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- Jun 12, 2014
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There are various ways to lift the lathe, on the smaller lathes it usually involves some form of belting across the Bed or through the bed. The manual suggests two belts perpendicular to the bed with planks under the bed. When I originally put my lathe on the stands I used a 2 ton belt through the bed, with a strap through the spindle and another to the tailstock end of the machine so it could be leveled. I am always concerned that when you belt under the machine, that if it is not balanced well to start with, that the belts can slip or the machine can roll.
Other lathe makers recommend using an eye bolt or D ring bolted through the center of the bed with plates on top and bottom of the bed.
Since I had the old PM1340GT cabinets, I had planned on beefing up the cabinets bases and also adding some 1/2" plates to the top of each cabinet. On the Headstock cabinet I built supports under each cabinet using 1/2" steel x 3" wide stock and tapped 5/8" threaded holes for 4 new steel mounting feet. L taps are welded on either side and bolted through into the cabinet with 1/2" bolts in addition to the original foot hole in the center.
In order to install the 1/2 steel plates on the top of the cabinet, I needed to lift the machine off the base. I opted to use a D-Ring (Jergens #23516 rated at 4000lbs) support through the bed. I used a 9" x 5/8" Grade 9 bolt with heavy washers instead of the shorter bolt that comes with the lifting ring. The top plate is 1/2 aluminum x 4" wide by 12" long. It does not sit on the bed rails, but slides under the rails and slide in through the tailstock end. I rounded the edges on either side to match the contours of the bed, and then added thin neoprene rubber.
The bottom plate was 1/2" x 5" wide by 10" long and sits perpendicular to the bed. I also did some slight profiling so it locks into the underside of the bed and then added a neoprene layer. I was able to pick up all the parts as remnants or via eBay, making is much more affordable.
I still use Jack straps to allow leveling along the length of the machine, but you can still get some twisting of the machine backwards, especially if you use a heavy (non-stock) motor which is what I use. Overall, it was much easier and quicker to do the lift with the D-Ring, but still a two or 3 person job to get the lathe in position and get the bolts aligned in place. I had Paco (firestopper) and his son help me, and want to thank them for making this a much easier job.
I strongly recommend using sealant around the bolt holes, I originally used silicone sealant and it did not hold up well to the oils, I would recommend using a polyurethane sealant instead.
After 1/2" plates were installed and lowering the 2 ton hoist.
The machine was then re-leveled. The end result was a much more stable machine, but there is a vibration node at around 600-700 RPM and around 1200-1300 RPM, and because I switched from Mason feet which absorbed some of this vibration to solid feet, I ended up with more shaking of my DRO (but less machine movement). The fix for my ES-12 DRO display was adding a back plate in the control cabinet for the DRO mount and building a heavier DRO support mount. This is less likely to be a problem with the newer ES-12B because of a number of design changes.
Other lathe makers recommend using an eye bolt or D ring bolted through the center of the bed with plates on top and bottom of the bed.
Since I had the old PM1340GT cabinets, I had planned on beefing up the cabinets bases and also adding some 1/2" plates to the top of each cabinet. On the Headstock cabinet I built supports under each cabinet using 1/2" steel x 3" wide stock and tapped 5/8" threaded holes for 4 new steel mounting feet. L taps are welded on either side and bolted through into the cabinet with 1/2" bolts in addition to the original foot hole in the center.
In order to install the 1/2 steel plates on the top of the cabinet, I needed to lift the machine off the base. I opted to use a D-Ring (Jergens #23516 rated at 4000lbs) support through the bed. I used a 9" x 5/8" Grade 9 bolt with heavy washers instead of the shorter bolt that comes with the lifting ring. The top plate is 1/2 aluminum x 4" wide by 12" long. It does not sit on the bed rails, but slides under the rails and slide in through the tailstock end. I rounded the edges on either side to match the contours of the bed, and then added thin neoprene rubber.
The bottom plate was 1/2" x 5" wide by 10" long and sits perpendicular to the bed. I also did some slight profiling so it locks into the underside of the bed and then added a neoprene layer. I was able to pick up all the parts as remnants or via eBay, making is much more affordable.
I still use Jack straps to allow leveling along the length of the machine, but you can still get some twisting of the machine backwards, especially if you use a heavy (non-stock) motor which is what I use. Overall, it was much easier and quicker to do the lift with the D-Ring, but still a two or 3 person job to get the lathe in position and get the bolts aligned in place. I had Paco (firestopper) and his son help me, and want to thank them for making this a much easier job.
I strongly recommend using sealant around the bolt holes, I originally used silicone sealant and it did not hold up well to the oils, I would recommend using a polyurethane sealant instead.
After 1/2" plates were installed and lowering the 2 ton hoist.
The machine was then re-leveled. The end result was a much more stable machine, but there is a vibration node at around 600-700 RPM and around 1200-1300 RPM, and because I switched from Mason feet which absorbed some of this vibration to solid feet, I ended up with more shaking of my DRO (but less machine movement). The fix for my ES-12 DRO display was adding a back plate in the control cabinet for the DRO mount and building a heavier DRO support mount. This is less likely to be a problem with the newer ES-12B because of a number of design changes.