Midi Lathe Stand 101

Ned Bulken

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Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
OK gurus...

Help me design a lathe stand for my Midi...

spindle Height... I'm taller than average, so I'm planning on putting my spindle height at just above my elbow height... call it 42" (guesstimate, will measure at first opportunity)

Length... I do have the extension for it, but at this point, I'm not planning on setting it up with the extension attatched. If I ever Do need the extension, I'll move everything over to my newfangled bench as it will be for a specific project that would justify setting it up.


What useful lathe tools (besides gouges, I've got plans for those already) will I need to have handy that I might want to store on the lathe stand itself? I have a chuck, but that can go with the gouges on the wall next to the lathe.

Grinder... should I put that near the lathe or perhaps on the Back/side of the stand? Remember I'm dealing with less than 200sf of total shop space. I'm planning on taking a bench down to get room for this stand...and/or tearing apart some inefficient storage racks to free up some floor space. Probably a combination of the two events.

Weight,
I 'get' that more weight 'low' is better, so I'm planning on a ballast box to help dampen vibrations, in addition to simply having a hefty frame to begin with.

"Chips/dust control....

one of the main reasons I want a dedicated lathe stand is to not have to deal with chips on my benchtop... I'm planning on as narrow a 'footprint' at the top of the lathe as I can manage... (similar to the commercial metal ones, only out of ply and dimensional lumber that I have on hand already. ) in order to let the chips fall where they may... literally... but not giving them a target to hit, letting them get to the floor easier.

I supposedly have a football game to attend tonight... if my DW ever swings by the house to pick me up... if I get stranded at home, I'll be out in the shop doing some sorting/cleaning in preparation for this weekend's build-athon.
 
Allen,
Mine isn't all that pretty and sophisticated, but works for the mini... I put it on wheels so I can move it around if need be... the wheels lock so it stays put. I used 2x4 and ply wood... added a box for rocks on the base to give it more stability and weight..

I've seen some much nicer... I don't store any tools on the lathe stand.. I have a roll around stand that I use because I use two different lathes and it's easier to move the tool stand from one to the other... I do hang my tool rests on the stand to keep them handy, but chucks are kept on a work bench.

I've since added a small drawer under the lathe stand top to hold small accessories... pen mandrels, screw chucks, bottle stopper chucks, a magnifying glass (I'm too vane to get glasses to wear in the shop :dunno:)
etc....

I don't have a picture of my tool stand, it's a flat table with pvc pipes glue upright to take the handles of the tools.... I park all of my tools with the points up so I can see which tool I'm reaching for... I have to pay real close attention when I reach for a tool or I can wind up slitting my wrist. :rofl:

Oh, my spindle height is about 46 or 47 inches on this one... on my bigger lathe it's 45. I'm just under 6'-1" in height and that about elbow height for me.
 

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Here is what I did for my Jet Mini, just clamp the cleat on the bottom of the base in the workmate & using threaded knobs through the wood base fastened to the bottom of the lathe into the board clamped to the workmate. It is nice & portable & breaks down & stores away nicely.

The first pic was taken before I added the board to the bottom of the lathe. The second pic has the board. You can see the knobs in the chips,two front & back.
 

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This might be a little overboard but this is the one I built:


It's adjustable height to fit a range of people. I did that because I used to teach turning classes and it was very handy for adjusting the spindle height to be 'right about at your elbow' for my students. At the very least, hopefully it can give you some ideas. :)
 
I got a couple requests for plans for what i showed in the above video and thought it'd be most helpful if I posted the sketchup model in case anyone else is interested. (Sorry to hijack, i can post a new thread if need be) :)

I saved it as a sketchup 4 file to get it under the 150kb limit. If that proves to be problematic, lemme know and I'll try to get it down a little further. This was one of my earlier sketchup models and it could probably be much better optimized now that I know a bit more about it :)
 

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you could go with a smaller version of the behemoth. the behemoth has a footprint that is 6 ft long, by 2 ft deep. with casters and all, the spindle height is about 42 1/2". bench under the lathe is one of my normal workbenches, on a torsion box of 2x4's and 3/4" plywood top and bottom. the bench is made of 2x6's, and enclosed with half inch plywood, with a top that is the full 5' by 2', and is a double thickness of 3/4" plywood. i don't have to worry about ballast, as the footprint and sheer weight of the behemoth is enough for what i turn. if you go with a smaller version of the behemoth, i don't think you'll want to change the 2' depth, but you can shorten the length to suit, and you can set up your grinder to the left or right of your lathe. here are the sketchup version, the first build of it with the separate lathe platform, then the final adaptation with the set of 3 drawers.
 

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