Lathe bench

[silentC]

I need to make a bench for my lathe to sit on. At the moment, it's on an old workbench that is under 3 feet high and it's too low.

Is there a rule of thumb for how high the bench should be, based on your height etc. Or is this another one of those preference things? I'm an absolute beginner so if there's a default standard, that'd be helpful.

Also, any other things I should keep in mind? I was going to make it with a solid bench top and similar to a woodworking bench in construction, about 400mm wide and as long as I can make it (in case I get a bigger and better lathe one day - the one I have is 1400mm long, about 900mm between centres). I plan to fix it to the wall with the lathe close to the front edge. This will give me about 300mm clearance between the centres and the wall, which should be enough for anything I'm likely to do.

Any tips appreciated.

[Barry_White]

Hi

The ideal height for the lathe is to have the tool rest about elbow height.

This is good as with your arms bent holding the turning tools this will give you the best leverage on the tools when turning.

Regards


Bazza

[Sturdee]

Darren,


I believe the standard is that the centre of the timber you're turning should be at elbow height. Also make it as solid as you can and fix securely to the wall. If you are not putting in a DC as yet I would make the top of the bench with slatts to allow the chips to fall to the floor which should make clean up easier.


Peter.

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

Aim to have the revolving centre somewhere between the tip of your elbow & a point halfway between your elbow & your sholder.
Generaly, some where in that range will be right for you.
Some like it higher & some like it lower.
If it's too low, you will find your self leaning over it.

I like it a bit on the high side so I have a better view of what I'm doing .

The stronger you make it that better it will be.
Solid cast iron bolted to concrete is the best....
Work back from there until you get to a point that you can afford.

If you can bolt it to the floor rather than the wall, it will be quieter & smoother, unless of course, you have a masonary wall.

Unless you are only doing small stuff, you may find that the bench top between the lathe & the wall will be buried under a mound of shavings most of the time & therefore, a bit useless as a bench as anything you place on it will be lost in no time.

For my small lathe, I built a timber version of the metal stand that comes with the bigger Vicmarc lathes.
see pic here... http://www.vicmarc.com/images/vl2006_large.jpg
& here.... http://www.carbatec.com.au/images/catimages/woodturning.lathes/VL200ESV.jpg

The top & legs on mine are hardwood, the sides & back are 12mm ply & it has pine shelves underneath away from the shavings.

[silentC]

All,

Thanks for the tips.

Should I measure from my left elbow or my right?

Just kidding, although my chiropractor reckons one of my shoulders is higher than the other because I carried my school bag the wrong way all those years ago :rolleyes:

Have to give some thought to where the chips will go I suppose. Maybe there's no sense having a benchtop at all and it would be better to just allow the chips to fall straight through to a box or something. It only needs a couple of gluts for the lathe to bolt to and the rest can be fresh air I suppose.

Cheers.

[DarrylF]

I'm not so sure bolting a lathe bench to the frame of the workshop is such a good idea - would transmit vibration into the frame, and most workshops aren't heavily enough built to dampen it properly. Besides which, with a heavy solid bench it's just not necessary.

Mine is below. It's pine & MDF, very solid and heavy enough to make it very difficult to lift or move with the lathe on. No significant vibration with anything I've tried so far. The top is 25mm MDF and the sides are 12mm. The lathe is bolted through 3 thicknesses of 70 x 40mm pine and the benchtop with 8 bolts. At the head end there are 2 pieces of pine running front to back and bolted in 3 places each, including through the rear frame.

I like having the benchtop. Holds the tools I'm working with and collects a good 40-50% of the shavings. I sit a plastic garbage can at the right hand end when I'm turning and just sweep the lot into it every now & then. Easier than picking it all up off the floor. You want enough space behind to hold your longest tool in the right spot to say undercut a lip on a bowl. My bench is about 550mm deep in all.

The white melamine back panel is nice too - nothing rolls off the bench, the shavings included, and it definitely helps the lighting.

I really like my bench. The only thing I'll change is to add a drawer or two underneath.

[gatiep]

Silent C

Measure from the highest elbow!

Serious though, the accepted standard is that the headstock spindle must just fit in below the height of your elbow. However a lot of turners, including myself like it a little ( about 75 mm ) higher.

The bench top can be a good idea provided you put your lathe as close to the front edge as you can.

The bench definately as heavy and sturdy as you can, if possible bolt it down too. If you have a swivel head lathe and you turn outboard, the lathe bed absorbs a lot of the vibration in that it all happens over the long side of the bed. There is a problem which few people think about....the weight and out of balance piece of wood spins parallel but next to the bed/bench. Bolt it down if you are going to do serious as in really large for your lathe turning.

An interesting point with all the Vicmarcs from the VL175 up is that they have bench top type stands. The VL157 stand is made from 3 mm steel plate. The VL300 stand is made of 5 mm steel plate and it has 'pockets' in the ends for extra weight. To top it all their lathes are pretty heavy cast iron machines.

If its good enough for Vicmark its good enough for me. ( Problem is they are toooo good for my bankaccount, but I'll get there). I worked on a VL175 the other day, it is so quiet, only the noise of the wood spinning through the air...unbelievable. I wrote off to Santa requesting one but seems like the letter got lost in the post!

Cya
Joe

[river rat]

Silent C,
For what it is worth the stand we made for our lathe is heavy welded 90" angle iron and has an open bottom for the chips to fall through we also made a portable shelf with 1.5 inch sides that slides between the lathe and stand that has a pin through it on the back side for easy removal. The stand is heavier than the lathe so that it dampens vibes well and the shelf is wide enough for the average tool to lay down flat and is a good place to put things while your using them the only things I would change would be that the shelf have slats for the bottom (it has a solid plywood bottom now) so that the few shavings that do get in it would fall through. A beer holder would be nice, just jokeing spinning wood and alchol not a good combo



River Rat

[Tony Morton]

Hi Silent
i wouol agree with most the elbow at centre height is about right although that what I set mine at some thre years ago but now find it a little low at times . Re bolting down I have a Stubby and turn a lot of out of balance burls etc and find that if the lathe moves I need to reduce the speed i use this as a safty measure as in the past I had a couple of out of control blanks that were spinning too fast .hope this hasent confused you to much its just my thoughts on the matter .

Happy Turning
Tony

[rsser]

A professional stand builder recommends placing your turning hand lightly draped over the opposite shoulder; now your elbow height should be the spindle height.

Also when bolting to the floor, use some waffle rubber from Clarks. A couple of layers makes up for level variation and vibration.

If your lathe is of any size, go for steel. It will last as long as the lathe will.

Cheers,

Ern

[Darrell]

Try this linkhttp://www.sunrisewoodcrafts.ns.ca/woodturning_tips/building_a_lathe_bench.htm