Lathe bed options

[Doc0055]

Hi all,

I am currently expanding the work bench in my shed, to wrap around 3 walls of my shed. And I would like to build my lathe (TL1000) into the bench, along the back wall.

95085

My question is; would the lathe bolted on top of custom made draw boxes, be stable enough for turning. Or should I just keep my existing stand. I am aware that I would loose the ability to do outboard turning.

95084

Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Provided the cabinet is well-built, perhaps a beefier carcase than normal, I can see no real reason why you can't mount it that way. Just so long as it'll hold the lathe solidly should a piece disintegrate during turning.

You'll just have to be careful about balancing up the more... "extreme" blanks before switching on, which you should be doing anyway.


I'd also consider doors instead of drawers (or perhaps doors in front of the drawers), unless you like constantly removing the drawers to empty them of shavings? :wink:

[Doc0055]

Thanks for that input, never thought of the draws filling up.

[Pat]

Doc, my TL 1000 is bolted onto an existing pine bench, which is bolted to the brick wall in three places. I had to beef up the top of the workbench from 19mm to 50mm to handle the vibration. i have since built a set of drawers under the bench to further stabilise it and to provide some storage for spare chisels, drives, chucks, calipers, sanding gear, finishing gear and other turning junk. I have a little bit of shavings in the top drawer as I forgot at one time to close it.

[artme]

As per what Skew says witha few added points:

* Make sure all bearings are in good order throughout the speed range,

* Make sure belts are in good order.

When mounting make sure evrything is straight and there are no twists. Everything needs to be level in all directions.

Have a look at the circle cutting jig for use with a bandsaw. As skew indicates, the rounder and more balanced the blanks the better.

[Doc0055]

Will have a 34mm bench top under the lathe, would rubber between the lathe body ant the bench top help stopping vibration

[Ed Reiss]

Will have a 34mm bench top under the lathe, would rubber between the lathe body ant the bench top help stopping vibration

...it wouldn't hurt, but don't really think it would be very effective:no:

[Grumpy John]

Doc,
The only comments I can make are that if you do a lot of bowl turning you will find that your chisel handles hitting the wall when doing the inside of the bowl. I had my lathe against the wall for a couple of years and eventually became so frustrated that I moved the lathe to about 30 deg. to the wall (pics 1 & 2). This meant I could no longer fit the car into the garage, but these are the sacrifices we make for our obsession. I've now gone "whole hog" and have the lathe at 90 deg. to the wall (pics 3 & 4).

[hughie]

...it wouldn't hurt, but don't really think it would be very effective


Your right Ed, unless the equipment is mechanically isolated. When its bolted through the rubber to the lathe and the base. The vibration is transferred through the bolts, by passing any benefits from the rubber

[Doc0055]

Thanks for the input. As I have not done much turning so far, any information about getting my setup right is much appreciated.

Cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

It'd be a good idea to have your lathe to the front of the bench, and not in the middle.

That way you'll have better access when end-grain hollowing and, as Grumpy said, occasionally there are times when you swing the tool handle over the back of the lathe, so this gives a bit more elbow room there, too. :)