Mobile Lathe Stand-Your Thoughts?

First let me say that I have never used a wood lathe before although I have used metal lathes a bit, back in the day. So far I have done nothing more than turn my wood lathe on to see that it's working.

I have a small'ish work area so I like to keep things mobile when I can. I'm going to build a custom stand for my very heavy 4ft lathe to utilise the otherwise wasted space underneath & I would like to use locking wheels on the base.

However watching a lot of wood turning videos, I often see large pieces spinning out of balance and the advice seems to be to reduce speed to where you get minimum vibration. That's all fine but I'm wondering about the stability of a stand on casters when something is spinning and causing a lot of vibration. If you have any experience with this I would really appreciate your thoughts please.

All 5 of the lathes at the mens shed are on lockable wheels. 4 of the 5 are old cast iron lathes and I have never see them move while in use.
If you are worried you can arrange to add some concrete slabs or blocks to the base of the stand.

Weight is your friend. My lathe, otherwise light, is on non-locking casters; but I added over 100 lbs. of railroad spikes to the bottom shelf. It's actually hard to move.

Cheers,
Joe

I'm planning to make it out of really heavy redgum that I saved from a shed at my place. It's 107 years old and weighs a ton. The main supports are 5" x 5" and they are seriously heavy. Based on your comments I'll add a compartment in the bottom where I can put bags of cement that I have in the shed if needed.
:2tsup:

Aussie,

You have it covered.

I have a Nova 1624(? I think it is anyway) and it's mounted on two 4"x4" skids about 6 feet long. No problem with the lathe walking around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rob streeper

I have a Nova 1624(? I think it is anyway) and it's mounted on two 4"x4" skids about 6 feet long. No problem with the lathe walking around.

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Having a bit of difficulty figuring out what skids look like, are they flat on the floor, or are they on wheels/castors?

Mick.

Think big wooden skis. :)

Thanks, got it now.

Mick.

My preference is to have the machine on solid legs and lower/raise the castors to move the machine. If you search for lowering casters, jacking casters there are many that do that. Or you use regular casters and devise your own way to lift and lower. The gold standard is the hydraulic frame that the big SawStop sits on. You use your foot to pump a little hydraulic jack that lifts the entire saw. When in the right spot touch the valve with your toe and it lowers back to the floor. Even small trailers have jacking casters to lift the trailer's tongue off the ball hitch.

Pete