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Thread: Lathe Stand Mod
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29th Nov 2020, 08:39 PM #1Diamond Member
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Lathe Stand Mod
I saw a gentlemean had posted recently about building a completely new lathe stand, and like what he did.
I, unfortunately don'y ahve time , yet, to do such a project, but I did want to raise my lathe, away from the tray, to make it more comfortable to use ( I'm 186 cm )
and make cleaning under the tray alot easier, so I'm going to make some Risers.
Had to measure the actual lathe feet to get correct hole locations etc, as they weren't in the manual.
I'm going to use 100mm of "6 pipe and 100mm of 8" pipe and weld plates on either side.
Will machine the pipes square and the same size before I assemble. Not sure if I should get them skimmed on a mIll so they are exactly the same height?
More work to do but will post more when I do it.
Can post plate dimensions if anyones intersted. Lathe is a AL-335.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JtMAYFo5VQVEQf1s6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AkX5cjmvjkutpKVc6
Steve
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29th Nov 2020, 09:51 PM #2Diamond Member
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Assuming your current base is flat and true,
I would mill it flat, or maybe even surface grind,
to get an an accurate (non-twisted) lathe bed.
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29th Nov 2020, 10:24 PM #3Most Valued Member
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I wouldn't worry to much about it.
Though it depends on how you plan to level the lathe?
I bolted my cabinets to the floor, then have bolts coming up through the top of the cabinet, so the lathe is really sitting on 6 washers/nuts. Not exactly the most rigid mounting around but it does make for easier leveling and if you are chasing rigid those cabinets aren't the greatest place to start.
One other thing to think about if you use coolant. You can put some of your spacer under the tray on one end so it has some fall.(think I did that but would have to check lol)
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30th Nov 2020, 07:01 PM #4Diamond Member
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Shed floor is new and quite flat so should be ok. Not planning on bolting it down, al least until I decide its final resting place.....still tweaking locations.
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1st Dec 2020, 12:49 AM #5
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1st Dec 2020, 08:59 PM #6
G'day Steve,
I made similar mods to my Lathe stand some years ago and found despite all my best efforts, placing it on risers did mean it was not as rigid and on some occasions 'wobbled' which I could not remove despite anchoring the stands to the floor and using solid risers along with bolting the lathe through them to the stands. Not sure how you intend to bolt through the ones you show.
It was great for a while meaning I had good access under the lathe to clean out the swarf and broken tool bits but the risers added to the stability problem which only became apparent after I had bolted it all up .
Reason I made the mods being the lathe stands I had are the same type in your piccie and aren't made for anyone more than 4'6" in high heels
I now use a beam to carry my lathe and there is no flex at all. Ditched the blue stands and created heaps more room under the lathe for storage. There are heaps of various designs on the net using beams or torsion beams as some call them and I reckon they are far better option than making mods on those stands
I would respectfully suggest that while risers may get your lathe to the correct height, there can be stability issues so be mindful of how you go about it and be safe. Just a suggestion......................Lee
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1st Dec 2020, 10:46 PM #7
Hi Steve, Guys,
A couple of pictures of my Myford lathe risers.
110115-013.jpg 110115-014.jpg
The stud that the top nut goes onto is threaded into and secured to a 8 mm thick steel plate underneath the steel cabinet top plate and that is welded at both ends to the cabinet. The nut under the foot is threaded into the riser and is adjusted to adjust the height of the foot whilst the nut on top of the foot locks the two together, pulling the stud tight against the steel plate and the riser block making it very rigid. The risers are made from solid iron castings. Though I've seen alloy after market ones.
The only thing between the riser and the cabinet is the drip tray. The Myford has the same riser arrangement under the headstock end.
HTH.Best Regards:
Baron J.
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1st Dec 2020, 10:58 PM #8Diamond Member
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Thanks for the comments. I will certainly keep them in mind.
I've got the materials now, so I'll go ahead and see how they fair. If they are no good, not much lost and I will fall back and regroup and go for a large beam instead.
My mounting bolts are 175mm apart, so to find a single steel beam, wide enough, might be tricky. My first look didn't find anything suitable. Not sure a 200mm beam would give me enough clearance to fit the nuts inside the beam?
Anyway, we will see....
Steve
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1st Dec 2020, 10:59 PM #9Diamond Member
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1st Dec 2020, 11:05 PM #10
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1st Dec 2020, 11:33 PM #11Diamond Member
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I wonder if welding 2 channels together would create a reasonable beam?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MphwZmUUuNVGEJQB6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LiBVZHspk6XJ3DqL9
Not sure how straight or rigid it would be.
Would be wide enough though....
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2nd Dec 2020, 06:21 AM #12
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2nd Dec 2020, 02:35 PM #13Diamond Member
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2nd Dec 2020, 06:55 PM #14Member
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Lathe Stand Mod
Hello Sterob. My beam-type lathe stand that I detailed on here a while back used 200 x 100 RHS as the main supporting part. The corners of the RHS are really quite rounded, leaving a flat surface about 160 wide in this case. The distance between the mounting hole centres on my AL-300 machine is 165mm, so there was just room to get the through bolts inside the side walls. Your quoted dimensions of 175mm centres wouldn't work therefore & would require a wider beam. Next size up appears to be 250 x 150 (of various available thicknesses) which would very solid (& pricey). The supplier over here in Cairns has a 2 metre minimum cut which means I've still got a piece about 900 long to spare.
Be aware also that the 'flat' wide face surfaces are actually slightly convex as received. Mine required some time in the hydraulic press to correct this. With an even bigger section beam this would possibly be a bit more of a physical problem in lugging the hunk of iron around & about many times. I wonder if RSJ would be suitable as an alternate? Welding two pieces of smaller section box together might introduce other issues....
I believe that overall it was a worthwhile project in my case.
H614
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2nd Dec 2020, 11:00 PM #15Diamond Member
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