Thread: a bench for the metal lathe

Now that is awesome the grain it'll be sturdy, plenty storage there is however one major problem................it at your place not mine Now for the finish???? Fit the lathe and splash back and swarf making.

It looks really nice.

Using up the left over pieces you had laying around makes this even better.

Thanks for the positive comments chaps, I have the lathe set up(roughly) and have had a little play already.

A man after me own heart; no reason why benches shouldn't be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. All my benches are made of recycled or scrounged wood, too!

That may be a 'small' lathe to you, shedbound, but it's a lot more grown-up than my toy. I'm not really envious (really ), I wouldn't have the room for anything substantial, and what I've got is well up to my limited metal skills...

Cheers,

Great looking bench but are you going to put the lathe direct onto the wood?

If so the ferrous swarf and oil will turn the wood black.

Maybe think about a steel tray or similar to contain the mess?

Originally Posted by IanW

A man after me own heart; no reason why benches shouldn't be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. All my benches are made of recycled or scrounged wood, too!
That may be a 'small' lathe to you, shedbound, but it's a lot more grown-up than my toy. I'm not really envious (really ), I wouldn't have the room for anything substantial, and what I've got is well up to my limited metal skills...
I will never use it to its full potential, I'm a woodworker, but I like to play.

Cheers,

LOL, I lay the blame on you and the forums! up until this point in my life, pine and particleboard have been the materials of choice, partly because I had access to it as a carpenter and they were merely a means to an end.
But as time goes by, I keep seeing your builds get jelous, and think gee it would be nice to have something for myself, everything I build is usually for other
people.
When I started I had no intention of going quite as far as I did, but the weathered look got the better of me. I didn't quite go as far as sanding it all though.
The wife did eye it off and mention it would look good in the house. But I figured rather that the kids defacing it I could do that myself.
So Ian give yourself a pat on the back for this one!

Originally Posted by BobL

Great looking bench but are you going to put the lathe direct onto the wood?

If so the ferrous swarf and oil will turn the wood black.

Maybe think about a steel tray or similar to contain the mess?

Hi Bob, The lathe came bolted to a piece of malamine, I was going to unbolt it and use the sheet as a template for the bolt holes, and bolt the lathe directly to the bench, but I got lazy and needed the machine off the floor so for the time being the bench top is protected, certainly not brilliant by design but I can still use it for the short term.
It does have a small tray, but only catches a small percentage of the swarf. I did however reside to the fact that it was going to ruined with oil and the likes.

Originally Posted by shedbound

Hi Bob, The lathe came bolted to a piece of malamine, I was going to unbolt it and use the sheet as a template for the bolt holes, and bolt the lathe directly to the bench, but I got lazy and needed the machine off the floor so for the time being the bench top is protected, certainly not brilliant by design but I can still use it for the short term.
It does have a small tray, but only catches a small percentage of the swarf. I did however reside to the fact that it was going to ruined with oil and the likes.

Seems like a shame.

There are several other good reasons for adding a full size swarf tray.

The swarf and lube will spill and be thrown around (even wider than any tray) but the more there is on the floor the more will get embedded in foot wear and you will end up tracking it every where.

If you might sometime in the future add a coolant loop then you will need a full size tray anyway so you might as well start out with getting or making a full size one.

Just as useful is a full width guard /shield behind the lathe that catches swarf flung off behind the lathe.
The white PVC fittings behind the guard in this picture are part on the coolant loop on my Hercus.
Splash-guard.jpg

There were a few unknowns about the lathe when I bought it, I was unsure whether it was a keeper or not. So far it seems to do the trick, I havn't tried thread cutting on it yet, but it came with all the gears if not all most, I would like to pick up a proper stand one day, I totally agree the Guard at the back and a full sized tray are a must. Thanks for the pics
regards
Joel

Very nice work, far too nice for metalwork though. I think that would be ruined pretty quickly with swarf and oil.