Lathe ergonomics.

[tea lady]

After spending yesterday turning at the Community Woodworking shed I now have really sore neck. I have some ostio arthritis in my neck, and I know it is exacerbated by bad working positions. And I am kinda tall and skinny. So what is the optimum working height for lathes? Is there some sort of formula? I can't change the height at the Community shed I guess, but when I get my own......:rolleyes:

And I guess, just monitoring myself. Relax shoulders. Clean visor a bit more often so I can see without peering. Might try one of the other machines next time that isn't solid underneath that I can stand closer to.

[DJ’s Timber]

Usually the best height when you're standing at the lathe is that your forearms should be level or at right angles to your body at the spindle height.

If the lathe is low, you'll tend to lean over more which will give you a sore neck and back.

[wheelinround]

Warning Rant

Here in lies a major manufactures problem.

I have only ever seen the Jet Mini stand as adjustable.

You'd think with all the hullabaloo of OH&S Workcover etc industries that manufacture world wide would have woken up by now.

Oh thats right Design Engineers:doh: they work from text books not personal experience they never listen to customers and no regard for other than $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.:p

Tea lady this household has that problem not as bad as it used to be with eldest son 6'2" while LOML is 5'4" I am 5'8"

I sit on a stool to turn at this height its still just over the right hieght for her , she stands, If I stand to turn its to low yet when she was turning on the Vermac making pens right height to low for me.

Answer adjustable legs Armstrong type lift and rest, hydraulic lift adjustment, wind up type :roll: all add to cost.

[powderpost]

Lathe stands, like any other mass produced articles, are made to an "average", which suits very few people. DJ has it right. If the lathe is too low, fit secure blocks under the stand, if it is too high, build a platform to work off.
Jim

[tea lady]

Tea lady this household has that problem not as bad as it used to be with eldest son 6'2" while LOML is 5'4" I am 5'8"

I sit on a stool to turn at this height its still just over the right hieght for her , she stands, If I stand to turn its to low yet when she was turning on the Vermac making pens right height to low for me.

Answer adjustable legs Armstrong type lift and rest, hydraulic lift adjustment, wind up type :roll: all add to cost.

We need stands like that Mercedes chair, that remembers everyones setting and adjusts automatically.

[OGYT]

TeaLady, I'm 5' 10" tall (177.8 cm). I tried the spindle at elbow height, and turned a few weeks like that. Ended up with sore neck and shoulders every night. I finally built a riser to fit between the legset and the lathe (Pic 1). It was better, soreness and pain went away, but I felt like it was still a little low.
When I bought my new lathe, I put risers under the feet, and extended the legs to full length. Spindle is now at 49" (about 125 cm). (Pic 2) And for my height, it's perfect.
I suggest you put blocks under the lathe til it feels right, and then try it like that for a week or so. See how it works. Lower it if necessary, or raise it up a little more. Fix it for you. Good luck with it!!

[rsser]

A slightly different take:

Put your right hand with fingers loosely curled over your left shoulder - top finger joints at the top. Where your elbow is represents a starting point to set spindle centre height.

If you do a lot of hollowing or if you're getting old and creaky adjusting the figure upwards often helps.

Of course TL, this may just be muscular strain so persist for a bit. Good call on massages from hubby. Not much you can do with someone else's lathe in any case.

[tea lady]

Might instigate a discussion at the Community Shed next week. There are a few other tall people there who might benefit from at least one of the lathes being higher. Tall gangly bloke last week was trying to peer into a hollow form just about kneeling on the ground. I think rsser's method of measuring makes sense. Bringing the work up closer to eyes so I don't have to stoop. (I know it is oestio arthritis 'cause I got the exrays to proove it. Old war wound from wind surfing in my youth. Or even maybe a heavy school bag.:rolleyes: Muscles are fine.)

[rsser]

Ah, another youthful injury. Good memories, but not all good effects.

This is a bit OT TL, or maybe not, but to crap on a bit, the body is a dynamic structure of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and the mind. Trauma in one will cause the others to compensate; oftentimes that's not helpful to maintaining suppleness and a pro can help you reverse that and get a better dynamic balance overall.

'spect I'm teaching you how to suck eggs. If so, pls ignore.

Stretching and building muscle strength can help but only if very specifically targeted.

'Crane reaches to the sky' .... ooh, sh*t, pulled a muscle :C

Of course you could just have been tensed up all yesterday reaching to the sky :p

[tea lady]

Ah, another youthful injury. Good memories, but not all good effects.

This is a bit OT TL, or maybe not, but to crap on a bit, the body is a dynamic structure of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and the mind. Trauma in one will cause the others to compensate; oftentimes that's not helpful to maintaining suppleness and a pro can help you reverse that and get a better dynamic balance overall.

'spect I'm teaching you how to suck eggs. If so, pls ignore.

Stretching and building muscle strength can help but only if very specifically targeted.

'Crane reaches to the sky' .... ooh, sh*t, pulled a muscle :C

Of course you could just have been tensed up all yesterday reaching to the sky :p
I have been doing tai chi for the last 3 years or so. Really fixed me up. (No really.:rolleyes:) Highly recommended for anyone coping with injuries of various kinds. Usually OK sept when I'm concentrating on other things and forget.

[rsser]

Believe you. An excellent discipline.

Took me three years to learn one simplified form; great prep for x-c skiing :cool:

There should be a move designed to equate to the 'lathe tango'.

[tea lady]

There is a move in the middle of the parry and punch at the end of the Beiging 24 that has your right hand on your hip in a fist and you left arm and hand out straight in front. (Just about to punch) The closest, I reckon, to the turning stance.

[rsser]

Beautiful.

When you're a master TL you can design a whole form for creaky bodies at the lathe :D

[ticklingmedusa]

Beautiful.

When you're a master TL you can design a whole form for creaky bodies at the lathe :D

Please be sure to pm me when that gets started...
my neck is killin' me :D
tm

[tea lady]

:rolleyes: yes. I reckon there should be a new tai chi. I don't have much cal for knocking peoples blocks off or breaking arms. But I could do with the move for lifting shopping, chopping wood, carrying logs, pegging out washing, cleaning shower, climbing fence..... We'd need the working at the lathe move just so the blokes would learn it. Maybe if we say it in chinese they won't know!:D

[rsser]

Heheh ... there's the old joke from China: the famous ballet Swan Lake got translated as 'duck pond'.

Wonder what Google Translate would make of 'lathe tango'.

[Toolin Around]

After spending yesterday turning at the Community Woodworking shed I now have really sore neck. I have some ostio arthritis in my neck, and I know it is exacerbated by bad working positions. And I am kinda tall and skinny. So what is the optimum working height for lathes? Is there some sort of formula? I can't change the height at the Community shed I guess, but when I get my own......:rolleyes:

And I guess, just monitoring myself. Relax shoulders. Clean visor a bit more often so I can see without peering. Might try one of the other machines next time that isn't solid underneath that I can stand closer to.

I've suffered for years with what you describe and still do even though I haven't done much turning for a few years now. Midge has seen me dawn my neck stretcher after the long flight to aus. My neck can get so bad that I have a traction device for stretching the muscles in my neck to relieve the pain.

I used to do it for a living and it has damaged at least on disk in my neck. After it got quite bad and I finally figured out what was causing the pain I raised my lathe(s) up so I could keep my head in an up right position. I still had to look down but the lathe was high enough that I no longer had to tilt my head forward - if that makes sense. So the height you choose to raise your lathe will depend on 3 (possibly more) factors: what is comfortable for you, your eye sight and your overall height.

The less you have to bend (crane) your neck for long periods of time the better. Jacking up the lathe can be a bit unnerving sometimes. I can remember thinking on many occasions that the piece is real close to my face and if it lets go I'm gonna really cop it - that's where your comfort level comes in.

Buck the Aussie trend and get yourself some proper prescription glasses if your eyesight is forcing you to look closer at the piece you're turning, i.e. craning your neck so you can get closer to see what you're doing. The more you can stand up right, the older you get, the better off you will be.

When I had finally settled on a height I had jacked the lathe up about 12 inches.

[hughie]

Tealady,

The height is pretty much an individual thing. I find the formula is good for the masses. But I ended up lifting my centre height to 1200mm and I am not that tall 5.8. Erns hand on the shoulder is close to what I prefer.

[tea lady]

I'm 5'8" which is tall for a girl I guess. Will try a different lathe next week, and try to adjust height if they will let me. Lighting could be the prob too. Either that or bend my knees.:rolleyes:

[joe greiner]

I can't find the reference now of course, but I half-remember (actually more than half) a rule of thumb to have the spindle axis about 2 inches (50mm) above your elbow, when the elbow is bent at 90 degrees.

Joe

[tea lady]

I can't find the reference now of course, but I half-remember (actually more than half) a rule of thumb to have the spindle axis about 2 inches (50mm) above your elbow, when the elbow is bent at 90 degrees.

Joe
OK. thanks. I wonder if I should google this. What would I look under do ya reckon? Turning positions? :rolleyes: Lathe working height?:? Off I go. :D

[joe greiner]

OK. thanks. I wonder if I should google this. What would I look under do ya reckon? Turning positions? :rolleyes: Lathe working height?:? Off I go. :D

Google [woodturning lathe height elbow] got a substantial number of hits, but of course a substantial number of "rules" too.

Joe

[tea lady]

I'm back.:D Found a few references that say anything from elbow height to nearly shoulder height if you aredoing lots of deep hollowing. The "fingers on the other shoulder, height measured to the elbow" thing is from Richard Raffan it seems. So must be right.:D Will have to go a read that library book again. 'Night.:yawn:

[oldiephred]

You mentioned about when you get your own lathe. The last one I god has a rotating headstock and, although some purists criticize them, I think it is great. When turning the inside of bowls, I simply rotate the headstock to a position that is comfortable. If doing a lot of work, I find it relaxing to shift the position occassionally. I can relate to your arthritic problems. One has to keep moving.

Good luck

[tea lady]

Yes I think Part of the prob is that I'm contorting over the lathe to do the face work. The lathe I have been working on didn't have a rotating head. I think some others at the club do, so maybe I'll freak them out next week with wanting to do outboard turning.:rolleyes::D

[hughie]

Ignore the purists, do what suits you, mess around until you get right.

As to lighting I use a double flouro the old 4' ones suspended over the lathe and inline with the bed. Down at the tailstock end a spot light high up and pointing down.

There another spot at the same height as the centre, this to check out the inside of my hollow forms etc.