Securing the lathe

[John Torchick]

About a year ago, I purchased a used HF lathe, #34706. I'm in the process of closing off a part of my basement/garage to confine chips and sawdust to one area. I have a place to set the lathe. We all know that concrete floors are not level. How do I make sure it is level? I'm thinking of putting it on a raised platform of heavy plywood and 2X2's so my own weight (don't ask how much!) will help hold it down. Haven't have a problem with stability but I'll probably be turning stuff that is bigger than my fishing rod grips. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Joe Greiner]

I have the same lathe. My concrete floor is level enough that it hasn't been a problem. I don't think it's a good idea to attach a lathe to the floor, but if leveling is a problem, you might try putting some wedges (in opposing pairs) under the legs, adjusting their fit, and attaching the legs to the wedge stacks. Similar to construction of door jambs.

For stability, I put a shelf of 2x4s at the intermediate braces, and put two 5-gallon buckets of railroad spikes on them. It hasn't moved yet. Concrete blocks could be another option. Cover the ballast with Visqueen or similar protection against accumulation of chips.

 

[john lucas]

John When I had my Delta 46-700 it would walk all over the place when turning bowls because the low speed was too high. I had built a heavy stand out of pressed wood and filled legs with sand but it wasn't enough. My floor was level but I attached another piece of pressed wood to the base to stand on just like your thinking. It worked.
Looking back I think it was a combination of 2 things. A larger footprint and the extra weight. When I bought the Nova 3000 it had the same problem. Not nearly as bad because the lathe was built a whole lot better and you could adjust the speeds down but I found myself turning at higher speeds. I made a stand that had a larger footprint and added more weight to the stand and the problem got a lot better.
One of my good friends has a powermatic 3520. He turns very off center pieces. He added 5 foot long 3" angle iron to each leg. These are 1/2" thick and quite heavy. This extra length and weight totally stabilized the lathe so that he could turn the offcenter work at high enough speed to make controlling the tool better. I've thought seriously about this but in my shop I don't have the space and would trip over the extensions all the time.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Second the shims, but protect them from casual kicks by adding some glue and then trimming tightly. I like a cow mat in front of my lathe to ease my legs. Concrete can be a real calf-killer. If you decide on a general elevation, make the lathe side sturdy and the you side a bit resilient. Spacing the sleepers a bit farther apart ought to do for it.

I'm not a fan of weeble lathes. The proper wide footprint is all you need, especially if you have a bandsaw and/or a good slow speed to work with. The stand that is pictured for our lathe has tin legs that could benefit from plywood gussets on the ends to stiffen them. After that, screw a cabinet on the support rails, and let it hang out the back rather than taper up. You can store heavy tools in it if you want to.

 

[John Torchick]

Thanks to all for your help! Happy and safe turning!

 

[DOCworks]

I wouldn't bother trying to level the concrete, get adjustable feet. Like a bolt with a couple of nuts will level the stand. Then it's just weight to keep if from walking around, for unbalanced pieces. I purchased adjustable wheels for my 3520b the rubber coated bolt screws down and lifts the lathe off the wheels and then I just get the lathe level, but adjusting the bolts. I add weight to the shelf underneath when needed but unless it's off center work it's not needed. I do have to be careful when it's on it's wheels as it has a mind of it's own on the low angle grade of the garage floor. Visualize a 650lb hunk of metal kissing off my bandsaw on it's way out the door dragging me along with it. It's not funny!

 

[john lucas]

Bill could you send a photo of your wheels or where to buy them. I'm looking at different options for moving and locking my Powermatic.

 

[glenkey]

Visualize a 650lb hunk of metal kissing off my bandsaw on it's way out the door dragging me along with it. It's not funny!

Well not for you it isn't funny. My minds-eye says it is funny.

 

[John Torchick]

More ideas to ponder. Again, thanks to all.
DOCworks, I don't think that is funny. Humorous, maybe, but not funny.

 

[john lucas]

My Wife used to laugh at me dancing and cursing while chasing the Delta around the shop. Perhaps just adding a boat anchor to it would help.

 

[Dave Ogren]

Castors for a PM 3520

John,
The suggested castor for a PM 3520 is made by ZAMBUS I do not have a part number. Should be fairly easy to find.

Good Luck,

Dave

 

[DOCworks]

John,
They are Zambus wheels ACP200S. http://www.zambus.com/index.php is the main website. These are rated a 200lb each and 884lb for 4 wheels. The ACP 600's are really nice but way more expensive and after spending almost an hour on the phone with Zambus I got the 200's (S) is the stud type, There is an (F) type this is if you were bolting it to a solid platform. Also I tried taping the legs on the 3520b and that is a waste of time, just drill and use a lock washer and washer with the bolts they send. I taped them first and broke a couple bolts; went and got better bolts and they didn't break but after a couple of nasty logs you could see stress marks. Drilled them out and new bolts...4 years and no problems.

The Mustard Monster site (just google it) has my comments along with a bunch of other very cool ideas for making them mobile. Remember one of the big differences is that these do not lift the lathe 4" to 5" like the wheels you get a Woodcraft. These lift it about 2 3/4" or 71mm.

 

[john lucas]

Thanks for posting that. They won't work for me without building an external mount. I'm too short and to raise the lathe any at all would make it too tall. However I've looked at making an external support that sits under the wheels and would allow me to mount a wheel like this so it only lifts the lathe a 1/2" or so.

 

[rjones]

John our club mounted the trailer jacks with wheels on them (Harbor Freight on sale $20.00 ) to our Jet 1642 and it works good. I would come up with a different way of mounting them,but they work great, I think we got the mounting instructions from the journal, not sure. I don't move mine I leave it where it sets, and I built a shelf that goes between the legs and it holds about 4 bags of sand left the sand in the bags so if need to move it I can take the bags out.
Good Luck

 

[Mike Peace]

John our club mounted the trailer jacks with wheels on them (Harbor Freight on sale $20.00 )

Marty Libman used a trailer jacks rig like rjones referenced to move a 3520 at JCCFS and that seemed to work real well. They are mounted only when moving and do not stay on.