Heavy duty tool chest for lathe stand?

kb58

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I see various lathe stands going for $300-600. For what they are, unless they have a brake pedal for the lathe it's intended for, they seem like a big waste of space. Sure, most have one or two doors, which are only good for chucks and supports.

I was in Home Depot yesterday and saw their higher end work benches/tool boxes. Yes, they're more than $600, BUT, they have many heavy duty drawers, and a serious top that could likely support any reasonably-sized lathe. I'm considering this route because I'm very space limited and need all the storage space I can find. I've had this old Grizzle 12x36 lathe for decades and only realized recently just how much wasted space its stand uses.
 
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Home depot work bench sure makes sense to me.
This is what my PM 12X28 fits real nicely on.
I'm, 6'2" tall, the lathe was hard to reach until I took the included feet off, with the wheels on, it was way to high.
The chest is very heavy duty, with lots of storage. weighs 500 lbs.
A local farm and ranch supply store had it on the floor and sold it new for 599. The price on the web site includes delivery. With sufficient fudge factor to get it to inconvenient locations.
 
Look at the Harbor Freight US General boxes too. They are a little more expensive than the Husky boxes, but they are built stouter and can hold twice the weight. It isn't often that Harbor Freight and quality are used in the same sentence, but this is one of those exceptions.
 
Agree about the Harbor Freight boxes. It makes my skin crawl to walk into that place but their US General Pro (Pro is the key word here) are built very well and beat most of the other toolbox companies, at least for the money.
 
Agree about the Harbor Freight boxes. It makes my skin crawl to walk into that place
Why? At least they do not try to hide the quality, or pressure you to buy.

I still remember when Walmart was all made in USA, and pro union.
 
Why? At least they do not try to hide the quality, or pressure you to buy.

I still remember when Walmart was all made in USA, and pro union.

Why? Because the vast majority of that place is cheap chinese crap. Not sure what place you are referring to about being pressured to buy. Heck, the last time I was in HF I had to take time out to explain to a sales associate what a particular item I was looking for does. I have no problem doing that, it was just rather humorous although kudos to the guy for wanting to learn.

If it has a cord on it, I will not buy it at HF. Some of their "dumb steel" is OK, like their C-clamps are just as good as the next store with Chinese junk.

[Dabber] Comment was removed due to Rule 12.
 
I think the tool chest as a lathe stand is a great idea. My lathe is on a very sturdy old retail counter that came with my old shop, it has room for storage but it's not great for storage because it's hard to use the back of the shelves. I'm going to look into it....

As for HF, I worked for them back in the early 2000's. Some of their stuff isn't great but they have local stores where you can return it without paying for shipping if it doesn't work out for you. They pretty much stand by their products and have steadily improved tools like their welders and toolboxes. They actually treat their workers fairly well and are pretty much the only dedicated tool stores around.

They also actively support trades education in the US which is pretty cool IMHO.
 
Get yourself an old metal desk.

289329

They are really heavy. They had some at the auction I was at yesterday and they sold for $5.00. At first there was absolutely no interest. So the auctioneer asked if anybody would haul it away. Several people said they would haul it away. Then he asked what am I bid for the right to haul the desk away. He got a bid of $2.50 and then $5. There were some old solid wood desks that also sold in the $5 to $10 range. They have multiple drawers and you could put a shelf or two in the footwell area for more storage. Some even have leveling feet on the legs.
 
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