Would YOU put a small mill and lathe on casters?

erikmannie

H-M Supporter - Sustaining Member
H-M Platinum Supporter
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Messages
4,392
I joined this forum because I just bought a Precision Matthews PM-25MV with DRO and PM-1030V with DRO. I also bought the stands for these machines from Precision Matthews.

My shop is a 2 car garage that I have all to myself, but it was already almost full before I bought these machines. It already has a bicycle repair area and six welding carts, among other things.

I am always moving most of the welding carts off into the bicycle repair area when I work at my welding table. I only bring the welding carts that I will use for that task.

I will be putting my welding table and two workbenches on casters, but I sure am reluctant to put the mill and lathe on casters. I Googled the matter, and it led me to a thread on this forum which shows that it can surely be done. I wanted to ask whomever is willing to chime in if they would do it. I am really leaning toward putting the machines in a prime spot, leveling them and leaving them there for their entire life.

It seems to me that one would have to check the level after moving the cart back to it's spot.

I should also point out that I am just starting out in machining. I am signed up for three classes that start in a few months. The closest training that I have had is bicycle frame building where we used a Bridgeport knee mill and a large horizontal mill. The instructor let us watch, but we were pretty much forbidden to touch the milling machines.

I will be using the machines to make parts for electric bicycles. It sounds like I should do my MIG and stick welding, grinding, and torch cutting as far away from the machines as I can.
 
Welcome to the HM forum group!


I can appreciate the advantages of wheels on some shop tools but it is probably not a good idea on a lathe or mill.
Back in WWII, lathes were bonded to the floor with cement for rigidity and accuracy. Also any tendency for a machine
move around during operation would be a safety hazard. It's best to find a spot for your machines and leave it at that.

Good luck on your bicycle endeavors. It sounds like you are well on your way to an interesting career.
 
WElcome, Yes I would highly recommend that you don't put lathes and mills on casters. If you absolutely have to move them make the casters so that you can wind them up an down and after each move you have to resettle the machine so it is flat and square.

The only exception would be in the case of mini machines if you set them on a very rigid base and square them up then the you can move them about base and all, but larger machines will,be a problem
 
I have a small P&W horizontal on a very sturdy metal cart with casters that lock and I have not had any issues.
 
My lathe and mill are on Carrymaster leveling casters and I actually prefer it this way. I can easily move them by myself to clean or work on them if needed but they are rock solid once the wheels are off the ground. The mill need not be level; just stable. The lathe is re-leveled after every move (admittedly not that often) and checked every 6 months as part of my routine maintenance. I also re-level it after doing something heavy or if the work was out of balance. Lathes do not stay level; even one that is permanently mounted needs to be re-leveled from time to time. In a crowded shop, mobility can be an important option.
 
As mentioned, casters are not ideal and accuracy will suffer. If the reduced accuracy will not affect your needs then the answer is easy.
If Mobility is required, and since you have welding capability already, I would build a VERY stiff cart with retractable casters so that the machine is sitting solid during use. If you think your design is stiff enough, double the strength and you might be close to stiff enough. Look at how stiff the machine looks, The machine is no where near stiff enough and will flex in use. Your base needs to be even stiffer. The bases made by the manufacturer are stiff enough when permanently mounted and leveled.
If you make that stand with just 3 points of contact it will always sit solid on all 3 points. If you have 4 or more contact points then it will always be rocking due to slight unevenness in the floor. The very best concrete work is not flat. You can make the cart with 4 casters for better stability while moving it around as long as the casters are retractable so that the machine is resting on 3 points for use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jcp
... If you make that stand with just 3 points of contact it will always sit solid on all 3 points. If you have 4 or more contact points then it will always be rocking due to slight unevenness in the floor. The very best concrete work is not flat. You can make the cart with 4 casters for better stability while moving it around as long as the casters are retractable so that the machine is resting on 3 points for use.
This is exactly what I did for my PM935 mill for these same reasons.

For my Webb TSL-800 lathe, I compromised because it's got six leveling points. I used four leveling castors and two machine leveling pads.
 
I have the PM30-MV on casters and the PM1228VF-LB on 4x4's and metal shims. The mill works OK on most stuff but is not as rigid/ vibration proof as I would like. I have not settled on final shop arraignment so it will stay on 4" casters from Lowes. The PM stand is bolted to a reinforced piece of Advantech flooring as it is more dense than plywood. Go to Frank Hoose
and look at how he solves that problem. I am making the blocks now for my mill. Frank has a whole lot of info on the 1228 that will be the same as yours.

On the lathe, there are plenty of people who mount on mobile stands or tool boxes. There are a zillion articles and videos on how to mount and level a lathe. Bottom line is if you only work on small items you can get by with it. On longer items you start to get taper and bad cuts. A lathe must be straight/level/plumb across the bed to be accurate. With that in mind, I placed the lathe on wood blocks and shimmed it until a Starret 98-6 level said good. The lathe can always be moved later if needed. Your space and money will dictate your choices as did mine.

Building a drop down stand as suggested above is an alternative. Again if you are working a long piece you will have to re level after moving.

Good luck and hope you enjoy you new machines!!! Charles
 
I had a Grizzly mill drill mounted on casters and never had a problem with accuracy. Mine was set on a piece of 1/2" plate steel that was bolted to an angle iron frame. The base had 1/2"-13 nuts welded to it in the corners with carriage bolts running to the floor. Pretty simple to crank up on the carriage bolts, roll it around, and run the bolts back down to take the weight off the casters.

No experience with a lathe on casters. I have moved them with an engine hoist or gantry crane a number of times. I check level after a move, then again in a week or so. If you were on casters and had leveling feet, seems like it'd be the same gig. If your work was within a few inches of the head stock, any twist in the bed would be pretty minimal, depends on the accuracy you are looking for.

Bruce
 
Twist in a lathe bed also effects how the carriage bears on the ways, it would tend to wear unevenly, not a good thing! For small lathes that are mounted to a bench on three points, this is not a problem, but lathes with four or more mounting points it is a problem, ideally lathes with four or more mounting points should be bolted to the floor and carefully leveled crosswise if mounted on four points, and leveled on both lengthwise and crosswise if more than four points to avoid a droop or hump in the middle of the bed. Also, a Starrett # 98 level is nowhere near sensitive enough for precision machinery leveling, being graduated in .005" per foot per graduation. Levels for precision leveling are graduated .0005" per foot, or even finer. A better approach for small lathes mounted on four points might be use of the two collar method of eliminating taper.
 
Back
Top