Mounting A Bench Lathe

R

Ray73

Registered
Registered
Joined
Jul 1, 2015
Messages
24
How beneficial would it be to mount a bench top type lathe to something like a piece of large I-beam or some other type of flat metal to make it more rigid? or are they pretty much good enough mounted to something like a sturdy wooden bench? I was thinking of the I-beam because I have a piece laying around.

Ray
 
If you have a piece of beam laying around I would say go for it. Anything that adds some mass as well as the rigidity of an I-beam can only help, in my opinion anyways.

-frank
 
What size of a bench top lathe are we talking about?

Chuck the grumpy old guy
 
If you mount a small Bench lathe on an I-beam and there is any gap under the bed and you pull it down to the I-beam you will twist your lathe. You may be able to lay the holes out and possibly use some type of epoxy as a filler under the feet of the lathe. Once it's hardened you should be able to snug it up correctly with no stress on your machine. I'm no expert, just throwing my 2 cents in. Post some pics of what you're working with.
 
francist said:
If you have a piece of beam laying around I would say go for it. Anything that adds some mass as well as the rigidity of an I-beam can only help, in my opinion anyways.

-frank
Click to expand...

+1

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker
 
Ray73 said:
How beneficial would it be to mount a bench top type lathe to something like a piece of large I-beam or some other type of flat metal to make it more rigid? or are they pretty much good enough mounted to something like a sturdy wooden bench? I was thinking of the I-beam because I have a piece laying around.

Ray
Click to expand...
Hi, Ray

As long as your bench is really sturdy, flat and level you should have no problem.

I bolted mine through the top with a plastic tray between the lathe and bench top to contain oil and swarf, then built a box cover over it to protect it when not in use (which also serves as an additional useable surface).

It has not given me any trouble at all.

Regards,

Ted

100_2140.JPG 100_2141.JPG
 
Last edited:
pineyfolks said:
If you mount a small Bench lathe on an I-beam and there is any gap under the bed and you pull it down to the I-beam you will twist your lathe. You may be able to lay the holes out and possibly use some type of epoxy as a filler under the feet of the lathe. Once it's hardened you should be able to snug it up correctly with no stress on your machine. I'm no expert, just throwing my 2 cents in. Post some pics of what you're working with.
Click to expand...
I hadn't thought of that issue. Thanks for the heads-up on that one.
 
There was a long thread on the subject on chipmaker.ru (russian language).
Also on other rigidity and stability issues for chinese lathes and clones.

Lot of engineers taking measurements and characteristics etc..
Overall conclusion is that best base is rectangular pipe, something like 3"x5" profile.
And that it is better then beam etc..

And yes, cast iron implantation in cavity where motor resides yields most dramatic results.
People are claiming taking more then 0.1" at once. In steel!
4 mayor things considered are:
1) roller bearings
2) implantation
3) stifenning ribs
4) rectangular pipe for the base

Just my 2 cents.
 
I didn't see whether you were going to mount the beam on a work bench or make a stand. If making a stand, weld four legs to the beam and add leveling feet (bolts and nuts) to the bottom. Then you could drill and tap the lathe mounting feet and use longer than necessary bolts. Sandwich the lathe mounts between two nuts and use that arrangement for your fine adjusting and truing. That way you take the uneven surface of the beam out of the equation. Once trued, you can always pour the feet in epoxy grout for added insurance.

I've had my 12" Atlas mounted to a double layer of plywood since 1985. It works but I have to be careful, and I've planned to build a steel mount for it for decades. I would use the beam with a few considerations mentioned above.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top