# Finally Got her on stilts!



## rdfoster (Jul 30, 2013)

I just got my hoist back from my son so I could raise my PM1236 to my height. Was a piece of cake with the hoist and the bases prepared. I still have to fasten it to the concrete floor and level it but at least I got the hard part done.


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## pineyfolks (Jul 30, 2013)

Looks good! Nothing worse than having to be bent over while working, your back will thank you. Now you just need to modify your foot brake.


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## Richard King (Jul 30, 2013)

Does She have a name and how tall are you?  Is she short?


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## rdfoster (Jul 30, 2013)

No, she doesn't have a name except when something goes wrong and I can't say what it might be here on the forum. My wife has to name almost everything but I can be satisfied by referring to my lathe as a PM1236. 
Yes she is too short just like my wife but at least I can do something about my lathe. I try to get my wife to were high heels but the highest she will wear is about 1" heels. She won't climb a ladder either though she would fly my plane at 6 or 8 thousand feet.

What would be a good way to modify the brake?

Thanks for your help:

Bob


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## pineyfolks (Jul 30, 2013)

Maybe you could make another brake pedal and locate it below on the risers you made and attach the two with some kind of linkage on each end. That way you don't have to modify your new lathe.


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## Ray C (Jul 30, 2013)

Nice hunky pieces of tube steel there!  As far as the brake is concerned, is really all that bad with it a few inches higher up?  Of course, it's a personal choice but, it wouldn't bother me leaving where it is now as long as it still functions...

Ray


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## Richard King (Jul 30, 2013)

Ray if he makes any changes to it, will his warranty still be OK?  I have seen clauses in some manuals where it says any alterations will void the warranty.  Maybe lift your leg higher, good exercise   :whistle:


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## Ray C (Jul 30, 2013)

No, no warranty problems except for the left base if he cuts a hole through the bottom of it to pass some linkage through.  That would be difficult because the base has a heavy strut right there.  -Way too much trouble.  The unit otherwise would still be under warranty.

Ray




Richard King said:


> Ray if he makes any changes to it, will his warranty still be OK?  I have seen clauses in some manuals where it says any alterations will void the warranty.  Maybe lift your leg higher, good exercise   :whistle:


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## pineyfolks (Jul 31, 2013)

I was thinking maybe a couple heim joints connected only to the original pedal on each end and building a new pedal attached to his tubing risers. I wouldn't modify it so it couldn't be put back to its original condition. There may be some easy points of attachment on the pedal already,  It just looked like a shin buster at the current height but maybe not. Depends if your comfortable with it there.


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## ortho (Jul 31, 2013)

When I first saw your thread entitled "Finally Got her on stilts!", I somehow envisioned that you were setting your house on stilts.  )

http://www.fema.gov/photolibrary/photo_details.do?id=44202  I grew up on Texas coast and knew some friends who lived in houses on stilts.

Have fun with your new lathe.

---Joe


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## Alphawolf45 (Aug 1, 2013)

I knew instantly what the title meant. I have several of my machines raised. My full sized manual vertical mill is on an 11 inch high steel base.. Machines are built for smaller fellows.


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## mskobier (Aug 1, 2013)

Looks great! Should be plenty solid. I have a small lathe I have thought about building a platform to make it a few inches higher. Food for thought!

Mitch


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## Bill C. (Aug 2, 2013)

rdfoster said:


> I just got my hoist back from my son so I could raise my PM1236 to my height. Was a piece of cake with the hoist and the bases prepared. I still have to fasten it to the concrete floor and level it but at least I got the hard part done.
> View attachment 58137
> View attachment 58138


I like it.  One question, are you planning on painting the bare tubing or is there a clear sealer already on them.  I like the height too.  So many times when I was working in the shops the machines were different heights. Never knew what the engineers were thinking when they designed controls. At GE we had several women machinist as well some men under 6 feet tall.  At 6 feet I had to stretch to reach the top of B-port mills to tighten the draw bar for the collects.  I like the foot brake I wish that was a standard on all machines.


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## rdfoster (Aug 2, 2013)

Bill: The "stilts" are already painted. I had some Lycoming engine paint left over from when I painted the engine on my Tripacer N3739A. I don't have the plane any more so thought I would use it up before it went bad. I think lathes made for the US market should all be made for our height. I'm not real tall 6ft but most men and a few women are around that height.
I like it where it is now. I just have to fasten it to the floor and level it now.

Bob


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## Ray C (Aug 2, 2013)

Bob,

Yes, I like those big hunky pieces of tube stock and also, when I made my bench, I spent a good bit of time calculating heights that would be comfortable for me. There was a big improvement in my personal comfort when it was all said and done... -A very worthwhile effort indeed.

Also, I want to point out, there is much more involved than just leveling the lathe with a spirit level. This has been covered many times here are there are some articles that cover the generally accepted procedures. In a nutshell, folks tend to level the lathe to some reasonable degree which may involve just enough "un-leveling" to cause the catch pan to drain properly. After that, there are techniques to make leg shimming adjustments until the lathe is cutting perfectly. Please lookup those articles and save yourself a whole lot of time and frustration...


Ray

PS: You'rd doing nice work. Keep it up...


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