Is a bench classified as tooling?

[mickri]

Attached is a copy of the instructions for my craftsman 12x36 lathe. It includes a section on leveling the lathe and leveling the bench. Thought that it might help you out.

In looking at the picture of your bench it looks like it is sitting on a plywood floor. If it is how sturdy and stable is that floor? What is underneath? Can you add more support underneath the floor? No matter how stable that floor is it will move with the changing seasons. How much is anybody's guess. You mentioned that you had two sheets of plywood. I would think about putting one sheet on the floor and setting the bench on that sheet of plywood. The plywood won't level out the floor but it might help to stabilize the floor.

Jam nuts should work. You would just have to be careful that you don't move the alignment nut when you tighten the jam nut.

 

[TerryH]

Good grief, no way am I just jacking that up on four washers... I totally forgot about cast iron having a nasty tendency to crack under too much stress... I don't think those bolt-holes will hold it if any stress was applied in any way other than straight up and down...

I'm going to make a one-piece "washer" (elevator? platform? Whatever you want to call it) for each foot of the lathe. I'll use that in place of the fender washers, and that will hopefully help hold everything together while spreading out the load. 1/4" mild steel plate enough you think? 5/16?

I attached 1/4" plate to the bottom of my late's feet to spread the load and made leveling plates that are bolted to the bench. Made getting the ways parallel quite simple.

Build thread here...

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...m-using-shop-made-levelers.72014/#post-604270

 

[Mauser lover]

Ah, yes... my floor. There are basically two joists that run the same direction as the bench underneath the plywood flooring. Atop the plywood I have fixed 2x4s perpendicular to the joists, directly under each of my 4x4s that you can see on the top of my bench.

Ultimately, I realize this isn't ideal, and I hope this is not the final resting place for this lathe. The plan is to buy property somewhere close and pour a slab for my next shop, wherever that ends up being. That's probably a few years down the road though, so I'm just doing the best I can with what I've got. I do realize this bench will move quite a bit, but I'm trying to get the bench to be "good enough for the girls I go with" with a separate and simple/quick way to level the lathe separate from the bench. So... that's my floor!

Yes! I saw your build thread, which is what gave my the idea to do this instead! Of course, not being an engineer, I'm going to make sure it is good enough by adding weight to it... I'll probably get some 1/2 plate.... Plus, my lathe is bigger than yours.

That bench that was recommended in the Craftsman booklet looked... a little flimsy! Which might just mean that mine is a wee bit overbuilt... Like I said, if you don't know the math like a proper engineer, just throw extra weight at it!

 

[mickri]

I think that you got it down and you should be fine. You will probably need to check the level as the seasons change but with the adjustable studs that should be relatively easy.

I agree that the bench in the craftsman instruction booklet looks a little flimsy. What I thought was interesting was how small the recommended shims were to level the lathe. The bench that came with my lathe is similar to it but is made out 2" angle iron welded together. The top is true 2" x 6" hardwood planks that are somehow fastened together and then bolted to the angle iron frame.