Old Lathe, New Stand, What To Do For Storage?

[great white]

Please keep in mind when reading this, I am about as noob as you can get to machining so please be gentle.

I recently cut down and old endoscopy cart for my 10" atlas.

Started with this:



ended with this:



Problem is, now I have so much storage available I'm not sure what to do with it all.

I would like to take the big space behind the lathe:



And make quick accessible "pedestal style" storage for tooling. Something along the lines of these:





Keeping in mind I only do the most basic of jobs on my lathe, I was thinking of using something like those to hold my lathe wrenches and chuck keys. But I'm at a loss as to what else would be a good idea to store there.

Obviously, from the pictures, collets are typically stored there. I just don't think I will use them enough to leave them out there.

My extra chucks and heavier/bulkier items will go inside the stand on shelves and in drawers.

Any ideas as to what would be beneficial for a raw beginner to have quickly accessible?

 

[francist]

Well, tool holders come to mind right off the bat, as well as oils (cutting as well as lube), I'm always reaching for those, as well as a pair of pliers for pulling stringy chips clear. Personally I tend to relish any new open space though -- in time it does tend to fill up but if I leave it open at the beginning it fills with the things I really do use. And it always seems you can never have too many adjustable or goose-neck lights around the machine either.

-frank

 

[David S]

I have a fairly small space. Here is a picture of what I have. To the far right are various small chucks, live and dead centres, chuck keys and allen wrenches for various adjustments. Directly behind are a bunch of quick change tool holders.



David

 

[great white]

Oils and brushes are a good idea I hadn't thought of.

 

[T Bredehoft]

I was pleased to find my new 6 x 24 Clausing came with a perforated steel rack on the back of the bench the lathe was installed on.

Its coming off soon, to be replaced by a wooden one, the steel, with tools in it rattles badly, noisily. Even empty it vibrates. The wooden one will be of a soft wood, perhaps with felt around the holes to dampen the vibrations.

 

[francist]

Just remember to not put anything right behind the machine that you'll be tempted to reach for when it's running. Bad things can happen reaching over the spinning part -- try to keep things off to the tailstock end so you're less likely to get caught.

-frank

 

[Hawkeye]

My Storebro lathe had the same kind of space behind the bed on the cabinet. (Picture taken while the lathe was waiting to go through the door into the shop.)


I found a wooden shelf unit at Value Village that I mounted. It came up about 3' above the cabinet and was 4' long. No pictures of the whole thing, but you can see a bit of it here. It's only about 3 1/2" deep, but had plenty of shelf space. And Frank's right. Plan what goes there for safety reasons. I've never reached behind while the lathe was running. That 10 1/2" chuck is a meat grinder. Note the chip tray on the bottom shelf.

 

[middle.road]

I would strongly recommend putting blocks under your cabinet to level the lathe and to get it off the casters. With the vibrations
of the lathe running they could possibly swivel on you at the worst possible moment.
The cabinet _will_ fill up over the years as you acquire more items.
I too modified a sheet metal cabinet for my Logan, and the empty spaces do fill up over time.

_Dan

 

[great white]

I would strongly recommend putting blocks under your cabinet to level the lathe and to get it off the casters. With the vibrations
of the lathe running they could possibly swivel on you at the worst possible moment.
The cabinet _will_ fill up over the years as you acquire more items.
I too modified a sheet metal cabinet for my Logan, and the empty spaces do fill up over time.

_Dan

No worries, those suckers are locked in place. Couldn't even drag them out of position when I purposely tried. They need to be unlocked. Its probably because they are a rubber like tire for use in a hospital and holding medical diagnostic equipment in place.