Lieutenant Lathe


collinb

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7 hours ago, K Cooper said:

A friend of mine that got into turning said that the lathe itself is only the the opening of that rabbit hole. 

That's what I'm afraid of. It's exactly why I've avoided getting one.

**

In a garage shop storage is critical. I'm going to have to come up with a way to flip it vertical for rolling storage.

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That is a nice find for $15. I don't mean to sound negative, but to my eye, looking at the picture, that hole doesn't look like 7/8". Are you sure? Also, the bed ways don't look very rigid. I think, like some other similar lathes of that era, they were made with the intent that they be mounted to a sturdy rigid base. Just the entry way to the rabbit hole. :) Again. Nice find. Have fun.

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9 minutes ago, Wimayo said:

That is a nice find for $15. I don't mean to sound negative, but to my eye, looking at the picture, that hole doesn't look like 7/8". Are you sure? Also, the bed ways don't look very rigid. I think, like some other similar lathes of that era, they were made with the intent that they be mounted to a sturdy rigid base. Just the entry way to the rabbit hole. :) Again. Nice find. Have fun.

I measured. It is. Seems that 7/8" was a common spec a few decades ago.

Yes, it will be mounted on a plank.

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I think you will find that you need more than just a plank as it will tend to twist and bounce around under use. I think you will need to mount it on a sturdy bench. If you don't want it to be permanently mounted, you could mount it on the plank and then clamp it to a bench top when in use.

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4 minutes ago, Wimayo said:

I think you will find that you need more than just a plank as it will tend to twist and bounce around under use. I think you will need to mount it on a sturdy bench. If you don't want it to be permanently mounted, you could mount it on the plank and then clamp it to a bench top when in use.

Planning on it. The plank will be its base so that I can flip it up vertically on a hinge. When lowered it will be clamped to benches. A custom solution under it and a workmate on the other end.  Plus a couple clamps. Lock the wheels and go.

lathebench.jpg

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I think you will want to do some serious research on your base design.  My recollection from the short time I owned a lathe is that everything about the lathe needs to be very rigid and they shouldn't be on casters because when you first mount a piece and start turning it, it is going to have an unbalanced weight to it and it is going to create a lot of vibration to the whole machine if there is any play to your setup.   I even had a hard time finding an adequate spot on my garage floor were it would sit nice and level. 

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9 hours ago, Chet said:

I think you will want to do some serious research on your base design.  My recollection from the short time I owned a lathe is that everything about the lathe needs to be very rigid and they shouldn't be on casters because when you first mount a piece and start turning it, it is going to have an unbalanced weight to it and it is going to create a lot of vibration to the whole machine if there is any play to your setup.   I even had a hard time finding an adequate spot on my garage floor were it would sit nice and level. 

+1

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