Thread: New turning station.

Great setup, is this the first lathe you have owned?

Peter.

Originally Posted by woodtryer

Great setup, is this the first lathe you have owned?

Peter.

Thank you, yes, for what I would call a proper lathe. I do have Proxxon micro lathe which was ok for fishing floats, pens and bottle stoppers (after a bit of re-working). I have access to several other lathes at 2workshops I go to.

its funny my wife found a giant cutlery draw tray and said "will this fit? And bugger me if it's not 20mm too wide. Had she given it to me before construction started I could've made the bench around that. It's perfect for all the chuck and mandrel parts I have. So I have cut 20mm out of the centre to fit the drawer. I'll post a pic of that when finished.

What a top setup

It's a lot cleaner than mine

Hope you have many hours of enjoyable turning

Regards

Keith

Nicely done, long may you enjoy using it!

One hint: if you're fitting drawers, either make them easily removable or make holes in the front corners of the bottom that you can easily sweep dust/shavings out through.

No matter how dust-proof you think you've made it, the drawers WILL fill up with this crud. Unless you're deluding yourself that you'll be cleaning the lathe before you open a drawer... every time?

I like the fold-down on the side. Not so much for 'compact storage' reasons, but because it will fold down and empty the day's crud out!

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Nicely done, long may you enjoy using it!

One hint: if you're fitting drawers, either make them easily removable or make holes in the front corners of the bottom that you can easily sweep dust/shavings out through.

No matter how dust-proof you think you've made it, the drawers WILL fill up with this crud. Unless you're deluding yourself that you'll be cleaning the lathe before you open a drawer... every time?

I like the fold-down on the side. Not so much for 'compact storage' reasons, but because it will fold down and empty the day's crud out!

Thanks, but you must be one messy bugger!! Yes the drawers do come out very easily and no, I generally do my woodworking at a workshop so I have gotten in the habit of cleaning up behind myself. But we'll see how long that lasts, hahaha

Originally Posted by Fumbler

Thanks, but you must be one messy bugger!! Yes the drawers do come out very easily and no, I generally do my woodworking at a workshop so I have gotten in the habit of cleaning up behind myself. But we'll see how long that lasts, hahaha

Oh, it;s not about me being messy, but more about the fact that turning can generate a LOT of shavings and dust very quickly. It can quickly pile up on the ways, on the bench-top and spill over onto the floor in a matter of minutes. Especially when roughing down or hollowing out.

Let's say you keep your chuck key in the drawer for safety, or your calipers, or ruler or whatever and you want to check your progress. Open the drawer and...

(OK, OK. I'll cop to being a messy bugger! But that doesn't make my point any less relevant. )

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

No matter how dust-proof you think you've made it, the drawers WILL fill up with this crud. Unless you're deluding yourself that you'll be cleaning the lathe before you open a drawer... every time?

I had drawers on my old turning bench and didn't find it that much of a problem although I did have ~100 mm overhang on the bench top.

In most cases I found it unnecessary to clean whole bench top anyway but when there were a lots of chips I sometimes used a hand broom to swipe the very front section of the bench free of sawdust. In the 5 years or so I had this setup I don't remember cleaning the saw dust out off the drawers more than a couple of times.

If I was a more of a regular turner and had to dive into the drawers often then something like a skirt like arrangement across the front of the bench might work?

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Oh, it;s not about me being messy, but more about the fact that turning can generate a LOT of shavings and dust very quickly. It can quickly pile up on the ways, on the bench-top and spill over onto the floor in a matter of minutes. Especially when roughing down or hollowing out.

Let's say you keep your chuck key in the drawer for safety, or your calipers, or ruler or whatever and you want to check your progress. Open the drawer and...

(OK, OK. I'll cop to being a messy bugger! But that doesn't make my point any less relevant. )

thank you, and yes I am fully aware as I have been covered in shavings and dust so many times, it even gets in my shoes!! I was just trying to make lite of the fact that we have chosen a rather messy

You do make a very valid point and since your reply I have been thinking of ways to prevent/reduce this, roll down cover, Perspex screen behind, and a dust extractor extracts just that, dust. So stay tuned.

cheers.

Wear a pair of these if you are wearing shorts, or are wearing trousers that don't cover your shoes; work a treat.

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/ms-f...ors/p/8334838/

As for keeping your drawers clean(ish) I would consider a fixed cloth weighted down by a bit of dowel in the bottom. One then simply lifts it up, uses the drawer(s), then drops the cover cloth down.

Mick.

Well I went hard at it today and the drawers stayed relatively clean except for what I knocked in after opening and got something else out.

Those shoe/sock covers are handy when using lots of other things like chainsaws, and welders.

Originally Posted by Optimark

As for keeping your drawers clean(ish) I would consider a fixed cloth weighted down by a bit of dowel in the bottom. One then simply lifts it up, uses the drawer(s), then drops the cover cloth down. .

That's basically what I mean by a "skirt" in my post above.

Still going, and couldn't figure out what to use as handles but what better way to re-use some roadside bed as supports. Doors are on and the ginormous cutlery draw tray salvage by the wife (which was bit over sized but I cut down to fit) stocked.

IMG_4772.jpg IMG_4775.jpg

Now got got to work out door handles and catches.

Looking good Fumbler, happy turning.

Pete