Hello there, I too have a stool and a chair, and I seem to use more now that I am geting on. Of course there would times that you won't be able to use them, it all depends what you are machining. Good luck. Jim PI hope this is the right section to post this. I'm going to need to sit down at the lathe sometimes. I will need to sit down more as time goes on. I really don't want to wait until I need help and I'd like to get ready for the future now while I'm able. Does anyone else here sit down while running the lathe? Is it more dangerous? Any hints or ideas that will make things safer and easier? My son will use the lathe also so I'd rather me be uncomfortable rather than him, so I can't really modify it too much. It will be his one day. He is the main reason I got a lathe and mill. So we can be together as much as possible with a common interest . Thanks
I often sit at my lathe and mill. The machine tools are located on benches at a convenient standing height. I purchased a stool with lever-adjustable height at Staples. It uses a pneumatic/hydraulic strut spring loaded to rise to maximum height when the seat is empty and the lever is pulled upward. To adjust my sitting height, I sit on the seat with my feet on the floor, pull the lever upward, raise myself to the height I want, and release the lever. Easy peasy.I hope this is the right section to post this. I'm going to need to sit down at the lathe sometimes. I will need to sit down more as time goes on. I really don't want to wait until I need help and I'd like to get ready for the future now while I'm able. Does anyone else here sit down while running the lathe? Is it more dangerous? Any hints or ideas that will make things safer and easier? My son will use the lathe also so I'd rather me be uncomfortable rather than him, so I can't really modify it too much. It will be his one day. He is the main reason I got a lathe and mill. So we can be together as much as possible with a common interest . Thanks
Take a look at lab chairs/stools. They are made to be able to work at 36" high lab benches and adjustable downward. The newer ones have the pneumatic adjusters and are as comfortable as office chairs. They also can come with a footrest. The startup company that I was involved with got a number of them from a used office furniture store at a veery reasonable cost.I got thinking today. I think my problem is finding a chair that would work at both the lathe and mill. Used office chairs are cheap enough so I think I'll get two eventually. I think a chair for the mill would be good if it was tall and if it had no arms and allowed me to get a leg on either side of the mill. A chair for the lathe will have to be shorter and maybe narrower to fit between the stands uprights. My fear is that the chair could slide out from under me when I lean causing me to stick my face in the wrong place.. Maybe some steel plate down low and wheels that don't roll as easily would help to make me feel more stable. For now I'm not too bad imo so a stool and stall mat (heavy rubber) should help and also be large enough to roll around on when a chair is needed, without dropping off an edge. Sounds like a plan. Thanks again.
A lathe really requires you to be able to look over the top and straight down onto the work.
The two pedestal machine pictured above is not designed for sitting, it just has cabinets to replace the legs. A lathe intended for sitting at will be very low to the ground, or be a table top machine like a mini-lathe or jewelers/watchmakers lathe. If you watch someone use a watchmakers lathe, they work with the spindle below the sternum when sitting, they either have no cross slide at all and are used like a wood lathe, or have very small wheels on the carriage.
I would not operate an engine lathe sitting unless I had some really compelling reason (like being wheel chair bound). The wheel can do serious injury and pull you inexorably into the work and you might not be able to reach the emergency stop when sitting.
If you are really committed to sitting, I would pull the speed handles off the carriage and mount a camera linked to a tablet over the work. I am sure there are plenty of sensible things that out wheel chair bound brethren do that could make this safe and fun.
Honestly, if you can stand, you should stand to get things going, then sit to one side on a tall stool. Stools give you a place to rest, occupy minimal floor space, require less effort to stand up from, and work as a mini work surface in a pinch.