# Distance Between Machines ?



## oldhank60 (Sep 17, 2016)

what would be a good  safe distance from one machine to the next is you are dealing limited space,   like a 1340gt lathe is along wall and behind  you is a pm 935TV,     I don't have that big of a shop, and I want to be able to work on  either machine without backing up and hitting  the other machine, especially if someone else is running other machine?  safety first


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## JimDawson (Sep 17, 2016)

My mill and lathe are facing each other, about 39 inches between the handles.  Seems to be plenty of room.


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## Bamban (Sep 17, 2016)

I arranged mine diagonally, putting the back of the mill sort-of in the corner of the garage. The lathe is facing the mill, instead of squared up to it, it was pushed to the right so when I need to use the lathe I crank the mill table to the left and to the back near the column. This is the only way I can run the lathe.The center of the mill is at the end of the TS side of the lathe, just enough room to comfortably run the mill.

They are close to each other, yet still safely accessible.


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## Bob Korves (Sep 17, 2016)

Also consider how you will handle work that is larger than the machine envelopes and how longer and larger work might be supported.  I have had 20 foot long rods (1/4" diameter!) in my 13x40 lathe for left hand threading, and various shafts sticking out the left end of the lathe spindle for several feet, long shafts on the mill table as well.  I currently have the mill and the lathe side by side in my shop, in line fairly close together, and the lathe work sticking out out of the headstock can be contained in a bushing in the mill vise and I have run long shafts from the mill into the lathe bore for making keyways and such.  If worse comes to worse I can pivot the mill a bit and get essentially unlimited length out both doors.  With the lathe I can currently get more than 10 feet out the left side of the headstock and unlimited length through a steady rest and out the door, no plans for  pivoting it, but it could certainly be done to allow essentially unlimited lengths, just would have to re-level it after moving it back.  Most home machinists seem to be stuck in thinking that they are limited by the size of the mill vise and the lathe chuck to tailstock.  My lathe is 13" by unlimited length and the Z axis of my mill goes to the floor, unlimited if pivoted 90 degrees.  Plan ahead and think outside the box!


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## JimDawson (Sep 17, 2016)

Bob Korves said:


> Plan ahead and think outside the box!



You and I think a lot alike Bob. 

Keying 12 feet of shaft


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## RJSakowski (Sep 17, 2016)

When positioning your lathe, consider this.  You will be running long stock  past the end of the lathe bed but you most likely will at some point run long stock through the spindle.  The tail stock end of the lathe can be positioned fairly close to a wall or another machine.  You just need enough room to comfortably operate the tail stock at its rightmost position.  It is really nice to leave enough room behind the lathe for maintenance but if space is tight, you can sacrifice that somewhat.

I have two lathes situated end to end with about 20"  of separation and the smaller lathe on the left.  This arrangement allows me to access my change gears and belts without complications and the larger lathe on the right allows me to insert longer stock over the top of the smaller lathe.

Opposite the lathes and separated by about five feet, I have a Tormach 770 CNC and a mill/drill, side by side with a small cabinet between them.  In the isle is a rolling tool cabinet and a 30" sheet metal shear.  The remaining space is kind of tight but workable.  The tool cabinet can be moved, if necessary, as can the shear.

I would suggest that you draw up a scaled sketch of your space and some to scale cutouts of your machines and move them around to determine the best layout. A lot easier to move some paper than the machines.  Or, if you are using a CAD program, you can do it there.


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## gr8legs (Sep 17, 2016)

The way my shop worked out I have found placing the mill and lathe back to back works well for me. The tailstock of the lathe is positioned at the wall end.


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## Duker (Sep 18, 2016)

JimDawson said:


> My mill and lathe are facing each other, about 39 inches between the handles.  Seems to be plenty of room.
> 
> View attachment 136092



I always like reading Jim's posts. In this instance this single picture makes the case that 1.) Jim will do whatever it takes to get the job done milk crates included and 2.) does Jim really uses all those machines and here is exhibit "A" the pile of chips! I love it! 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## oldhank60 (Sep 19, 2016)

right now I am just finishing up getting lathe wired and running   PM 1340 GT, I have it along shop wall with head stock about 4ft. from man door that I can set up rollers for longer piece going thru head stock, and on tail stock end is my work bench that is right height for rollers if needed that I can do something at least 8ft. long,   then staggered  tail stock end  about 6ft off wall is 2nd lathe  old Cincinnati tray top 12.5 X 30  that is limited to about 8 ft either end   ( I'm thinking of selling the tray top lathe )

then coming in man door  you would go right about 14 ft.  with PM 935 TV  mill facing( pm 1340gt), I have pleant of room there now but plan on moving Mill closer so I am not taking up some much shop space,  standing facing that mill about 6ft. to the left is  my Bridgeport Mill , it old from the 60's now power feed on anything belt adjusted RPM , I've rebuilt the head but with no power feed I am thing of selling it also.   replace both older machines with small CNC  machine .  now being retired from 40 hr week job I will  continue gunsmithing, working on Harley Davidsons MC's and ATV's
plus if I can get and long lasting single part run for anyone who has the work to be done.  I just don't want to be tied  down to working everyday if I want to hunt or fish or just scratch my as s. 
but don't want boredom to set in either. 


Hank


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## Whyemier (Sep 20, 2016)

While locating equipment for process requirements I like to leave 36" from closest point to closest point, especially if there are moving parts.  In such a case I look to see if I need to add a guard for further protection.  In minimal space situation I leave 31"-32", but only if I don't have 'moving' parts to contend with or I "know" no one will be at that particular place working.


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## sanddan (Sep 20, 2016)

JimDawson said:


> You and I think a lot alike Bob.
> 
> Keying 12 feet of shaft
> View attachment 136115
> ...



Love it!

Nice use of the roller hung from the engine hoist.


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## sanddan (Sep 20, 2016)

I placed my mill and lathe along the back wall of my shop as I had a 220v 30 amp plug on a post on that wall. It's not the best use of the space but it was easy at the time. For spacing I ran the mill table all the way to the left and made sure I could squeeze between it and the lathe tailstock. I kept the lathe away from the wall enough I could still access the electrical box and sweep up chips. I like having something behind me when working on the machines so I have a tool box in front of the mill and a table in front of the lathe. Very handy to have.


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## oldhank60 (Oct 7, 2016)

after doing this post I  decided to change floor lay out in shop, I am moving most things to a out side wall so that I have more open space to work on projects, I can believe how much area is gives me and I don't have any worries about one machine being to close to another if both are being used at same time. soon as I get everything moved and anchored to floor I will try to post some  photos of before and after to show area I gained with the move


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