I started building the stand for my new DVR XP

Alan Trout

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Texas
Well I started building the stand for my new DVR XP. My goal is to build a very heavy stable stand capable of absorbing vibration. I am pretty much building this off of a vision that I can see in my head and just taking it one step at a time. These are pictures of the main tube. At present it weights in excess of 100 lbs. without the lathe bed. It is a piece of 3/16" inch thick 6 inch square tubing and the mounting plates are 5/8" drilled and tapped for 1/2" course mounting bolts. The gussets and end caps are 1/4" plate steel. The hole in the right end is so I can fill the tube with concrete to gain more mass near the mounting point of the lathe. So far I have about $30 invested in material and about 7 hours of time. I picked up the steel at one or our local steel salvage yards.

My next step is to figure out the legs and the ballast box. I have an idea for mobility casters as well as leveling pads. I will keep updates coming as I progress. I have a few other ideas that I want to incorporate as well.

Thanks for looking

Alan
 

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Now THAT is going to be on heck of a stand :thumb:

I'd rethink the concrete idea, I'd go with sand, the sand, in the tube, would absorb a LOT more vibrations than a chunk of concrete. Make darn sure the sand is dry, and pour it into the tube, make a drain hole on the bottom somewhere, so if you needed to move it, you could remove the sand, to lighten things up.

Cheers!
 
Man, that looks like a DVR-obust. That's gonna be majorly stout. :thumb:

I do agree with Stu on the sand vs. concrete suggestion. The sand will be a bit lighter unit weight (about 105 lb/cf vs. 145 lb/cf), but it'll make up for the difference in dampening properties. Concrete, even though it's heavy, can still transmit a resonant frequency. Sand would just kill any resonance. With the amount of steel you've got, I don't think lack of weight will be an issue, but any dampening you can get will be a benefit.
 
Stu, Vaughn. I think you have changed my mind. I have been thinking about sand as well. I can put a bung in the bottom as a drain. I think that might just be the hot ticket. I was going to build a lower sand ballast box as well. Thanks for the suggestions.

Alan
 
Alan, you mentioned a mobility base of some kind too, man, you had better have some serious wheels for this monster :D

I made a good solid base for my lathe, but I did make one big mistake, and that was to make the legs at the headstock end too wide, sure, wide is better, but the darn leg gets in my way ALL THE TIME :doh:

I'd suggest you get the footprint for a Vicmarc VL-300 or such, and copy it's dimensions, they are rock solid and do NOT need a wider base, mine is TOO WIDE.

Cheers!
 
Stu, That is the plan. I was planning on running the legs straight down at the front and then angle the back legs at 45 degrees. Then I am going to have a Ballast box broken up out of 10 gauge steel and weld it to a frame of square tubing that will bolt bolt between the legs. My plan all along has been to make it so it can be taken apart and moved if the need should arise.

That is the plan for now. As with anything if problems come up or I see a better idea it could change.

Thanks,

Alan
 
Royall, thanks for the kind comments on my welding. I use to do quit a bit when I owned my machine shop, however it has been about 16 years since I have done any great amount of it. I am fortunate a good friend of mine is a race car chassis builder so I have use of most of his fabrication equipment. Most of the welds are were done with the TIG, however the inside of the end caps were MIG because I could not get the TIG torch head at an angle I was comfortable with.

The Mahi-Mahi was caught in Cozumel about 2 years ago. It was a fun trip.

Thanks,

Alan
 
I started building the stand for my new DVR XP "Update"

Update, It is going slow but sure. Being I have to work it is taking longer than I like. It's terrible when work gets in the way of hobbies. :D However here are few picture of the progress. I still have plenty to do. I need to order casters that I want to use, build caster brackets, build the ballast box, I was planning on covering the stand ends in 10 ga. steel. Plus I still need to do finishing work and paint.

It will sit a couple of inches taller when the casters are installed. It will put the spindle height a little over 44".

Thanks.

Alan
 

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Talk about stout. Man, if that thing starts shaking then you're probably turning something bigger than you ought to. :thumb: Looking real good, Alan.
 
What a stand

Alan,

You're giving my DVR XP serious stand envy! :rofl: That is a great looking and solid stand. The time spent on it will definitely pay off in the end. Look forward to seeing the final product.

Good work,
 
It will sit a couple of inches taller when the casters are installed. It will put the spindle height a little over 44".

Thanks.

Alan

I like your design on the base. It looks really sturdy and well built.

I don't know how tall you are, but it's really smart that you're watching the height of the spindle... I'm just under 6'1" and my first lathe was a Ridgid from Home Depot... the spindle height was only a little over 40"... after a couple of hours my back would kill me, so I finally added casters on 2 x 6 base that raised it about 5".. helped the back tremendously. Both of my lathes now sit at about 46 or 47" spindle height and I can turn all day without the back bothering me.
 
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