Lathe Stand And Storage Ideas

taycat

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Mar 19, 2015
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put lathe on another bench i got from skip, drawers i knocked up out of offcuts of wood.
already decided top 2 drawers need to be not so deep and i need doors on it.
its lot better than manky old frame it was on.
 
sorry comp is playing up posted before i had finished.
was hoping people would post pics of their stands and lathe bit storage ideas.
so i can evolve my bench when i move later in year.
thanks.
 
i suppose putting pic up might help.
been on nights so brain not working.lathestand.jpg
 
these are two movable cabinets i built for my milling machines.
the one under the vertical mill is finished and i haven't put the drawer faces on the horizontal cabinet yet.
both have full extension drawer glides.
Dan

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Started with an old medical imaging cart:

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Sucker is big, heavy and industrial grade built.has a welded square tube "skeleton" inside it and the tops are about 1/8 plate.

How it currently sits after a bit of chopping and welding:

F42C0502-021F-433A-AC4C-9763CE42BE9F_zps0n5opyke.jpg

I added 1/4 plate "backers" under the table top where the feet bolt through and tied the plates together with welded square tube. Tried to shim the lathe for "twist", but none was evident. In all fairness, I wasn't using a machinists level so it may not be "perfect" yet.

Still to come is modular storage inside and a tool pedestal. Right now my tooling is just sitting on the cabinet bottom plate, but concept is for ball bearing slides and drawers/shelves behind the black lexan doors.

All the lathe electronics (ie: cycletrol 150, power bar, power switch, leadscrew speed controller, etc) will be inside the cabinet as well. Only the pots and switches will be outside the protection of the cabinet.

Obviously, it still a project in the works. Paint and finishing to follow...

:)
 
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I bit the bullet earlier this year and picked up a Harbor Freight 44" roller cabinet for my Smithy L/M Combo. I also added the 18" hang on cabinet. Everything is stored at the lathe now and I have plenty of room for expansion.
I cut a piece of birch plywood for the top and put three coats of Spar varnish on it.
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With the machine in place. I am tall and this puts the lathe right at a comfortable working height for me. If you are less then 6' 2" it may be too tall for you.
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Mark
 
Try a Craigslist search of, "Vidmar" in your local area before you go to too much trouble. You may find a smokin deal on what you need. They are built like tanks as far as storage cabinets go.

In fact, I am reassembling one now that I painted. It is going to fit in the open center area of my Shopfox M1112 lathe.
 
20150315_141018.jpg 20150408_150819.jpg 20150408_162603.jpg Just a little touch-up stuff left is all. I read those drawers are rated at 400lbs.
 
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This was the original stand my lathe was mounted on. I added a card file to store cutting tools and drills.

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Here it is all put back together. $300 off craigslist. There's prob 200lbs in that bottom drawer. Like I said they're tough.
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