How about bowling alley wood for a lathe bench top? I was

[Quick Cal]

This is another lathe bench idea I'm kicking around.

Again, I was all set to start building a work bench in my basement tomorrow. It will be in a cubby hole surrounded by 3 walls. I would just build a 2'x7' bench attached to the wall's on 3 sides, and stiff legs under it. No problem.

Now today I seen a chunk of bowling alley lane. It's 40''x40''x 2.75'' thick. Obviously it would not span the 7'. My Atlas 10d bed is 37''. So I'd have about 1.5'' on each side of the bed. I was thinking of taking the off fall which is going to be about 16x40, cut it in half, or what ever, and make a skirt on each side going the opposite direction. I would still need to fill in the ends though.

The only reason I'm considering using this bowling all is because I've read over and over you need mass weight for a lathe stand. At 2.75 thick will this work? It is hard maple.

Well it might look cool to and should be durable.

So do you guys think it would work? Or should I just stick with 2x12's for the top of the bench. Thanks for any input.

 

[rwm]

Bowling ally wood (maple) would be excellent! It can be had in various lengths. I would try to buy a piece long enough for your needs. You can also sometimes get a good deal on maple butcher block from Home Depot.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Should make an excellent bench top. Plenty rigid and good vibration dampening.

 

[woodchucker]

yes, excellent top.

I have a maple top on my wood working bench. A beech base.. Solid as anything.

 

[SLK001]

Usually, only the front parts of an alley are made from maple (the parts with the markers in them). The wood farther down the lane is some coniferous wood like spruce.

 

[whitmore]

Best thing about using a wood surface: none of your tools will suffer if they fall onto it, nor will
it hurt workpieces.
It won't necessarily be comfortable with spilled oil.

The support that keeps a metal lathe coupled to a concrete floor ought not to be interrupted by a wood
plate, though: it's not a material that can conduct much vibratory energy.

 

[woodchucker]

If you have a table saw, I would put on a ripping blade, pull those boards apart, hopefully not nailed together.
I would put a new edge on each piece and glue together with wood glue. you'll probably have to use a hand plane it to get it true,
I would mark a triangle on top of the whole set of boards before taking apart, so you have a reference, and you can re-bolt the stack during glue up.. also forever.

But that's what I would do, if possible, since they don't look glued up. I always thought they were nailed together.

 

[Quick Cal]

IDK guys. I've watched a few bowling alley wood project videos. And SOME seem like the slab is flexible. Like the glue has broke loose or there never was any. And the only thing holding it together is the nails. Sometimes there's a piece of angle iron on the bottom. To me that does not seem like a solid chunk of wood, or solid butcher block top. This thing might be defeating my purpose. I think I'd have to screw down every board? Plus it's only 40x40. I have no interest in hunting down, paying for, and man handling a 8' section of bowling alley down into my basement,,,lol.

I need to get going on this bench so I can get the lathe going. I'm thinking of just going ahead with the 2x12 top? Or if I did go with this bowling alley top I could take it apart and rebuild it,,,lol. But I'm supposed to be doing that to a lathe. Not a chunk of wood,,,lol.

Thought's?

 

[woodchucker]

A 2x12 top will be fine. But you'll need to edge and glue them together to have a really nice stable top. Otherwise they are flexing between each other. Also you need to get really dry wood.

 

[Quick Cal]

A 2x12 top will be fine. But you'll need to edge and glue them together to have a really nice stable top. Otherwise they are flexing between each other. Also you need to get really dry wood.

Thanks for the advice Jeff.

I'm not really set up with any woodworking stuff. No clamps or anything. And don't want to spend lathe money on it,,,lol. I'm on a shoe string budget anyway.

That being said. The lathe feet mounting holes are 6'' center to center, front to back. And roughly 36'' side to side. So it can all fit on one 2x12. I was just going to use two 2xx12's and maybe a 2x4 to give the bench some depth for maybe setting a tool box or something off to the side.

I have no way of edging the boards. I do have a kreg jig that I've never used. I could glue and screw them together if need be, if it would make it better?

Thoughts?