arm_top_joint2.JPG
The top joint turned.
You can see the mounting plate on the ceiling,
well, actually that is a beam, not the ceiling,
but you know what I mean.

I may yet alter it some more with some use, I think the top arm could be about 3" shorter, but time will tell.

Easy to make, much cheaper than buying a new one! :wave:

Cheers!
 
Stu, thanks for sharing the light idea. I think I might be able to make some minor alterations and make that work for me. I tried to do the same thing with some angle iron but couldn't get it to stay where I wanted it. I will post some pics when I get mine done. :thumb:
 
Angle Iron would work well too, but you really need some good springs on it to make it work smooth. You can tighten stuff up to let it stay in position, but then you often cannot adjust the position easily. I'm using friction and the springs to counter balance the weight of the light and stuff, seems to work well..............

....and yes, I've done some more upgrades........

Version 1.01a :D

longer_top_arm.JPG
Here you can see the problem, the light kind of bangs into the cabinet :doh:

I've cut down the top arm, to make it shorter.......

shorter_top_arm.JPG
...... this is much better.....

I've also moved the mounting block on the ceiling further to the left as well, works MUCH better! :thumb:

Cheers!
 
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