Thread: Wheels on a lathe for moving it in the shed.

Neat idea . Can you post a closeup pic of the scew jacks on the lathe base ? What did you use for feet ? My neighbour salvaged an old trolley jack from the creek and filled it with new fluid . He uses it but I wouldnt trust it under a car like he does. Mike

Looks great Dave, wouldnt work for me though, I dont have any space I could move mine to

Originally Posted by morrisman

Neat idea . Can you post a closeup pic of the scew jacks on the lathe base ? What did you use for feet ? My neighbour salvaged an old trolley jack from the creek and filled it with new fluid . He uses it but I wouldnt trust it under a car like he does. Mike

He gets under a car on a trolley jack? One day you might need a new neighbour. I have a workshop (apex?) trolley jack and it had a piston seal go once. Worked fine one time I used it, next time it was stuffed, no warning.

Stuart

Here you go Mike
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/la...ctures-114836/


Dave

Yes. I witnessed him working under a van supported on two trolley jacks , no stands , both rear wheels removed, I was cringing all the time . He isn't that silly normally.

Hi Dave,

Great idea, I have some trolley jacks that have seen better days that would be perfect.

During the lathe alignment demo yesterday, Marko made a point that, in hind sight seemed so obvious, I don't know why I never twigged before.

With a lathe, you can clamp the feet. That is the lathe is bolted to the floor. Sometimes to get rid of a twist, you need to hold the feet down, just raising and lowering you might end up with one foot off the floor, of course at the same time as being clamped, you still need to be be able to adjust the height. (of course I'm talking very small amounts here..)

I need to think about this a bit more for my lathe, I might rethink the mounting feet..

Regards
Ray

Originally Posted by Dave J

Here you go Mike
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/la...ctures-114836/


Dave

Excellent ..they look nice . I can see myself making a few to replace the Heath Robinson setup I'm using now

Can i ask why you used 3 mounts rather than 4 ...I pic shows only a single mount on one end

Hi Ray,
Thanks for that info and it makes complete sense. I had my lathe dyna bolted to the floor for around 5 years after buying it. When I moved it I didn't want to drill holes out in the middle of the floor so I made these up. When I adjusted them they all had weight on them, though thats not to say when machining that one foot couldn't lift. But for a home shop and the tolerances we work to (and only usually short work) I don't think it would have a huge affect. But one for the note pad and thanks again, sounds like some good experience and info was given out on many things at that class.

Dave

These lathes come with 4 holes under the headstock and 2 under the tailstock, so I just went with that.
The 4 at the headstock end are a pain to get right as you do the inner ones first then the outer ones.
If 4 where on the tailstock it would be a double pain and isn't needed on a lathe this size. If you wanted to add them it wouldn't hurt, but as I said they are not really needed.

Some old lathes come with only one mount on the tailstock end, as the be is rigid enough to keep it strait.

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

The 4 at the headstock end are a pain to get right as you do the inner ones first then the outer ones.

Now thats the exact opposite of what I read somewhere. It said level on the outer ones and then just snug the inner ones up making sure the lathe doesn't move. As my bed sags* in the middle and I now have a Phil fixed level** I might give it another go your way and see what happens.

Stuart

*sag being relative
**Now who would have thought you would need to check the base of a level for flatness? Another lesson learnt on the weekend.

This is the way I have always done from the books I have here.
Rather than scan and have trouble with copy right, I drew it up.

Dave

Mike,
If you have a problem like Stuart, with the centre of the lathe bed being high or low, 4 on the tailstock end might help to get it out.

Dave

Great idea Dave

tis a lot easier if things just stayed where it was put...works for me

That doesnt always work tho..the missus never stayed where I put err sent her..Italy

Thanks

Mike, I led you astray before.
I was just down the shed and had a look at my lathe base, and it did have 4 points on the tailstock end of the standard cupboard. You now have me thinking why I went with two now, but the bed is strait and level. I think I just went with the holes where the dyna bolts went through when it was bolted down, without thinking.

I would think about changing it to see if there is any difference, but I am going to make a new stand with draws in it, so no point really. So it's up to you on whether you put 2 or 4, but 2 seem fine to me.

Dave

Thanks for the drawing .... having 4 on each column seems a bit if an overkill but it would be very stable that way