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  1. #1
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default Show us your lathe tooling layouts

    I am looking for ideas for setting out and easy ready access to lathe tooling and bits and pieces. At work each lathe has a conveniently located bench right alongside where its centres, chucks, spanners, keys etc are held in a simple wooden stand - basically a raised wooden platform with appropriate size holes drilled in it. This i also what I have done for my WW lathe but currently I have no such plan for my MW lathe.

    I noticed in the "show us your lathe thread that many of you do not have benches right next to your lathe so where do you keep all your "stuff" that you need to use on a regular basis?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
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    Cool

    I keep my extra lathe chucks right on the end of my lathe because some projects i use 6 or 7 lathe chucks just swap them until the next step. My tooling is on a swing out rack that is underneath out of the way. And my chuck key is right where it needs to be...Bob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    Perth WA
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    Default Another Bob's worth.

    Bob,

    I have a pair of White roll along drawer cabinets directly behind where I stand at my ARL Hercus. They are chock a block with tooling and tools. The lathe also has a pair of pedestals that provide storage for a couple of chucks, steadies and my transposing gears. Less conveniently located on the other side of the lathe but closer to my mills is a row of 4 Ikea double height steet metal lockers. They came with adjustable steel shelves which have proven far more robust than expected. I use these to store a lot of my larger measuring tools and most of my mill tooling along with additional lathe chucks and my vice collection.

    Unlike AA who is well organised and orderly, I end up with tooling scattered amongst the swarf. Because the lathe's swarf tray is long, I usually have my drill chucks and centre placed on the tray near the tailstock. The spanners required for locking the saddle and bed stop, I leave in position on the bolt heads of those two items. The chuck key I try to remember to place near the gearbox but my memory often fades.

    I might be painting too rosey a picture. I haven't mentioned the boxes full of woodworking tools, the paint cans, the bags of cement and other general junk that conspire to make access to my machines less than convenient. ( if C-47 and Finno are reading this they'll be thinking that's a bloody understatement!)

    I have thought ( and progressed no further) about making a rack along the lines of the collet rack offered by both Hercus and South Bend for collet storage, but simplified for storage of my drill chucks and centres. Just another thing to get around to.

    Bob, if you have the room, why not just acquire a cheepo roll along drawer unit with a rubber mat on top. Even Bunnings sells them now and the things have ball runners, an improvement on my old Whites.

    Bob.

  4. #4
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    All excellent ideas so far. Thanks

  5. #5
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    At the moment my lathe is sitting about 30 degrees from the wall because I have run out of room. So I have a shelf on the wall to hold the QC tools holders and the chuck keys.
    Just above it I have a 3 door cupboard that stores the lathe tooling in as it rusts up pretty quick here. I also have a couple of roll around tool chests full of tooling/ measuring gear for the mill and lathe and the chucks get stored at the tail stock end of the ;lathe on boards raised off the floor.
    On the splash back on the tail stock end I have a magnetic shelf about 250mm long to keep the drill chuck key in and either the drill chuck or the live centre when they are not being used.

    Dave


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    Perth WA
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    Default

    As expected Dave!

    What's the story with the chuck keys? Your innovation?

    BT

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    home
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    Default

    My tools were all stored in drawers in a nearby cupboard. The cupboard has since been sold (moving out) so the tools are all in wooden packing crates.
    As a going away present, I bought myself some Maxim toolboxes which will be set up at my new home (wherever that is).
    One problem is that I'll only have enough lathe/mill tools to partly fill a few drawers.
    .
    I just might have to get some more tools

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Melbourne
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    Default

    To many Bobs!!

    AA that swing out rack is great!

    I use a couple of old 4 draw filing cabinets, a couple of traffic light control boxes and a 6 draw drawing cabinet for most of it but like BT I tend to end up with stuff everywhere.

    BT,
    Daves always in a hurry he needs speed keys

    Stuart

  9. #9
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Anorak Bob View Post
    As expected Dave!

    What's the story with the chuck keys? Your innovation?

    BT


    Hi Bob,
    They are my design I did several years ago. I used the original chuck key with a rotating sleeve over it to save friction on your hands and a pressed on collar on the end to hold it on.
    The knob also rotates and the socket head bolt holds the knob as well as keeping it in place on a flat milled into the shaft to stop it rotating sideways.
    I made one each for the 3 and 4 jaw and turned in 3 rings on the shank of one and 4 on the other so they are easily identifiable.
    They make the job changing jaws over quick and easy and are still as long as they where originally.

    Dave

  10. #10
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave J View Post
    .
    .
    .
    On the splash back on the tail stock end I have a magnetic shelf about 250mm long to keep the drill chuck key in and either the drill chuck or the live centre when they are not being used.
    I have somewhere in my shed 2, 150 x 300 x 25 mm magnets encased in stainless steel shed that I picked up out of the skip at work which would make great magnetic shelves

    BUT

    How the heck to you stop them from covering themselves in swarf?
    and don't they magnetise the tools?

  11. #11
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    I have somewhere in my shed 2, 150 x 300 x 25 mm magnets encased in stainless steel shed that I picked up out of the skip at work which would make great magnetic shelves

    BUT

    How the heck to you stop them from covering themselves in swarf?
    and don't they magnetise the tools?

    You can see the black shelf just in the top right of the picture. It came in a set of 3 my wife bought me from Kmart or somewhere like that. That one has 3 magnets on the back and the others has 2 and 1 as they get smaller and they are on the end hanging off the cabinet for other stuff. Other than a few bits of swarf sticking to the back. I don't have any problems with magnetism as they are not real strong magnets and they rely on leverage from the back panel which is extended down past the bottom of the tray.
    I have some other round one's and they are just a problem to put anything in as like you say they get magnatised.

    Dave


  12. #12
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    Jun 2008
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    Default

    Hi Dave,

    I like what you've done with the chuck keys, I keep cracking my knuckles because the shaft of the key is too short, a longer key with a rotating sleeve would be just the trick.


    In answer to BobL's question, I use rolling cabinets, One for the mill tooling and one for the lathe. But part way through doing some job or other, I still find I'm fishing tools out of the swarf..



    The wooden machinists chest on the wall is one of the cheap Kingchrome's that they were selling as damaged, handy for smaller things like inserts.

    Regards
    Ray

  13. #13
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    Hi Ray,
    Also hanging on the wall is an extended D1-4 key I made up to save my knuckles from the head stock. The T handle sits above the head stock about 100-150mm so there is plenty of room. The original one would hit the head stock and jam your finger.
    I turned it on the lathe and couldn't be bothered setting everything up to mill it, so I just filed the square on the end while it was mounted in the chuck, which turned out pretty good. A heat up and a dip in oil keeps the rust off and gives it a factory finish, but because it was so long I had to do it in two goes from either end as the propane torch wouldn't heat the lot at once.

    Dave




  14. #14
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    Thanks Guys - again very helpful.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave J View Post
    What's in th drawers under the lathe and do you find that they get in the way when using the lathe?

  15. #15
    Dave J Guest

    Default

    Glad your getting some ideas, what sort of lathe do you have?

    The draw on the right has small off cut stock off the lathe and the one on the right has emery cloth. The cupboard underneath the draws is something I picked up a few years before I bought the lathe that just happened to fit the space so it stayed.

    I have rubber mats in from of the lathe and there is around 100mm height clearance under the cupboard if I did need to put my feet, but I don't find it gets in the way at all and usually stand about 50-100mm away from it, other wise I would get hooked up on either the cross feed or the carriage handles. If I am inspecting something I will stand closer, but for machining I stand back a bit away from the flying chips. Not sure about other peoples choice of position, but this works for me on this lathe for 6-7 years and is comfortable position.
    These lathes are very square sort of thing, where when I had the Hercus with it's thinner bed I would find myself standing inside the stand legs.

    Dave

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