Designing a lathe stand - let's go!

[I_wanna_Shed]

Hi everyone,

On the weekend I picked up a Woodfast 280L in "as new" condition, along with numerous chisels, assortment of verniers, a few faceplates, some books and other attachments, all for the bargain of $150!!! :U

It didn't come with a stand, which gives me the chance to learn from everyone here and come up with a design that will contain all the goodies. I'm thinking that a lathe stand is rather basic, so I'm hoping that some people's ideas on here will surprise me.

For starters, I think I will base my design on [/URL]jchappo's [URL="http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=45716&highlight=lathe+stand"]here (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/member.php?u=5514). Its simple, well designed, straight forward to make, looks good and simply does the job!

I have seen pics of another one on here that has a full length "container" underneath the lathe, which slopes to one end which has a 4" extractor hose fitted. What percentage of the shavings would fall down this (smallish) gap? Is this dust extraction worth doing?

My other basic requirements and thoughts are:


It has to be SOLID, and will be bolted to the cement floor (portability is not required).
A shelf on the bottom, drawers along the top (either 1 or 2 rows).
Dust extraction of some sort (even just a 'big mouth' collector on a separate stand).
An improved on/off switch (maybe similiar to the Triton jobbie, or a full width red bar that I can easily knock with my knee).What things am I missing??? What do people here have to keep their chisels handy and nearby?

I'm looking forward to getting the stand up and going, as I'm excited about learning to turn - something I've never done before.

I hope I'm not over complicating what should just be a very basic stand, but then again, router tables are meant to be "basic" too :;

Thanks in advance,
Nathan.

[Cliff Rogers]

I think there was a thread on this a while ago, I'll see if I can find it.

It wasn't really about design, just some pics of how others did it.

OK, this (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=45716)is the one I was thinking of. Oops... same one. :doh:

I have one for my Jet Mini that I can load in the back of my station wagon when I go away for turning weekends.
I'll take some photos of it tomorrow.

[joe greiner]

Even bolted to the slab, some ballast would place less stress on the fixings. I use the store-bought stand with two 5-gallon buckets of RR spikes on the lower shelf, not bolted down. For tool storage, I have a wheeled cart with about 5 drawers. Grinder on the top I added, with some pvc pipes hanging from one edge for chisel storage. (Need to add another set on the other side.) Other paraphernalia (chucks, dividers, sandpaper, etc.) in the drawers.

Joe

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I have seen pics of another one on here that has a full length "container" underneath the lathe, which slopes to one end which has a 4" extractor hose fitted. What percentage of the shavings would fall down this (smallish) gap? Is this dust extraction worth doing?

IMHO, no. If you're using your chisels properly, the larger shavings fly off towards your upper arm and over your shoulder. Such a collector won't catch that. When sanding, the fine dust is best collected by a hood close to the tool... the container you describe isn't very good for that, either.

What it is good for is sucking up the grub-screws you drop when changing jaws, bits of sand-paper you stupidly leave on the ways for convenience, the other end of the rag you're using for polishing... :rolleyes:

My recommendation is go with an adjustable hood on a stand; it's the most versatile way. (Purely my opinion, of course, although I'm sure many will agree! :wink:)


It has to be SOLID, and will be bolted to the cement floor (portability is not required).

I'd still look at making the stand itself as heavy & solid as possible, maybe filling a tray on the bottom with sand, concrete, whatever. That way you're less likely to have problems with anchor bolts stripping, breaking or working loose from the floor. A weighty stand is a good thing, except when you want to move it.

One other thing: unless your lathe is bolted down in the middle of a room, with access all around, then the odds are good that sooner or later you will decide to move it somewhere else... :oo: Going for a weighty stand rather than bolts makes this a lot... "cleaner" to do, even if it does mean more work.


A shelf on the bottom, drawers along the top (either 1 or 2 rows).

Unless you like blowing sawdust out of these drawers on a regular basis, give some careful thought to their construction. Perhaps, having the top rail overhang the drawer fronts when they're shut, so less dust is likely to get in? I know blokes who have similar setups and are quite happy with 'em... but these are blokes whose sheds are always immaculate.

That's completely alien to me, the last time I swept the floor I hit petrified sawdust. I think there's concrete under there somewhere... :p I have troubles enough at the end of the day finding enough motivation to clean the lathe down with an air line and oily rag, then find a broom to sweep the day's shavings into my floor-sweep, let alone clean out other fiddly bits like drawers. :-


What do people here have to keep their chisels handy and nearby?

I simply have a couple of home-made racks that I stand next to the lathe I'm using. (I've several lathes, so portability around the shed is an issue for me.) In these racks, I pre-load the tools I expect to be using for a given session. I've a couple of wall-racks for the lesser used tools... one thing about turning is it doesn't take long to collect more tools than you can use in one session! :rolleyes:

Oddly enough, it has been quite a while since my mobile rack has seen any significant change in load-out. :D

[rayintheuk]

When I bought my lathe a while back, I also got the leg kit, which required some timber to make the stand. I decided that, instead of risking any twist or movement that may be caused by natural timber (especially the crap we get over here!), I'd laminate beams out of MDF, which turned out great.

The full story, with pics, is here (http://www.raygirling.co.uk/hegner.htm) if you're interested. There may be something you can use or an idea you could adapt. Good luck! :)

Ray.

[rsser]

Hi Nathan,

Best of luck with your new addiction.

Don't forget to leave a budget for dust control. It's the airborne particles that you can't see that do the damage. Unless very well designed a Dust Collector system won't deal with them.

Do a search of the whole forum on dust extraction or dust collection - there are lots of posts.

[Cliff Rogers]

...The full story, with pics, is here (http://www.raygirling.co.uk/hegner.htm) if you're interested. ...
Top job Ray, worth a greenie for sharing. :2tsup:

[rsser]

Yep, shmick stand.

Deserves burr veneer rather than green paint ;-}

[Wood Butcher]

Top job Ray, worth a greenie for sharing. :2tsup:

:iagree: Looks Great!!!

[silentC]

Very nice. Makes mine (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=7010) look ordinary. I put a shelf between the bottom stretchers on mine and I pile it up with bricks to act as ballast. It's not bolted down. My lathe is a piece of crap and vibrates like hell.

[Rookie]

Hi Nathan

Along the lines that Skew mentioned, and in my very limited experience, dust collection is best left for dust. Shavings are easy to collect off the floor or wherever, and you'll never get the shavings into a collection system anyway, but the dust is the important thing. Fit a hood that can be moved around near your work to catch sanding dust etc, and have a broom around for shavings.

[Hickory]

Here is one of mine. (I have a couple but this is the latest)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/hickoryknee/P1000664a.jpg

Drawers hold the array of knives, chisels, chucks, tools, etc. and the cabinet holds the sharpening tools.

As you can see it is mounted on casters, never a problem and the footprint is large enough to be stable and not need all that sand and such foolery.

[I_wanna_Shed]

Thanks everyone for your advice.

Skew, I will take your advice about the shavings flying basically everywhere except underneath, so I will skip the idea of a woodchip collection area directly under the lathe. A dust extraction setup has been on my plans for some time now, and a lathe will now make that essential for me.

Ray, I love your design. I will incorporate something like your sand tray for ballast. I love your steel ends, but am not sure where I could get something like that in Sydney, so I will come up with a leg design. I like your cupboards too.

Hickory, Your stand looks great too. I like your combo of drawers and a cupboard. I think mine will have two cupboards and drawers.

I also think I will see how well the ballast stops vibration and wobbles before I bolt it to the floor.

Thanks everyone! Now I just need to wait until work dies down a bit so I have a bit of time to get into the shed!!!

Cheers,
Nathan.

[Hickory]

No need for fancy devices to collect the chips, just bigger pockets. :doh:
All the chips end up in your pockets anyway, Just make bigger pockets, may even adapt the DC hose to connect to the bottom of them as well, :o might make for an interesting session :B

Just a thought to keep you interested. Post pictures of the new stand when complete.

[rsser]

LOL. Suck the dollars out of your pockets too, which fits.

I've found a 'big gulp' hood will do some good with bowl sanding and bowl hollowing - but not enough to justify the expense on its own.

[Cliff Rogers]

...All the chips end up in your pockets anyway.....
Hang on, hang on....:rolleyes: you are forgetting about the ones that end up in your ears. (well, mine anyway.) :D

[tashammer]

Young Cliff is this your way of letting us know that you have big, deep, and funnel-shaped ears?

[Cliff Rogers]

Speak up, I can't hear you. :D

[Cliff Rogers]

I took some photos of my small lathe stand.
I knocked this together in a hurry one arvo with a cirular saw, a bit of glue, a couple of clamps & a nail gun.
I use it once a year when I go away to the Proserpine turn out.
It lays on it's back in the station wagon & I load my Jet Mini lathe & tools into it.
It is a but rough but it does the job & as you can see, you could build it with a hand saw, glue & a hammer & nails if you didn't have any power tools.

The only thing I would do different next time is put the middle shelf at right angles to the back instead of parallel to the ground.
I'd do that for 2 reasons, one, it would be easier to get my long tools in & out of the holes, two, it would be easier to load stuff into it when it is lying on its back in the car.
The broken shelf happened when the tool rest handle caught on it while loading up to go.

Hope it gives you some ideas.

Little things to note:
Ply infills make it stronger & it doesn't rack of wobble.
Sloped back keeps a lot of shavings away from tools.
I have holes drilled in the top that suit various thing like a flexible workshop light.
My Jet Mini lathe is screwed to a piece of ply & I just sit it on the top of this stand & hold it there with a couple of clamps.

[Cliff Rogers]

I just remembered this one (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=35251). Worth a look. :2tsup: