[How do I?] Determine the "right" height for a lathe?

[darkzero]

I was taught generally to set the spindle centerline with my elbow height & not based on controls (controls locations of course vary from machine to machine). Too high & you'll have trouble looking down on a workpiece when needed. Too low & you will kill your back having to bend down to the work.

I set mine at elbow height & I find it to work out great for me. I also set my mill's table at elbow height (not a knee mill). But everyone is different.

I say generally cause as Bob mentioned larger lathes are different. Elbow height seems to work good for me for smaller lathes, as in lathes smaller than 16-17x.

 

[ACHiPo]

The safe thing to do is to make sure you have a way of changing the height to what you need without a lot of work or hassle. Don't allow yourself to put up with a machine that is uncomfortable to use, at least not beyond the time it takes to change it and make it right.

Ok so this has me thinking about more than 1" height adjustment. Now how to do it while keeping it solid.

 

[Bob Korves]

Ok so this has me thinking about more than 1" height adjustment. Now how to do it while keeping it solid.

Hi neighbor! How about designing it for interchangeable foot blocks...

 

[ACHiPo]

Hi neighbor! How about designing it for interchangeable foot blocks...

Hi Bob,
That's not a bad idea, at least til I get some stick time at different heights. I need to rig up a way to lift it with my floor jack, but if I do that it will be fairly straight forward to try different heights.

Thanks!

 

[Tozguy]

Ok so this has me thinking about more than 1" height adjustment. Now how to do it while keeping it solid.

Good point! My lathe came with a stand. The adjustable feet are only designed to compensate for slope in the floor. Several years of use have not turned up any problems with my 5'10'' body and the OEM stand. Several different floor mats at my lathe have been tried for comfort and chip control which varies my height with respect to the lathe. This experience has shown me that it is not that critical to get it perfect. After all does a machine shop adjust a lathe height every time the operator changes?

It is important to avoid either extreme of too high or too low. Posts nos. 9 and 11 seem to me to be a good starting point. Rather than be adjusting the lathe height to suit you in a trial and error approach, I would experiment with floor mats or platforms to see what gives in the comfort department.

 

[tq60]

Try this...

Perform "virtual operations" and measure results.

What this means is first look at the general layout of the lathe and if possible get it placed somewhere like a bench and if possible too high like the normal work bench.

Next get things like books or blocks to stand on and operate the controls.

Imagine turning all of the controls while needing to look real close at the cutting actiin to hit some mark.

Too high and your arms are at odd angles but easy to see.

Too low arms at other bad angle and hard to see.

Just right your arms will have a natural fit and feel for all actions and you will know it when yiu get there.

Different for everyone. ..

Now measure from bottom of feet to bottom of lathe and make stand that tall.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk

 

[Jimsehr]

If I wanted to make an adjustable I think I might try 4 bottle jacks . That would give you a lot of adjustment. I just went to eBay and saw I could get 4 of them for about 15 bucks each. Don't think I could make anything for that low cost. You might have to make a way to lock after it's set where you want it.
Jimsehr

 

[British Steel]

Well based on the machines I have run. Manufactures believe lathe operators are al shorter and mill operators are tall.

Probably why my lathe's just right and I need a Dalek kick step for mills - or have to climb on the table...

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[ACHiPo]

The bench height is currently 32" high, the ways at 41" and the center line at 46". My elbow is about 45". The casters/legs will add about 2". I think that will be close enough.

With the 4x4 and 2x4 the previous owner had under the bench, the centerline was ~52", which definitely seemed too high to me.

 

[raceratb]

I highly recommend the gdok style leveling casters