-
Welcome back Guest! Did you know you can mentor other members here at H-M? If not, please check out our Relaunch of Hobby Machinist Mentoring Program!
need lathe tooling storage ideas
- Thread starter ARC-170
- Start date
WOW Well engineered, outstanding
Cool looking lathe you've got there. What is it, and is that a gear shift sticking out of the headstock?
That's the back gear lever. Another lever shifts in the back gear countershaft. It's a 1920 Springfield Ideal Lathe
My contribution.
Holders posts are aluminum angle bolted to strut channel. Channel is mounted to backsplash and a plywood shelf. Tailstock tools are in a grubby little chunk of plastic I drilled out.
Chucks and other heavy stuff are on a padded stud sticking out from the right lathe stand leg so I don't have to reach over to lift them.
Holders posts are aluminum angle bolted to strut channel. Channel is mounted to backsplash and a plywood shelf. Tailstock tools are in a grubby little chunk of plastic I drilled out.
Chucks and other heavy stuff are on a padded stud sticking out from the right lathe stand leg so I don't have to reach over to lift them.
Here's a sketch of what I was thinking of making:
The lathe isn't shown; it would take too long to draw. The shelf is 68" tall. I'm 6'-2" so it's reachable while allowing me to open the belt guards on my machine. I thought I might add a lip, but it's not shown in this sketch.
The reddish brown panel is peg board. It doesn't go all the way down because it's 24" tall and about 3.5 feet wide. I can buy a smaller piece this way and save some money. I'm trying to avoid buying a full 8' x 4' sheet.
Thought I'd hang the various wrenches, chuck keys, etc. on it. I also thought I might make some tool holder like AGCB97, but that might be pushing it with weight. Thoughts?
I think I can attach the 2x4's with bolts to the back of the bench. I'd use 3/4" diameter conduit tubing as a spacer so I can tighten the bolts. The 2x4's would be snug against the table edge on the back and the spacers would allow me to tighten the bolts snug against the metal bench. I hope this makes sense. Zoom in on the picture to see how it's assembled.
I could add a 3rd 2x4 in the middle. This would allow me to add a smaller shelf below the larger one, since there is some space.
I'd like to keep this simple for now; I thought I'd try this and see how it went, then make any modifications. At some point, I could rebuild it with all the mods.
The lathe isn't shown; it would take too long to draw. The shelf is 68" tall. I'm 6'-2" so it's reachable while allowing me to open the belt guards on my machine. I thought I might add a lip, but it's not shown in this sketch.
The reddish brown panel is peg board. It doesn't go all the way down because it's 24" tall and about 3.5 feet wide. I can buy a smaller piece this way and save some money. I'm trying to avoid buying a full 8' x 4' sheet.
Thought I'd hang the various wrenches, chuck keys, etc. on it. I also thought I might make some tool holder like AGCB97, but that might be pushing it with weight. Thoughts?
I think I can attach the 2x4's with bolts to the back of the bench. I'd use 3/4" diameter conduit tubing as a spacer so I can tighten the bolts. The 2x4's would be snug against the table edge on the back and the spacers would allow me to tighten the bolts snug against the metal bench. I hope this makes sense. Zoom in on the picture to see how it's assembled.
I could add a 3rd 2x4 in the middle. This would allow me to add a smaller shelf below the larger one, since there is some space.
I'd like to keep this simple for now; I thought I'd try this and see how it went, then make any modifications. At some point, I could rebuild it with all the mods.
Last edited:
Backsplash to me would be the priority. Keeps the chips and cutting oil confined to just half of your shop 
Second would be a lip on the front and sides of the bench to keep tools off of your toes. Make the front lip easily removable for ease in sweeping off chips. I use a rare earth magnet to hold my chuck keys on the tailstock. Magnets on machines can be a pain, but I find that on the tailstock they are far enough from most of the cutting that they rarely collect swarf.
Second would be a lip on the front and sides of the bench to keep tools off of your toes. Make the front lip easily removable for ease in sweeping off chips. I use a rare earth magnet to hold my chuck keys on the tailstock. Magnets on machines can be a pain, but I find that on the tailstock they are far enough from most of the cutting that they rarely collect swarf.
Thanks to all for the ideas! I really appreciate it.
Here's the finished product:
I still need to figure out what goes where, but I need to use the lathe to be able to really tell what will work.
The back faces the work area for the mill; I might add more pegboard and use that space for the mill. The bench also has a peg area on either side.
The design is very stable. It can be flexed a little (it's wood), but it seems very strong. I used 2x4's I planed down to 1x3's. I painted them to match (sort of) the table. The plywood top shelf has a small lip. All the bolts are 1/4"-20. I tried to keep it simple and also use as much material as I already had. I only had to buy the bolts, brackets and pegboard.
Here's the finished product:
I still need to figure out what goes where, but I need to use the lathe to be able to really tell what will work.
The back faces the work area for the mill; I might add more pegboard and use that space for the mill. The bench also has a peg area on either side.
The design is very stable. It can be flexed a little (it's wood), but it seems very strong. I used 2x4's I planed down to 1x3's. I painted them to match (sort of) the table. The plywood top shelf has a small lip. All the bolts are 1/4"-20. I tried to keep it simple and also use as much material as I already had. I only had to buy the bolts, brackets and pegboard.