Would YOU put a small mill and lathe on casters?

I also work out of a two car garage and do machining, welding, grinding, powdercoating, metal forming and a little woodworking in the same space. I keep my RF30 mill/drill, 9x20 lathe and Atlas 7b shaper covered when not in use. The lathe and my surface plate are the only things that are not on castors in the whole shop and with that small of a space with that much machinery just about everything needs to move when different processes are going on. And the things that don't move are the hardest to clean around and under. Any inacuracies with lathe, mill, and shaper were not due to being moved in my experience. They were from mis adjustment, bad QC, wear and lack of experience. And all have gotten better with time and experience. YMMV.
 
When I had my small lathe and mill, I had them mounted on 40" roll around toolboxes. I reinforced the tops to help alleviate twist, but my machines worked just fine. I did make some screwjacks to make the toolboxes more stable though.

I even have wheels on my PM935 mill. But it sits on the levelers when running. No wheels on my bigger (1340) lathe though.
 
Setting up a mill on casters, or free standing for that matter, can present a danger of tipping if the table is moved to an extreme position.This is particularly a problem with smaller bench type mills. The design should be checked for that possibility. I would check by moving the table to the extreme position and carefully add my body weight. If I sensed that the mill was starting to tilt, I would consider the design unsafe.

One solution is to place the casters on outriggers to increase the size of the footprint. Another would be to add some ballast to the base.
 
Setting up a mill on casters, or free standing for that matter, can present a danger of tipping if the table is moved to an extreme position.This is particularly a problem with smaller bench type mills. The design should be checked for that possibility. I would check by moving the table to the extreme position and carefully add my body weight. If I sensed that the mill was starting to tilt, I would consider the design unsafe.

One solution is to place the casters on outriggers to increase the size of the footprint. Another would be to add some ballast to the base.
+1. The table my mill came with was heavy duty(all 1.5 square tube w/1/4" steel top) and was the width of the mill table, NOT the base. I thought it overkill at the time but now I realize it makes total sense. The mill table dictates the footprint, not the base. So it makes for a totally stable base for castors with no possibility of tipping in any direction. Also makes for a good top under the side of the mill table for tools etc and big enough for a toolbox with drawer under it. I don't often move the mill but when I need to I'm so glad it's on castors or I'd be getting out the engine hoist otherwise. The castors I got are from medical equipment and use a square tube mount and were easy to make levelers.
 
Hi,

I purchased a bigger mill PM 940M CNC VS with stand and put it all on locking casters. The casters are actually mounted to 3/8" thick steel plates which together form a dolly. Since, I was putting the Mill in my basement area and had a tight fit I made the dolly to move the mill. I then took it off the dolly amd mounted the dolly to the base before lifting the mill onto the base. I also block the wheels, but it is be better to lift the mill slightly off the wheels and block it to the floor. On the casters it vibrates slightly during heavy milling load but this is probably because without blocks it is not quite level and the wheels do not touch the floor equally. Also, I had move the control cabinet from the back to the side so it could be opened from the front and this creates a bit of a lever arm load on the mill. Nevertheless, the mill is heavy enough to handle this. The control electronics and box are heavy.....maybe/almost 200#s. However, I have not found the mill to walk around during operation. I designed the dolly plates to fit and bolt to the mill base (drilled holes and tapped into the base) after the wheels were bolted to the plates... and this still allow me room to slide my auto floor jack under each end to lift it slightly for the blocking. Here is an early picture of the installation. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/attachments/pm940m-cnc-front-i520-jpg.274812/

The machine is heavy, as are the base, the 6" mill vise (~90#s) and the dolly (~95#s) . This weight may make the machine more stable!?

I found the additional height to actually be comfortable to work at. The casters and dolly plates added about 6 to 7 inches to the
height of the work surface. I also found that the cast base material is not the greatest stuff for tapping. I used 1/4-20 and found that it worked better if the tap holes are undersized.

Good luck.

Dave
 
I don't see the problem if the bases are wide enough or the casters are far enough out that the machines can't tip if one of the casters rotates under the base or an unexpected load occurs. For machines that size I doubt bolting the base to the floor will increase rigidity or accuracy enough to notice above simply bolting them to a stout base. I would suggest locking casters at a minimum and consider easily settable jacks that will lift the bases off the casters if the machine will be in place for any length of time.

To the OP - one thing to do with your limited space is to forget how it looks now and to make up some plans with a blank sheet. Where can you get stuff off the ground and up on the walls (eg. bikes, lesser used tooling)? Where can you nest tools? eg. I have 3 bikes up on hooks on my garage wall, with a 4x6 bandsaw between 2 of them and a 3t arbor press on a stand between the other two. One of my girls bikes fits between the legs of the arbor press stand. My 10t hydraulic press (less frequently used) is behind one of the other bikes on the floor. The band saw is on wheels so I can move it out if I need more space. A welding table will take up alot of space for sure, so no great ideas for that one, but you can probably fit alot of stuff underneath it (some of those welding carts?). What does the space look like? Mine is 1/2 of a 2 car garage with a car in the other half, so all of my gear is in a square C shape along the outside walls with a bike work space in the center.
 
I have very limited space in my shop. Even though I have 8" lathe and a mini mill, both of these machines are on casters. Both benches are made very rigid with thick braced tops that should eliminate twist. If these rigid benches are on an uneven floor, they will rock. When I move the bench around, I lock the casters and put a shim under the free caster. I've been looking into self leveling casters (just casters with springs) that I could make. Or make a walking beam suspension on the tailstock end, that way it would be a three point with a four point support. The legs of the bench also lean out especially the width. Adding weight such as tooling will help in keeping the center of gravity low.
 
I picked up a 5gal bucket of these castors in a yard sale. They are used in med equipment and the guy said he got them off of equipment they were scrapping at a hospital. They looked brand new. As first I was baffled by the mount but it turned out to be easier than the usual bolt on as they plug right into 1 1/4" thin wall square tube. I then took some 1" bar stock and bored it 1/2" and welded that above the square tube. Ran a piece of 1/2" all thread though it with a nut and that's my height adjuster. I can get it dead level and no matter how long the whole thing sits the wheels don't seem to get flat spots. Got them on almost everything.
 

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i have one lathe on casters, a Shenwai 1236. (and i'd do it again if the need raised)

consider this point naysayers....
almost every naval vessel over 100 feet in length, will undoubtedly have a fully functional machine shop on board.
the machines are never level when underway.

can anyone tell me how the navy machinists can make just as accurate part when underway, as you can on your perfectly leveled lathe or mill to .0005"????

the naval machining must be magic, or, possibly too much emphasis is put onto esoteric gymnastics.

the latter appears true, in my pee brain
 
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