Lathe stand upgrades

[SawDustB]

I recently acquired an older Rockwell Beaver lathe from my dad. It hasn't seen a lot of use recently, and there was some rust to take care of. I fixed up the electrical on it and put a new switch and cord in. Here's where I started:

I realized that the stand is almost 5 feet long, but the space I have for it is too small. The top is 4 feet though, so I decided to perform some surgery on it. I started by removing the lathe from it.

Next I used a cold cutting saw to shorten the cross members in the stand. I had to drill new holes, but I got it fit back together. It also needed a coat of rust paint.

I've reassembled it tonight so that I can make sure it all fits properly. Here's where it is now.

Next up I'll be adding some storage to the stand. I'm planning to pick up some plywood tomorrow. Currently my plan is to put a drawer below the motor, and three drawers in the middle. The right side will be where I put my grinder.

I want to figure out the mobility for the lathe. There are some options for retractable casters, but I don't know how well they'll work on it. I need to be able to move it easily, and it's going to be too heavy to drag around.

[RichardA]

Years ago, I added sand bags along the bottom, to hold down on vibration.  I don't think the lifeguards noticed the missing sand.

[SawDustB]

26 minutes ago, RichardA said:

Years ago, I added sand bags along the bottom, to hold down on vibration.  I don't think the lifeguards noticed the missing sand.

That's part of my thinking with adding the storage. I figure I'll probably add 75-100 pounds between the plywood and tools. If it's not enough, I can always add some weight to the bottom. It's tricky to figure out making it heavier while also keeping it mobile.

[Chestnut]

You just gave me an awesome idea by accident, so thanks.

I'm going to assemble the stand for my drum sander that i never assembled and put my new lathe on that. Or i suppose i could put my drum sander some where else and my lathe where the sander is..... but i like the stand idea better.

[SawDustB]

12 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

You just gave me an awesome idea by accident, so thanks.

I'm going to assemble the stand for my drum sander that i never assembled and put my new lathe on that. Or i suppose i could put my drum sander some where else and my lathe where the sander is..... but i like the stand idea better.

Awesome, glad I could help. Your new lathe is at least a little easier since it doesn't have a belt and motor hanging down below it. Fitting something new in my shop always feels like a game of Tetris.

[Chestnut]

20 minutes ago, SawDustB said:

Fitting something new in my shop always feels like a game of Tetris.

Yeah but the blocks are moving a LOT slower.... well most of the time i hope.

[SawDustB]

I picked up a couple of sheets of plywood yesterday to get started on this, a 1/2 and 3/4 of Baltic birch. As usual, I wrestled the incredibly awkward sheets and got them cut down. I sized the lower shelf and rough cut some of the other pieces, then decided to sand and prefinish them. I'm using Enduro var, since that's what I've got around.

I think I've basically got it figured out. There's room for 4 drawers, or 3 if I make one deeper. I'm going with the workbench style casters, and it should be possible to mount them underneath so they won't stick out.

I may have also ordered a pen mandrel today, and I'm planning to pick up a couple of kits this week. I need something to look forward to making after I get this done.

[SawDustB]

I got a couple of hours in and fit in some of the plywood panels. They're going to be screwed in through the metal legs, but I'm not doing that until the end. I have a couple more dividers to add, as well as fitting the back.

The bottom plywood pieces are so that I have somewhere to attach my casters. I eventually settled on the work bench casters that retract so the lathe will be sitting directly in the floor when turning. I'm planning to mount them facing in, to minimize the size of the stand.

I did drill a hole through the tab on each, as a fairly common modification seems to be to link the two sides together for easier lifting of each end. I figure it's a lot easier to do now, before they're installed.

[Mark J]

I like your caster idea.  Here's a couple of thoughts for your consideration.

If you have the space, position the lathe so you can work from the backside (poor man's reverse), or at least get access to the back for cleaning, so you don't have to move it as often.

 I would make my drawers so that they are easily removed (just pull out).  No matter how well they close they will gather up dust and chips, so might as well make it easy to empty and clean.  

[SawDustB]

11 hours ago, Mark J said:

I like your caster idea.  Here's a couple of thoughts for your consideration.

If you have the space, position the lathe so you can work from the backside (poor man's reverse), or at least get access to the back for cleaning, so you don't have to move it as often.

 I would make my drawers so that they are easily removed (just pull out).  No matter how well they close they will gather up dust and chips, so might as well make it easy to empty and clean.  

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't have room to leave the lathe set up, so I'll be probably moving it out to the middle of the garage to use it. If I end up using it more, it will still probably have to be out in the open anyway. I'm out of wall space except for a parking spot in the corner.

Good call on the drawers. I was debating how to build them, but based on that I may just stick them on wooden runners. Right now I'd like to try making them with angled box joints. We'll see how my test piece turns out.

[Coop]

I did this to my scroll saw base. 

 

 

 

 

[SawDustB]

I now have wheels! I have all the plywood in the picture attached, so the basic structure is there. I bolted through the plywood and stand for anything load bearing, and the rest is screwed through the metal and into wood. The casters are awesome - the lathe moves in any direction, and it's very easy to push around.

I'm not sure how to space out the drawers. There's about 44" between the stand uprights. I was going to put the grinder on the right side which needs at least 15", and the motor on the left needs at least 10". I was going to use 3/4" ply for the dividers, so I would be left with a maximum of 17 1/2", so the interior of any drawer would be about 15 1/2" max, likely less. Since the lathe chisels are over 16" long, that doesn't work.

I'm contemplating doing one wide drawer at the bottom that would be around 24" inside. That should allow for the current lathe tools and possibly some future ones. But that means I can't go with the simple construction I was thinking.

[Mark J]

I'm not following your plan for placing the grinder.  Is it going under the lathe?

The tools you have in hand may be 16", but longer tools are common.  I have some that are 25".  And these are nothing special.

An alternative approach is to go with un-handled tools and separate handles.  You then switch out one tool for another in the same handle.  (It doesn't hurt to have a couple of handles for two tools you commonly use).  The advantage here is that each component is much shorter and easy to store, but even then these full size handles are around 17".

[SawDustB]

25 minutes ago, Mark J said:

I'm not following your plan for placing the grinder.  Is it going under the lathe?

The tools you have in hand may be 16", but longer tools are common.  I have some that are 25".  And these are nothing special.

An alternative approach is to go with un-handled tools and separate handles.  You then switch out one tool for another in the same handle.  (It doesn't hurt to have a couple of handles for two tools you commonly use).  The advantage here is that each component is much shorter and easy to store, but even then these full size handles are around 17".

Yes, the original plan was to place the grinder on the shelf underneath at the right side. If I was going to do a quick touch up, I could do that without moving it, or I could lift it out onto another surface if I was going to do a lot of grinding. I haven't got anywhere else for it to be permanently. Right now it's living in a box on the shelf, which is kind of useless. I thought about trying to use brackets that would lift it out and up, but that seems like it would be complicated.

I realize that lots of tools are quite long for the lathe. I might try to make at least one drawer that's big enough for longer tools, but my main concern right now is accommodating what I have. I also want room for a chuck, the face plate, etc to live with the lathe. 

[SawDustB]

I just looked at it again. If I made the bottom drawer span across the motor portion and the middle, it would be 25 1/4" inside, assuming I left 16" for the grinder. That would be plenty for my current tools, and allow for some larger ones later. I can probably still have a couple narrower drawers above for face plates, etc.

[Mark J]

Well you have to work within your space realities.  Placing the grinder underneath is as good as it gets.  Why not mount it to a board with stout handles so it would at least be easy to take out and set up.  

You probably know this, but I gotta mention that grinders produce a lot of nasty metal and stone dust.  And you need freedom to swing your tools while still being able to watch the edge form.  For sure give it a try, but I'm thinking that using a grinder tucked into a low shelf is not going to be a source of continuing happiness.

Another tool storage option you might consider for longer tools is vertically orieted PVC tubes on the ends of your bench.  You'd need another 3 or 4 inches of clearance where you park the lathe, though.  I'm guessing you could put 4-6 tubes on an end and I'd tilt them 20* top toward the operator.  That would also be a useful place to put the tools your working with.

[SawDustB]

3 hours ago, Mark J said:

Well you have to work within your space realities.  Placing the grinder underneath is as good as it gets.  Why not mount it to a board with stout handles so it would at least be easy to take out and set up.  

You probably know this, but I gotta mention that grinders produce a lot of nasty metal and stone dust.  And you need freedom to swing your tools while still being able to watch the edge form.  For sure give it a try, but I'm thinking that using a grinder tucked into a low shelf is not going to be a source of continuing happiness.

Another tool storage option you might consider for longer tools is vertically orieted PVC tubes on the ends of your bench.  You'd need another 3 or 4 inches of clearance where you park the lathe, though.  I'm guessing you could put 4-6 tubes on an end and I'd tilt them 20* top toward the operator.  That would also be a useful place to put the tools your working with.

I appreciate you putting some thought into this. My total turning experience at this point is about 3 hours, so I'm sure whatever I do there will be some cursing about it later. The grinder is way less than ideal there, but I was thinking of making it easy to pull out and clamp to a higher surface. I'm aware of the mess from it, although I thought maybe using it enclosed would help contain it. Whatever I do will still be a lot better than what I have for it now.

I've seen the PVC tool storage on some other stands. I might still do that, no matter what I do underneath. I do want a spot for them to be stored away, since I have frequent visits from my small daughters in the garage. My youngest especially has a knack for grabbing whatever is dangerous.

[legenddc]

Maybe do a kitchen mixer lift on the right side for the grinder so it is pulled up to a better height?

[SawDustB]

1 hour ago, legenddc said:

Maybe do a kitchen mixer lift on the right side for the grinder so it is pulled up to a better height?

That's a cool idea. I'm not sure if it will fit, but definitely worth looking into.

EDIT: unfortunately, looks like it won't fit. The ones I looked at require at least 18" of height, and I only have 13.5". But maybe I can MacGyver something...

[SawDustB]

I've proceeded into making drawers, and I'm figuring it out as I go. There will be two wide drawers that are each about 2 1/4" deep inside, with a divider above. To the right of the motor will probably be one more deeper drawer. I put together the wide drawers tonight. Just glue and pin nails for now, but I'll come back and reinforce each corner with a couple dowels. I'll add angled fronts out of hardwood later to clean up the look.

The right side of the setup block is where the vertical divider ends up. I'll likely just use 1/2" ply for it, since it's not supporting much. There's just enough room for the motor (a few inches clearance) with this configuration. Hopefully I won't regret it later when I'm changing the belt position.

[SawDustB]

I've got the internal partitions installed, and the drawer slides are in. There's not a lot of extra clearance around the motor, but it fits in there just fine. The existing tools I have for the lathe fit in the smaller top drawer along with the accessories, leaving the bottom drawer for future purchases. I haven't decided if I'll put in the top drawer to the right of the motor or not. It might work just as well to have a door on it.

I'm still not sure what's the best idea for the grinder. I came up with a way to have it swing up to working height, but it requires its weight to be suspended upside down on a hinge when not in use. For now I might just defer doing anything beyond the open cubby.

Now I just need to figure out how to do a 3" high angled rip cut to make the drawer fronts. This is when I really wish I had a band saw. Right now I'm thinking I'll go as high as I can with the table saw and then finish with a hand saw and plane.

[..Kev]

1 hour ago, SawDustB said:

 

I'm still not sure what's the best idea for the grinder. I came up with a way to have it swing up to working height, but it requires its weight to be suspended upside down on a hinge when not in use. For now I might just defer doing anything beyond the open cubby.

 

Looking sharp!

Look into "Kitchen Aid" lift for the grinder.  They're used to store Kitchen Aid mixers in a kitchen cabinet.  I used one in my OF table for my spindle sander and it works great to get the sander up to a working height.  I can hunt a link if you need it...  I bought mine at Lowes.

 

[SawDustB]

8 hours ago, ..Kev said:

Looking sharp!

Look into "Kitchen Aid" lift for the grinder.  They're used to store Kitchen Aid mixers in a kitchen cabinet.  I used one in my OF table for my spindle sander and it works great to get the sander up to a working height.  I can hunt a link if you need it...  I bought mine at Lowes.

 

Thanks Kev. Someone had suggested it before so I looked into it a bit. The space I have under the lathe (about 13 1/2" high and 12" deep) is too small for any of the mixer lifts I looked up. Most of them seem to want a depth of 18", which makes sense since that matches up with the mixers. I think I looked at 3 different ones and they were all similar specs.

[Mark J]

Of course, now that you've seen all the mixer lift designs it's time to engineer and build your own grinder lift !

Looking at your photo, consider building an open top drawer or pull out shelf for the grinder, then placing the grinder on 3/4" board/tray with stout handles.  This way you pull out the grinder to clear the bench and it's easier to lift and carry it to another location.  

If you don't have a handy "another location" I have and can recommend both/either the Kreg and Portamate folding workbenches.

I just don't think knealing down and using the grinder is going to work for you very well, even if you were to raise it up a foot from its current position.  

[SawDustB]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

Of course, now that you've seen all the mixer lift designs it's time to engineer and build your own grinder lift !

Looking at your photo, consider building an open top drawer or pull out shelf for the grinder, then placing the grinder on 3/4" board/tray with stout handles.  This way you pull out the grinder to clear the bench and it's easier to lift and carry it to another location.  

If you don't have a handy "another location" I have and can recommend both/either the Kreg and Portamate folding workbenches.

I just don't think knealing down and using the grinder is going to work for you very well, even if you were to raise it up a foot from its current position.  

I agree with you on using the grinder. I've got a workmate that is in theory temporary work surface in my shop, and in practice is usually always out and holding either project parts or a temporary tool setup. I'll see if I can draw what I'm thinking in sketch up, since I'll have to do that anyway to check if it works. If I don't, I'll likely just bolt it to a board with handles that I can slide out and put on the work mate (or maybe on the ways of the lathe...?).