I want to raise height of my lathe

Waverly, I have a 1236-T and am the same height. This was my solution:
0C12D864-408C-4B48-B09F-5D0648591378.jpeg

66E3EBCB-20D7-4BCC-A6A6-403DFBC7AA19.jpeg

C7C09ECB-BED1-4395-989A-B51FC3161F52.jpeg
676A28C2-4FF5-465E-A782-27171F6EBD07.jpeg


It has been solid, mobile and easily adjustable. If interested search for thread “Setting-up the PM 1236-T” here on H-M and look at posts 20 through 32 for details. Good luck.
 
My 9X20 has been on 2 4 X 4 laid on the floor for 8 years. Works well for me I'm 6' 4" tall & 76 years old
 
or you could go the other way and put a 4" or whatever pit in front of the lathe.....I had a pit put in the floor of the inner shop to put a midrise lift in it. When the time comes, probably after I am dead, the floor can be filled in and easily add concrete.
 
If lathes were built like the proverbial brick s**thouse, they wouldn't need to be leveled but the nature of the beast is that they flex and when they flex, the bed can twist. Proper leveling of a lathe requires a machinists level and the adjustments are measured in thousandths. The adjustment is usually verified by the two collar test or using Rollie's Dad's Method.

The problem with a lathe on casters is that every time the lathe is moved, it must be re-leveled. The very best of floors will have imperfections. Masons and carpenters don't work to thousandths. Even a slight move can mess up a lathe's alignment. For this reason, my lathe is stationary.

I get that there are circumstances where a machine must be mobile. Not everybody has an ideal shop layout. But if the machine needs to be moved, as John said above, one must deal with the possibility that misalignment will occur and turnings will have tapers or that releveling is necessary.
 
mikey said:
I don't know, John. With the leveling casters you find today, wheels and a level lathe are not incompatible. A Carrymaster SLC-600 caster will support 600# per caster and raise the lathe up 4". It will allow for easy mobility if needed but will also provide a solid base that is easily leveled. If the lathe just needs to be raised then the steel bases that the guys showed is ideal. If the lathe must be mobile from time to time then I would consider Carrymaster casters myself.
Click to expand...
I was suggesting having both and can't see how having screw-down feet could possibly be worse than the stand's own feet.
 
I'd like to thank everyone for opinions, advice, etc.

What I've decided to do is this. I'm going to have my concrete guy pour an H shaped 4" high pad to put the lathe on. It's H shaped to give my size 13 foot clearance. It's a blank canvas right now, but I should finally have permits this week. Hopefully construction will begin in the next few weeks.

Once again once again thanks to all.

Regards, Waverly
 
Permits... sheez, especially for something that's non (building) structural sitting on an existing floor. Going off-topic, reminds me of our Planning Department, who say you need a permit to replace a sink fixture or toilet. Right...

Back on topic, I went with a raised and wheeled stand, because being able to move around 1-2000 lb stuff was important to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top