# Anyone raise their lathe a few inches?



## Ultradog MN (May 16, 2021)

My lathe is still sitting on 4"X8" wood blocks.
I haven't yet set it down onto the concrete floor or done any  precision leveling on it.
Need to tho.
After using it that way for a couple of months I really like the height it is set at and am loathe to lower it to the floor. I am 6'1"  and have lower back issues.
So I've been thinking about ways to keep it at the height it is now.
The old lathe weighs most of 2 tons.
There are 8 leveling bolts on it. 
I was thinking about finding some 4" stock of some sort and putting one under each leveling bolt. 
4"  stock - round, square or rectangular cut 4" long would be perfect.  That could get pricey though with the price of materials and I would need to have the 8 pieces cut. 
Just wondering if others have  raised their lathes and what they used to do it.
Thanks


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## jbobb1 (May 16, 2021)

Haven't raised my lathe, but it has  3/4" thick cast iron pads under each leveling bolts.


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## 7milesup (May 16, 2021)

My new lathe is quite low in my opinion.  I was just looking at it yesterday and figured that 8" height increase would work great.  I am going to weld up some risers at some point.  Probably a next winter project.


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## Nogoingback (May 16, 2021)

I raised mine by bolting it to a fabricated stand made from rectangular tube which has leveling bolts under it.
It's about 4" higher, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I also have back trouble.


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## NCjeeper (May 16, 2021)

I raised both my lathes. The 13x40 I just used machinery pads. The Monarch I turned 3" steel stands and put them under it.


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## Ken226 (May 16, 2021)

I put Te-co levelling feet on my lathe, which brought up up about 2.5".

I'm 6,1 as well.  No back problems,  and I'd rather not get back problems,  so having the lathe at a good height is beneficial.

They make levelling feet with various stud lengths.  You should have no trouble finding something that works for you.

My lathe is a 13x40, and already had a slightly taller than average stand, so I didn't have to raise it much.   

I also cut circular pieces of gasket material and epoxied them to the bottom of the feet. For a little grip.

The Te-co swivel feet are very heavy duty.  Levelling with a wrench is convenient too.


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## Ulma Doctor (May 16, 2021)

i purchased a Shenwai 1236 that has a custom built roller stand (from the PO)
it is about 3" taller than the other stock height Shenwai1236 i have at my shop
the Shenwai at the shop sits on 4, 1" steel plates - it's too low
looks like i need to make it taller now that i'm seeing this thread

@6'2" the extra height helps


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## Suzuki4evr (May 16, 2021)

I am also 6'1" and raised my 1.5ton lathe by 120mm and it also has 8 leveling feet. Now I know some of you might frown apon my material used, but the lathe is sitting on 8 pieces of 120mm×120mm HDPE and I did this about 3years ago and it is still sitting pretty. I will add that if you can afford steel, that would be best to go with.

Michael


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## Ulma Doctor (May 16, 2021)

Suzuki4evr said:


> I am also 6'1" and raised my 1.5ton lathe by 120mm and it also has 8 leveling feet. Now I know some of you might frown apon my material used, but the lathe is sitting on 8 pieces of 120mm×120mm HDPE and I did this about 3years ago and it is still sitting pretty. I will add that if you can afford steel, that would be best to go with.
> 
> Michael


i'm not frowning on your choice of HDPE
since you have 8 legs, each foot carries 1/8 of the load when leveled
1/8 of 1.5 tons is about 375lbs per pad- you'll be fine for a long time


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## Suzuki4evr (May 16, 2021)

Ulma Doctor said:


> i'm not frowning on your choice of HDPE
> since you have 8 legs, each foot carries 1/8 of the load when leveled
> 1/8 of 1.5 tons is about 375lbs per pad- you'll be fine for a long time


I was comfortable with my choice, but now thanks to you I feel even better about my choice, because I also did some homework about the material and weight distribution. If I think about it, I think I did post a question back then on H-M before I purchased the HDPE, I will have to check.


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## benmychree (May 16, 2021)

I used 3/4" steel square pads under my 19" lathe with a drill point depression in the middle to center up the leveling screws and used tarpaper underneath them to conform to irregularities in the floor and to resist creeping under vibration.


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## rabler (May 16, 2021)

For my CK, I used 2x2 square tube under the headstock in a square frame that has an extension off the back.  I put the jib crane on that extension, so the weight of the lathe helps keeps that from moving.  I welded 2x2x2.25 HRS square stock to that frame with divots turned into them to keep everything lined up.   Under the tailstock, I parted off some 3" hot rolled round stock, about 2.25 inches each, to make 4 hockey pucks for the tail stock end, again with divots turned in the center.  I used some fairly long leveling bolts to add about another 1.5".

You can sort of see it here.


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## Bi11Hudson (May 16, 2021)

At six foot three, I faced the same problem. Once on a "store boughten" base from China and once on a benchtop machine where I had to (have) built my own stand. The small Chinese machine was actually expected to be six inches too low. I built a sub-base for it fairly early on, just raising the entire cabinet. First by raising a section of the floor, later welding up a base riser.

The other machine, a Craftsman 12x36, was mounted to a piece of 4 inch box tubing over the homemade chip pan. Then the base was built "over" tall under that.

I concede that either machine is much lighter than what you're dealing with. But the job(s) done with consideration for their weight. Chinese built machines are simply too low for tall Americans. Just a "fact of life" that must be dealt with.

.


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## benmychree (May 16, 2021)

I should qualify my post above; when I first got that lathe, I set it on top of two pieces of 4" channel iron, welded together flange to flange, the bottom piece longer than the span of the legs with holes drilled in the overhanging part for bolting to the floor, and the upper pieces cut to the width of the legs with holes to bolt the legs to, this raised the lathe about 3", but I would be standing on duck boards made of old flooring about 5/8 thick, so that raised the floor about 1 1/4", so the lathe was about 1 3/4" higher than when sitting directly on the floor, this was a comfortable working height for me at 5'-9 1/2".  Since then, I retired and brought the machine home, as the buyer of my shop did not want it.  Somewhere along the line of years, I discovered that I shrunk in height a couple of inches!  I use a piece of conveyor belt on the floor in front of the lathe, and what with removing the previously added channel iron, the height is about right for me.


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## Winegrower (May 16, 2021)

6 leveling feet on the 2500 pound Takisawa, sitting on 1" steel plates on 3 lengths of 4x4 on a slab.   It's not moved any amount visible on a 12" machinist level in however many years I've had it.   

It's still a bit too low, but not so low that I want to fuss with it again.


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## Janderso (May 16, 2021)

I ended up cutting 8 pieces of 2” bar stock. I drilled a dimple and used the 9/16” threaded holes in the casting.
Used ready rod, welded a not on one end and have a locking nut.
Now I’m thinking of duck boards. We are too tall.


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## NCjeeper (May 16, 2021)




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## T Bredehoft (May 16, 2021)

I guess I'm lazy, I had a Clausing-Atlas 6 by 20 lathe on a bench, It was really too low. I replaced the Atlas with a PM 10-30, put it on 2x6's on top to the bench. the center of the spindle is at 49 1/4 inches above the floor. Geeze, that's high, but I'm used to it, no bending over to see waht the tool is doing. (I used to be 5-11, but maturity has shortened my spine so now I'm 5-7, and yes I can see over the backsplash. ) Threading is bit funny, I'm used to threading with my hands at waist height, now they're just below shoulder height.


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## Jake P (May 16, 2021)

This is my solution for my incoming 1340GT.

This will give me 4" plus what the leveling feet do.

The material is what I had on hand, 1x2x1/8 steel tubing. 

The difference in the way the two top long pieces look compared to the others is a matter of what fit in the blasting cabinet and what got the angle grinder for cleanup before welding.

It's since been painted and I will drill mounting holes when the cabinets arrive with the lathe.

I'm trying to find out how long the studs are on the included leveling feet from PM to see if they will reach all the way through the 1" tubing that is on the bottom layer.  I made the bottom of the base 19" wide front to back (the cabinets are 15" wide) to give the base a larger footprint, figured it couldn't hurt and I had the material.

Rodneyk, who just received his 1340GT, was kind enough to get me the measurements I needed so I could build this while I wait for the lathe.


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## Canus (May 16, 2021)

I used 6" wide flange beams under my 16" Southbend.  Still too low.  I'm 6'-2".


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## Ultradog MN (May 16, 2021)

I am glad I asked this here.
Some good ideas and also good to know I'm not the only one to think about this.
By the way, I guess I was playing a little fast and loose with the truth. I haven't measured my height in at least 25 years. So I still think of myself as 6'1" and 160 lbs like I was 40 years ago.
Just measured my height and maybe it's the cheap china tape measure I used but It's only reading 5' 11 1/2" now. And my weight is reading about 191 lbs but that is probably the cheap china scale my wife bought.
But I still want to raise my lathe.
Okay?


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## randyjaco (May 16, 2021)

For my 13 x 40 TurnPro, I originally made 2 boxes of 6" steel channel and mounted the lathe on top. It was amazing how much more comfortable the lathe was to use. When I moved to the new shop, there was already a 6" concrete pad in the shop, so off came the welded boxes and I mounted the lathe on the pad. I am not particularly tall (5' 10") but I am much taller than whoever the machine was designed for.


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## Dabbler (May 16, 2021)

I have a friend that needed to raise his offshore 16X72 lathe up a lot.  He used 8 pcs of 4X4 tubing, welded a top on them with a divot in the middle of each one.  doing this, he raised his lathe about 5", which is the right height for him.  the leveling bolts went into the depressions in the top caps.


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## Aukai (May 17, 2021)

I have knee, and ankle issues, I have a stool that lets me view longer runs. Certain operations I need to stand, but I don't seem to have to bend over that much with the factory height.


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## mickri (May 17, 2021)

I needed to raise up my new to me bench and used 4x6 wood blocks.  I drilled a 1/2 deep hole in the blocks to keep the legs from walking off the blocks.  The top of the bench is 35" up from the floor.  So far so good.


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## rabler (May 17, 2021)

Ultradog MN said:


> I am glad I asked this here.
> Some good ideas and also good to know I'm not the only one to think about this.
> By the way, I guess I was playing a little fast and loose with the truth. I haven't measured my height in at least 25 years. So I still think of myself as 6'1" and 160 lbs like I was 40 years ago.
> Just measured my height and maybe it's the cheap china tape measure I used but It's only reading 5' 11 1/2" now. And my weight is reading about 191 lbs but that is probably the cheap china scale my wife bought.
> ...


Just use that same chinese tape measure when raising the lathe and the heights will work out fine


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## Rifleman1384 (May 20, 2021)

I am 6'3" and here is how I raised my 1440GT, not my design. I copied it from JBOLT. It raised it up 6 inches and it's perfect for me.


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## Watchwatch (May 20, 2021)

Rifleman1384 said:


> I am 6'3" and here is how I raised my 1440GT, not my design. I copied it from JBOLT. It raised it up 6 inches and it's perfect for me.



Can you provide some more details? I
Need to build risers for my 1236.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Jake P (May 21, 2021)

I just happen to have downloaded Rifleman1384's files from the thread where he detailed the project.  I was looking for ideas as well.


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## Illinoyance (May 21, 2021)

My 10K under drive with metal cabinet sits on 4" casters.


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## Rifleman1384 (May 22, 2021)

The plans above are what JBOLT sent me. I did run a 1/2-13 tap thru the holes in the base and used 1/2-13 grade 8 bolts to secure the risers to the bottom of the lathe. Make sure you don't pre-drill the holes where it attaches to the base till you get your machine so you can check those dimensions.  I had already drilled mine, the risers stick out just slightly from the edge of the machine because the holes in my base are just off center, no big deal I just wanted everything ready to go when it arrived. This means I am not able to use the angle iron that goes over the 1/2-13 threaded rod between the risers due to I had  pre-cut them to length.


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## welderr (May 23, 2021)

This reminds me of one of my mentors long ago he had his lathe up high on some heavy wall 6x6 tubing and he had an old office chair raised up high to use if he wasn't standing, I just remember him packing his pipe with bourbon scented tobacco and fixing a cup of coffee and engaging the feed and sitting back and chilling, none of the bosses had a clue how he did what he did and they left him alone. He's been gone at least 15 years now, I sure miss him ...


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## Buffalo21 (May 23, 2021)

DAMN!! I got to be the shortest guy on the site, at 5‘ 8” and 230#, I’m built like a fire hydrant, with short arms....


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## Dabbler (May 23, 2021)

Buffalo21 said:


> at 5‘ 8”



I'm only an inch and a tiny bit taller, but I still need risers.


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## Stefants (May 23, 2021)

How about a quick concrete block poured where the lathe is going to go? Put down some plastic sheet before pouring if you want it non-permanent. Cost of a few 2x4s or 2x6s for a frame, maybe a little caulk to seal the frame, a few bags of concrete, and some time to cure...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Ultradog MN (May 23, 2021)

welderr said:


> This reminds me of one of my mentors long ago he had his lathe up high on some heavy wall 6x6 tubing and he had an old office chair raised up high to use if he wasn't standing, I just remember him packing his pipe with bourbon scented tobacco and fixing a cup of coffee and engaging the feed and sitting back and chilling, none of the bosses had a clue how he did what he did and they left him alone. He's been gone at least 15 years now, I sure miss him ...


Nice written picture you painted welderr.
Thanks


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## Jake P (May 24, 2021)

Stefants said:


> How about a quick concrete block poured where the lathe is going to go? Put down some plastic sheet before pouring if you want it non-permanent. Cost of a few 2x4s or 2x6s for a frame, maybe a little caulk to seal the frame, a few bags of concrete, and some time to cure...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That’s a really fine idea!  Cheap, solid and easily made to any desired dimensions.  It’s amazing how simple things can get when you “get out of the box”!


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## Ultradog MN (May 24, 2021)

Jake P said:


> That’s a really fine idea!  Cheap, solid and easily made to any desired dimensions.  It’s amazing how simple things can get when you “get out of the box”!


Photo shows a simple base I poured to hold the idler motor on my rotary phase converter.
But for the lathe?
First of all you would need to either move the lathe a couple of feet from where it sits, pour the pads - then move it back on top of the pads -  or suspend it about 10" off the floor to get under there to pour and finish the concrete.
Both techniques would require a rather significant gantry - to lift a 2 ton machine up onto the pads and  possibly suspend it up in the air for the 28 days while the concrete cured to full strength. 
Having the lathe set perpendicular to the wall further complicates that idea.
And someday someone would need to lift it up again to get it off the pads to move it.
The more I think about that ordeal the less I like it.
Right now I'm leaning toward a block using 4x4  tubing and welding a cap on it - one for each leveling screw.


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## RandyWilson (May 24, 2021)

It seems to be a universal problem with antique or Asian machinery. We recently imported a Chinese made commercial embroidery machine.  The first thing I had to do was turn some risers to go between the machine and it's stand.. We lifted it 6" so my wife was comfortable with the height.

  She's 5'2"





Dabbler said:


> I'm only an inch and a tiny bit taller, but I still need risers.


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## raceratb (May 27, 2021)

I'm 6'4", I built a mobile base out of 2x4 tubing and added foot master g80 leveling casters. Much easier to work on that way. Once locked down, it's on solid footing


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## Richcan22 (Jul 8, 2021)

I want to make a block under the machine and pan so I can actually get under and clean it. I’m thinking 1” or 2”


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## Dabbler (Jul 8, 2021)

Richcan22 said:


> I want to make a block under the machine and pan so I can actually get under and clean it. I’m thinking 1” or 2”



when you are free (and fully vaccinated) come by my shop and see what I've done.


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## Suzuki4evr (Jul 8, 2021)

Dabbler said:


> when you are free (and fully vaccinated) come by my shop and see what I've done.


Hallo Dabbler.

I know this site is covid free,can I ask if you are willing to post a pic of what you have done? I am just interested to see what others have done. I raised my lathe with 8 HDPE 100mm×120mm round stock pieces slightly coned.


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## Dabbler (Jul 8, 2021)

Suzuki4evr said:


> post a pic



I've been through 3 or 4 generations of spacers, and so I wanted to show him the old ones not in the machines, as well as the new one on my LeBlond lathe.  I'll see what I can put together for a photo array next week.

In our modest city we have a machinist's group of about 150 members, with a local website, and (pre-covid) meetings.  I wanted to get Richcan22 involved by meeting him...


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## Suzuki4evr (Jul 8, 2021)

Ok no worries. I didn't know about what you were planning. There is no haste. Have a good one Dabbler and stay safe.


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## RJSakowski (Jul 8, 2021)

Richcan22 said:


> I want to make a block under the machine and pan so I can actually get under and clean it. I’m thinking 1” or 2”


I put 7/8" pads between the lathe and the pan on my Grizzly G0602.  Although I had reasons other than providing clearance for cleaning, it vastly improved access.  I used 7/8" steel plate for the risers.


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## Richcan22 (Jul 8, 2021)

Dabbler said:


> when you are free (and fully vaccinated) come by my shop and see what I've done.


Ok waiting for second jab will be later. Out of town working at the moment. I need to make nee pan and have some 1 1/4 plate was going to cut the same shape as the bottom base of machine. Would like some Lista shelving for underneath. Best cabinets I’ve found so far rated for 400 lbs each drawer.


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## Dabbler (Jul 8, 2021)

I've been trying to buy lista cabinets for 20 years.  always too much money for me.  I almost got 2 cabinets for $250 each but it fell through.


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## Richcan22 (Jul 8, 2021)

Found one in Calgary $150 little rough shape but after getting it never heard of them but now I’ll be looking for more was some in Ontario $500 but shipping here was the problem


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## Dabbler (Jul 9, 2021)

you got a sweet deal!  One went at auction a few months ago for 780$


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## MikeInOr (Jul 9, 2021)

I have my Southbend 13" lathe up on 4" x 6" * 28" blocks with 4" x 8" x 72" cross pieces on top of those for 2 purposes.  1) It allows me to easily move my lathe with a pallet jack.  2) It saves the heck out of my back.  When I move it to a new location I have to re-level the lathe but I have not found the lathe getting significantly out of level from the blocks expanding and contracting with the seasons.  The wood does seem to do a nice job of dampening vibrations.  At 6'3" slumping over the lathe that was too low fatigued me much quicker which adversely affected the results.

I have my mill on similar blocks for the same reasons, height and mobility.

Blocks and a pallet jack is a heck of a lot easier than making mobile bases for each machine with retractable casters.  I was pretty leery of the hassle and floor space the pallet jack would take up when not in use but it actually stows quite easily in a variety of areas where it doesn't really consume any floor space.


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## mpoore10 (Jul 10, 2021)

Yes, raise it to whatever is comfortable.


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