Thread: Portable mini-lathe stand on uneven floor

show us a pic of what you have and it will be a bit easier to suggest a few things

In my shop which is a basement shop I have tile on the floor. There are 2 tools that at times need to be moved to accomindate lengths of wood. They are the shaper and the jointer. What I did was put these tools on a plywwod frame and glued outdoor carpeting to the bottom. Being a smoothe surface on the tile they slide easily. All other tools are on wheels. I use 4 locking wheels. 2 steering and 2 nonsteering and never have a problem with movement. That includes a lathe and tablesaw and bandsaw. Not sure why you have so much movement.

You could make something where 2 wheels on the end and then make a jack or folcrum system where you lift the front section with a handle and attached to it is 2 wheels. When not in use the legs will be flat on the floor to level the tool. Make it so the handle locks into the front edge. I could not find a quick photo but they use them all the time for heavy loads. Good luck.

See if you can find or make your own version of a floor lock / floor truck lock. Put it between the wheels of the tailstock end of the cart. It will keep it from moving and because of the 3 point contact you'll stop the wobble. It can be as simple as some all thread through a heavy piece of angle iron. Threaded hole in the angle iron bolted to the side of the cabinet and a pair of nuts locked on the top of the all thread to run up/down to the floor.

Pete

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've attached a photo, timber is fairly thick at top and bottom 25 mm particleboard from memory. The idea is to have drawers as well. I added my toolbox at the bottom to give more weight as I felt at times that the lathe would tip over. The castors are all swivel as I had hoped to be able to move it in all directions.IMG_1387.JPG

As JT suggests, use non swivelling, locking castors on one end and keep them out as wide as you can for stability. Use the locking swivel type on the other end (when I say locking, that means locking the wheel and also locking the swivel action). When you lock them in place, push them so they are facing out to give you the widest base. The problem with swivel castors is that the wheel is off centre to the pivot point of the swivel. If the wheel decides to go to the inside when stationery, it makes your base smaller.
Having 4 point contact on an uneven floor will never be stable. You may have to do as suggested earlier, make up some form of jacking devices to go on each swivel corner to level it up once in position to take any movement out. Again, put them out as wide as possible. This is the only way 4 point contact will be stable on an uneven surface.
Keep plenty of weight in the bottom for ballast to offset the weight of the lathe up high.

Thanks Treecycle you make a lot of sense.

It's all getting a little too hard though, I just want to start making pens again. Perhaps there are other ways to do this eg add a couple of wheels only and not move the lathe as much? Already spent enough time on what hasn't worked just want some storage and the ability to move the lathe out of the way when necessary.

One trick I've seen is to braze/weld a door hinge to one side of each caster's mounting plate & using the hinge(s) to affix the assembly to the bottom of the leg(s).

Then a nut/bolt fixed to each leg in such a way that each castor's height can be 'adjusted' individually.

Not good for really bumpy ground, but great for getting rid of that li'l bit of rock'n'roll that seems to crop up in many seemingly flat floors.

Hey Tiger.

Your cabinet does not appear to be all that rigid in the photo, although its a little hard to tell from a photo.

I am wondering if there is any racking in the cabinet.
Are your joints Glued & Screwed?
How thick is the back panel?
Do you think it would be a little more rigid if the joints were rebated, including the back panel

I have to agree with Treecycle about the locking Wheels & Swivels, only way to go IMO.

Hope this has been a little helpful.


Steve

Thanks for your ideas, cabinet is fairly sturdy but I did only glue the backing which is pretty thin. I will be adding a cross brace shelf as well but there is no racking that I can detect. The garage floor that the lathe will be sitting on is rough and there are small corrugations of concrete as well so the cheap Bunnies castors don't roll along it that well although without the lathe sitting on top of it the cabinet does move ok. Castors are rated at 40 kg each and with 4 of them thought I'd be ok, maybe would be fine on level smooth ground, not so for my surface.

I think that the problem of the floors is exacerbated by the stand, which looks very light (even though you say it is rigid). Try weighing it down with bricks or sandbags.

I have a bench for my mini Jet on a garage floor, which I built several years ago from construction pine. It is very rigid (which is partly a function of the design), and I've never considered replacing it.

This was taken when it was built ...



A few details here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...MiniLathe.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

I think that the problem of the floors is exacerbated by the stand, which looks very light (even though you say it is rigid). Try weighing it down with bricks or sandbags.

I have a bench for my mini Jet on a garage floor, which I built several years ago from construction pine. It is very rigid (which is partly a function of the design), and I've never considered replacing it.

This was taken when it was built ...



A few details here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...MiniLathe.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek,

Thats more like what I had in mind.

I note that the stretchers in the legs are rebated in, not just for good looks, but for strength and rigidity as well.
I am assuming the tops of legs are also rebated to accept the top, also for strength and rigidity.

And if Tiger still wanted a cupboard etc, so easy to fill it in.

I think this is a cheap, easy & excellent solution to Tigers problem. A couple of screw adjustable feet on diagonally opposing legs will overcome the undulating floor problem.


Steve

Originally Posted by Tiger

The garage floor that the lathe will be sitting on is rough and there are small corrugations of concrete as well so the cheap Bunnies castors don't roll along it that well although without the lathe sitting on top of it the cabinet does move ok. Castors are rated at 40 kg each and with 4 of them thought I'd be ok, maybe would be fine on level smooth ground, not so for my surface.

I think your problem with your castors is not the kg rating, but rather the diameter of the wheels. You might want to look at 100mm Diameter hard rubber Swivel lock wheels.


Steve

i think its the casters that are causing your problems. Even the locking ones have some movement, and your set up is not heavy enough to handle it. If you added 50lbs into the bottom of the cabinet, you would definitely see a difference.

Another option is a moving system i saw in woodworking magazine a few years ago. The cabinet has a flat bottem with two wheels recessed up at the front. The concept is that when it is flat on the floor the cabinet rests on wood (wheels don't touch). When you want to move it you use a little dolly to lift the other end which levers the cabinette up onto the wheels. Now it can be rolled wherever its needed.

I am not great for describing things , so i took a couple of quick pictures of the magazine with my tablet so you can have a visual idea.

Darrin



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Originally Posted by darrin1200

i think its the casters that are causing your problems. Even the locking ones have some movement, and your set up is not heavy enough to handle it. If you added 50lbs into the bottom of the cabinet, you would definitely see a difference.

Another option is a moving system i saw in woodworking magazine a few years ago. The cabinet has a flat bottem with two wheels recessed up at the front. The concept is that when it is flat on the floor the cabinet rests on wood (wheels don't touch). When you want to move it you use a little dolly to lift the other end which levers the cabinette up onto the wheels. Now it can be rolled wherever its needed.

I am not great for describing things , so i took a couple of quick pictures of the magazine with my tablet so you can have a visual idea.

Darrin



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20140822_074153.jpg

This is exactly what I was trying to describe. Have seen this setup used on very large storage platforms. Works well.