working height

[Tonyz]

Maybe the dumbest question ever asked on this section.

Is there an ideal working height in relation to centre of lathe, tool rest and your personal working position.

I have been fluffing around with a chunk of apple and am just not comfortable
but this could be not used to lathe work yet, my shoulder height to centre of lathe etc etc

This may be even hard to understand but I am also struggling to make the question/thoughts clear..

[orraloon]

The general rule of thumb is center about the height of your elbow then a bit more or less as you like. I built a bench for my lathe center on elbow height. Now with a larger lathe on that bench its a little bit higher but I still find it ok. A nice rubber mat to stand on also adds to comfort.
Regards
John

[hughie]

Yup thats the standard, except for me I add and 4" or 100mm as I do mainly hollow vessels. The extra makes it easier to look inside

[Old Croc]

I also followed convention, but continually had a sore back. Each time I went to the Prossie Turnout I watched Cliffie turn on his lathe that was so,so, much higher than I have ever seen. So as an experiment I raised mine by 125mm. It took a while to get used to, but I couldn't go back to a lower height now. Like Hughie, it is way better when hollowing out vessels.
Rgds,
Crocy.

[NeilS]

My rule of 'elbow' is place hand on opposite shoulder and set centre height at that elbow height... in my case that is 100mm/4" higher...:U


And, turning outboard, where I do almost all of my turning, is a lot more comfortable for me than inboard.

[Tonyz]

thanx everyone that is making it more enjoyable.
now if I could only get rid of some of 'her' junk I would have more room to do my thing.

[Chesand]

now if I could only get rid of some of 'her' junk I would have more room to do my thing.

You should know that the junk expands to fit the space available. :D

[Tonyz]

dont I know it.

hells bells I recently decided to have a solid cleanup around the yard, pile of rubbish, unused stuff went into trailer, damn stupid stuff must have leapt out when I was away because it was in 'her' section of the shed. Not only gone from outside but actually finished up in the shed.