- Joined
- Jul 10, 2013
- Messages
- 1,189
Stuart is not the only one who noticed the lathe bench.
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Safely Move A Half Ton Mill
- Thread starter joshua43214
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2014
- Messages
- 254
There's some pucker factor going on with that move! Nice job.
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2015
- Messages
- 566
Nice job Nice machine. The lathe bench is kind of shakey. Is the mill three phase?
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
- Messages
- 658
The mill is 2hp, 220v 1ph.
I am still in the middle of organizing stuff and putting the DRO on the mill. So the only running it has done so far is 2hrs of break in. I expect to start milling parts for the DRO install today.
The lathe table is extremely stout. I admit it is ugly, but I actually prefer things like this to be ugly. I will more likely to actually use it, rather than waste time protecting it's finish.
The lathe is a lightweight thing and weighs under 500lbs. The block is far more the strong enough in this application.
I will stack it up against any shop made stand or commercial stand not made from cast iron for sturdiness and vibration absorption. You can thump on the floor with a something heavy and it will not show up in the finish. It also does a great job of sucking up all the vibration that comes from the drive being entirely out of balance, and the pulleys having 1/8" of wobble.
The blocks are glues together with 3M construction adhesive. If you doubt the strength of this stuff, there are some very convincing YouTube videos of people testing it. This is not your grandfathers Liquid Nails
Originally, the table spanned a space between two walls and was wedged at either side to prevent any side-to-side tipping. It actually does not have any side-to-side movement at all where it is sitting. I do plan to add a bracket to the wall just for peace of mind though. The front to back footprint is much longer than any lathe stand this size. I am not sure I could push it over if I tried.
The top is 4x4 glued and screwed, with a granite counter top remnant bedded with non-shrinking grout.
The top is attached to the block with long 3/4" all-thread bolts. The stretchers are free-floating, and are nutted up against the bottom of the table. The bolts pass all the way up through the granite on the top. The setup provides a means for leveling the lathe. The SC8 lathe has it's bolts all running in a line down the length of the machine, so leveling requires some type of outrigger to take the twist out of the bed. Machine vibration is absorbed by the top, and any ambient vibration must pass through the bolt to reach the table, where it gets effectively dampened there. These principles are well known, and have stood the test of time in multiple industries. Ambient vibration is not such an issue in the basement, but it was a real concern when the machine was on a wooden floor.
All told, the base cost under $100.00 to build, with the most expensive part being the all-thread and nuts. The only special tool it requires is a diamond drill for the granite. It took me about 4 hours to make, not counting drilling the 8 holes in the granite.
About the only way you would get a sturdier set up would be to make it from cast iron, or put it on a poured concrete stand like they did with the old WW II SB's. A tubular stand will get you in the same level of rigidity, but will do nothing about vibration (might even make it worse), unless you fill the tubes with concrete or sand.
If the lathe weighed more, I would rotate the blocks 90degress, and attach a piece of steel plate to the top of the stack rather than let it rest on the side of the block. The original plan was to put stretchers through the blocks and build in shelving. It was easier to use half a shelving unit I had sitting around though.
I am still in the middle of organizing stuff and putting the DRO on the mill. So the only running it has done so far is 2hrs of break in. I expect to start milling parts for the DRO install today.
The lathe table is extremely stout. I admit it is ugly, but I actually prefer things like this to be ugly. I will more likely to actually use it, rather than waste time protecting it's finish.
The lathe is a lightweight thing and weighs under 500lbs. The block is far more the strong enough in this application.
I will stack it up against any shop made stand or commercial stand not made from cast iron for sturdiness and vibration absorption. You can thump on the floor with a something heavy and it will not show up in the finish. It also does a great job of sucking up all the vibration that comes from the drive being entirely out of balance, and the pulleys having 1/8" of wobble.
The blocks are glues together with 3M construction adhesive. If you doubt the strength of this stuff, there are some very convincing YouTube videos of people testing it. This is not your grandfathers Liquid Nails
Originally, the table spanned a space between two walls and was wedged at either side to prevent any side-to-side tipping. It actually does not have any side-to-side movement at all where it is sitting. I do plan to add a bracket to the wall just for peace of mind though. The front to back footprint is much longer than any lathe stand this size. I am not sure I could push it over if I tried.
The top is 4x4 glued and screwed, with a granite counter top remnant bedded with non-shrinking grout.
The top is attached to the block with long 3/4" all-thread bolts. The stretchers are free-floating, and are nutted up against the bottom of the table. The bolts pass all the way up through the granite on the top. The setup provides a means for leveling the lathe. The SC8 lathe has it's bolts all running in a line down the length of the machine, so leveling requires some type of outrigger to take the twist out of the bed. Machine vibration is absorbed by the top, and any ambient vibration must pass through the bolt to reach the table, where it gets effectively dampened there. These principles are well known, and have stood the test of time in multiple industries. Ambient vibration is not such an issue in the basement, but it was a real concern when the machine was on a wooden floor.
All told, the base cost under $100.00 to build, with the most expensive part being the all-thread and nuts. The only special tool it requires is a diamond drill for the granite. It took me about 4 hours to make, not counting drilling the 8 holes in the granite.
About the only way you would get a sturdier set up would be to make it from cast iron, or put it on a poured concrete stand like they did with the old WW II SB's. A tubular stand will get you in the same level of rigidity, but will do nothing about vibration (might even make it worse), unless you fill the tubes with concrete or sand.
If the lathe weighed more, I would rotate the blocks 90degress, and attach a piece of steel plate to the top of the stack rather than let it rest on the side of the block. The original plan was to put stretchers through the blocks and build in shelving. It was easier to use half a shelving unit I had sitting around though.
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2013
- Messages
- 1,189
Ah! 3M construction adhesive, After reading your explanation on how you built your bench, no problem.
The moving instructions for my old American pacemaker lathe instruct to use Manila rope, before straps were invented I suppose. I've never heard of the Ohio state patrol bothering anyone about tie downs unless something falls off and I've been thru plenty of their inspections.
Thanks ron
Thanks ron
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2013
- Messages
- 2,651
I'd still prefer to see some cross-bracing.