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Designing a wood bench for a lathe
- Thread starter ttabbal
- Start date
No need for epoxy glue or paint.
600 pounds across the footprint is nothing.
Imagine 3 big guys standing in line...
Skin back and 2 sides with good grade 1/2 to 3/4 ply and look for some with many layers.
More layers the better.
Front if open bay needs 2 X 6 minimum but if center post can be less but it depends on where the the feet on the lathe actually are as that is where the point load is.
For the top use 2 layers and if you want overkill use 1.125 plytanium subfloor as it is really strong.
For top layer use a sheet of the mdf or particle board coated with white vinyl as it is resistant to most oils and other things and it cleans well.
Our bench that had the RF30 hr mill and Logan lathe has this for a top layer for 15 years and no stains.
They sell iron on edging if you wish to have all sides look good.
Plywood skinning is how they make homes earthquake resistant so it can handle substantial loads so simple 2 X 4 in corners with tight bond glue and screws to glue it together with good square joints and it will hold it without a problem.
Make the top FLAT and the lathe can be leveled on top of the table regarding twist if needed.
600 pounds across the footprint is nothing.
Imagine 3 big guys standing in line...
Skin back and 2 sides with good grade 1/2 to 3/4 ply and look for some with many layers.
More layers the better.
Front if open bay needs 2 X 6 minimum but if center post can be less but it depends on where the the feet on the lathe actually are as that is where the point load is.
For the top use 2 layers and if you want overkill use 1.125 plytanium subfloor as it is really strong.
For top layer use a sheet of the mdf or particle board coated with white vinyl as it is resistant to most oils and other things and it cleans well.
Our bench that had the RF30 hr mill and Logan lathe has this for a top layer for 15 years and no stains.
They sell iron on edging if you wish to have all sides look good.
Plywood skinning is how they make homes earthquake resistant so it can handle substantial loads so simple 2 X 4 in corners with tight bond glue and screws to glue it together with good square joints and it will hold it without a problem.
Make the top FLAT and the lathe can be leveled on top of the table regarding twist if needed.
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2014
- Messages
- 208
that pix looks very much like the one I built for my lathe/mill years ago, and still in use. Though I used 2x4 verticals and filled the lower area with drawers. All carriage bolted together. Plywood back and sides would add rigidity, but I didn't do it because mine's bolted to a wall.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2014
- Messages
- 428
They have a plywood that has a fiberglass like coating that they use for concrete forms . I've used it for a ATV box. I built it like a wooden boat, epoxy and more fiberglass. But for the workshop, I prefer Baltic Birch plywood, it's very good plywood. Avoid the Chinese white board plywood, you can see it move. Having talked about plywood, I have to say I made my lathe stand out of 1 1/2" 1/8" square tubing with a 3/16" plate top. I stuffed two of the shorter bottom roll around toolboxes in it for drawers. I mounted cast iron 4" casters but I lift and level with 3/4" redi rod into hockey pucks. Then I shim the lathe to get it machinist level.
So I've got the main frame put together. So far so good. I have to wait on the center supports for the lathe to get here, same with the ply skinning. So I thought I'd order some leveling feet. That got me thinking about how I'm going to get the lathe up on the thing. I have an HF shop crane, it can lift it, but it can't straddle the bench. So, what about making the leveling feet tall enough to fit the crane under there? It would be about 7.5", just to get the lathe on it. Then I would lower it down to level. I'm looking at some feet on mcmaster that have a threaded area you can put all-thread rod into. So I could make them long, with a bore in the legs, then retract them for use. Once the lathe is in place, I don't see needing to move it around a lot...
Mounting the feet would be a flat plate about 3" square, and holes to screw it to the wood leg. I'm leaning towards just having a hole in the plate to feed through and putting a nylock on the end to keep it from falling off the bench while moving it. The leg would have a hole in the middle for the adjustment bolt. The size I'm looking at take a 1/4-20 thread and are rated for 750lb each. There are 8 legs, 4 in the middle holding the majority of the load. Seems to me that the threads are the potential weak spot. My gut reaction is that 1/4-20 threads aren't going to be enough. But I also don't want to overbuild and waste money.
Mounting the feet would be a flat plate about 3" square, and holes to screw it to the wood leg. I'm leaning towards just having a hole in the plate to feed through and putting a nylock on the end to keep it from falling off the bench while moving it. The leg would have a hole in the middle for the adjustment bolt. The size I'm looking at take a 1/4-20 thread and are rated for 750lb each. There are 8 legs, 4 in the middle holding the majority of the load. Seems to me that the threads are the potential weak spot. My gut reaction is that 1/4-20 threads aren't going to be enough. But I also don't want to overbuild and waste money.
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2014
- Messages
- 7,594
The rating is for failure in shear. That is not how they will be loaded, The failure you will see will be in bending. I would use something like 1/2" for those bolts, probably overkill depending on the unsupported length, but peace of mind and aesthetic satisfaction are important factors as well...
I took the recommendation to move to 1/2". Zoro had some feet for a better price than mcmaster with free shipping.
https://www.zoro.com/level-it-level-mount-boltless-12-13-1-78in-base-tsw-2ox/i/G5416381/?q=G5416381
I thought about trying to find finer threads, but these are just leveling the table top. The lathe will have an additional leveling setup. Most of the time, I don't expect more than 1" of exposed thread for leveling use, so bending force should be minimal. Even lifted for install, there are still 8 of them holding the weight, so I expect it will hold alright. I'll take precautions when lowering it though.
https://www.zoro.com/level-it-level-mount-boltless-12-13-1-78in-base-tsw-2ox/i/G5416381/?q=G5416381
I thought about trying to find finer threads, but these are just leveling the table top. The lathe will have an additional leveling setup. Most of the time, I don't expect more than 1" of exposed thread for leveling use, so bending force should be minimal. Even lifted for install, there are still 8 of them holding the weight, so I expect it will hold alright. I'll take precautions when lowering it though.