- Joined
- May 17, 2012
- Messages
- 104
I bought a lathe that I found on Craigslist. I needed to roll it across the previous owner's walkout basement, and up on to a trailer. I used a pivoting caster idea (another HF furniture dolly paid the price)!!
The pivot bars (long pieces) are 1" pipe, the bearing sleeves are 1 1/4" pipe. The planks are two 2x6 fastened together with construction adhesive and screws. I cut everything out in preparation for assembly.
The second shot is the pivots all welded up. The pipes were first welded to the mounting plates, and then the reinforcement gussets were welded on. They'll hold, but I clearly need more welding practice. Some of which I got making these. They're sitting on my Workmate welding table. More on that some other time.
The third shot is one of the bar assemblies ready to bolt on to the beams. You can see the hole in the pivots where the pin will be inserted to keep the pallet up on the wheels. I didn't have much in the way of measurements on the lathe when I built the pallet, so I drilled the holes in the pivot shafts after the lathe was on the pallet.
The fourth is the pallet in use. Don't worry, the tailstock is in the van. It made it home, but only as far as the garage. I'm still preparing the spot in the basement, and struggling with how I'll get it across the slate floor, through the kitchen, and down the basement stairs.
Here's some detail on how the casters work.
When the base of the casters is horizontal, the pallet is picked up. The bar can then rotate in the pivots and allow the casters to come up off the floor, setting the pallet down. Here's the caster aligned and the pipe wrench on the shaft, ready to lift.
After a moderate push on the wrench, the caster base is horizontal, with the pin in place to keep the pallet up on the casters.
Here is a close up of the fit between the 1" pipe and the 1 1/4 nipple used as a bearing. For something with infrequent rotation, it works very well. It's got just enough slop to not require a lot of precision, but not so much that it is, well, sloppy.
The pivot bars (long pieces) are 1" pipe, the bearing sleeves are 1 1/4" pipe. The planks are two 2x6 fastened together with construction adhesive and screws. I cut everything out in preparation for assembly.
The second shot is the pivots all welded up. The pipes were first welded to the mounting plates, and then the reinforcement gussets were welded on. They'll hold, but I clearly need more welding practice. Some of which I got making these. They're sitting on my Workmate welding table. More on that some other time.
The third shot is one of the bar assemblies ready to bolt on to the beams. You can see the hole in the pivots where the pin will be inserted to keep the pallet up on the wheels. I didn't have much in the way of measurements on the lathe when I built the pallet, so I drilled the holes in the pivot shafts after the lathe was on the pallet.
The fourth is the pallet in use. Don't worry, the tailstock is in the van. It made it home, but only as far as the garage. I'm still preparing the spot in the basement, and struggling with how I'll get it across the slate floor, through the kitchen, and down the basement stairs.
Here's some detail on how the casters work.
When the base of the casters is horizontal, the pallet is picked up. The bar can then rotate in the pivots and allow the casters to come up off the floor, setting the pallet down. Here's the caster aligned and the pipe wrench on the shaft, ready to lift.
After a moderate push on the wrench, the caster base is horizontal, with the pin in place to keep the pallet up on the casters.
Here is a close up of the fit between the 1" pipe and the 1 1/4 nipple used as a bearing. For something with infrequent rotation, it works very well. It's got just enough slop to not require a lot of precision, but not so much that it is, well, sloppy.
