Mounting And Leveling My New G0602

Hey Don, I typically glue and screw the sheets together. It takes a lot of glue to get good coverage. You want to spread the glue evenly on both pieces then slide them around to make sure you get good adhesion. I would also seal all six sides of the wood with paint or poly. I just did a top last week for a CNC router I am building and painted it with Rustoleum Hammered paint. It came out great and looks like it is a thick metal plate. I also band the panel with some hard wood as plywood tends to chip on the edges. I have all of my smaller bench top tools mounted on tops like this. Baltic Birch plywood is the best choice as it has no voids, but it is much more expensive. I typically just use standard birch/oak or MDF for my tops.
 
Don
When you oil the headstock do so with the lathe running, the spinning bearings will suck the oil down into the bearings filling up the resivoreis and will run out the front and the rear of the spindle when full. This is normal as these have the open bearings like the old lathes such as the atlas /craftsman and others .

NOTE Also when it flowes out it may be dark in colorat first because of the factory grease, that is in the bearings will desolve and run out with the oil.
Tomh
 
Lots of good tips. I in no rush as I'm in the middle of hardwood floors. I'll read yahoo and other sources too.
Thanks,
Don
 
It surprises me that no-one ever mentions using an aquarium stand for a small bench-mounted lathe. These stands are relatively inexpensive, designed for very heavy loads and available in many different sizes and shapes.

I have two lathes and the smallest one, an Emco weighing about 400 pounds I think, is bench-mounted. It has been parked on a (free) 75 gallon aquarium stand for about 35 years.

Under the steel top, I welded some 1 inch steel straps on edge and positioned diagonally (mainly because I had the material and had no other use for it). I added two layers of particle board, glued together, to the top of the stand.

The headstock is firmly bolted down to the stand but the tailstock mounting bolts are simply snugged so that the lathe doesn't move if the top contracts/expands with humidity/temperature. And since I live in earthquake country, the stand is snugly attached to several wall studs :)
 
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