Designing a wood bench for a lathe

To add a suggestion to Dave's point on cross bracing. Think construction adhesive when putting together the cabinet, all joints. Plywood to fit between the upper and lower section on the vertical back, glued and screwed. On each of the vertical 4x4 member sections, plywood, glued and screwed. Place a piece of plywood on the floor of each of the three sections and you now have 3 compartments to store fixtures, chucks, faceplate and anything else too big for smaller storage. Added benefit, that cabinet if built with care and braced with plywood will never move:encourage:
 
Just working on visualizing it.. https://cad.onshape.com/documents/2...37c916d641efbf6d59/e/ec1a32c25dc9ef73eaa94221

Wood in the diagram is 4x4 and 2x6.

3x6 foot, main posts are 3ft, so the tabletop would be about 3.5ft depending on the wood used for the surface. The middle legs would be adjusted based on the lathe's mounting feet to ensure they land right on the added supports. I would also box in the supports with the 2x6s like the original pic, this was mostly so I could have something to look at.

I had been considering using ordinary wood glue on all the joints, screws to clamp and provide extra support. For braces, are you thinking just the enclosure covered with plywood or structural braces with 2x4 or similar? Both?

I'd also likely seal and maybe paint it. Humidity is pretty rare here in Utah, but we do have temperature from about -10 to 110F. I fully expect to need to adjust lathe leveling a few times a year to account for that.
 
+1 to what richl said above. if you do as he suggested, you won't need the 2x4 cross braces (I was just being cheap!).
 
It appears that the frame in the photo is poorly designed for your purpose. The horizontal members should be let into the vertical members to take shear loads off the fasteners. Also the lower horizontal members seem inappropriately low and will cause the frame to rock on the floor's high spots, if no adjustable feet are added.
 
The plan is to use adjustable leveling feet, so the lower parts won't be on the floor.

The onshape design shows more of what I have in mind. There are 4x4 beams across the vertical beams. The idea is to put the load across those and down the 4x4 beams. The 2x6 is intended primarily to help hold everything square and perhaps provide convenient areas for covering material to make it look better if I decide to. I might use 2x4 material for those, as they are not used for any load bearing.

I agree with your points on the pic in the first post. Do you think the modifications I proposed in the text and CAD address them?
 
Then it should be OK, as long as you skin the back and sides with plywood to resist wracking.
 
Yep, a vote to seal and paint everything, including extra attention to the ends of plywood and endgrain. Iam not a big fan of paint on work benches, as often it lifts off or discolor, due to oil penetration. Instead I use Australian Deck Oil, and sometimes varnish over the top - sometimes up to 8 coats for flat surfaces under the lathe. Tung oil if the wood construction is furniture grade work. This seals the wood to keep way oil and lubricants from penetrating into the surface. Also multiple coats , with a light sanding with 300 grit emery cloth after 3 or 4 coats produces a brilliant, long lasting shine.
 
Random thought, probably too expensive anyway, but what about the epoxy coating made for garage floors?

My first thought was a few coats of polyurethane, but I'm open to ideas.
 
I would use one of the Pro-line epoxy paints commonly used in boat engine rooms. They have excellent gloss, for an epoxy paint, and are extremely durable. I have used it inside my own boat.
 
+1 on Marine epoxy and polyurethane. Both are excellent coatings. Plywood and open grain wood require the usual extensive preparation - sealer coat, couple of coats of undercoat, two coats top coat will last for many years. I used to seal the end grain on marine plywood on my boat with common marine epoxy, then launch into the undercoating/topcoating routine. Lots of good options if you include marine paints in your choice. Being in Utah, you might need to order on line. Interlux is a good product line, available on the west coast. Some brands seem to be more common than others, depending on where you live.

Glenn
 
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