OK to put smaller lathe and/or milling machine on wheels?

[FortyFivePalms]

Hello folks,

I touched briefly on this subject in my first post, but I thought it would be better to give it its own thread.

I'm a huge fan of portability of all my tools and equipment. In every garage I've ever had, I have put casters or wheels on as much of my shop equipment as possible.

I'm currently in the market for a small-ish (12 x 36 or smaller) cabinet-mounted lathe and a similarly-sized mill.
My tool room is 13' x 9' with a 42" exterior door and a smaller interior doorway. My 'lathe wall' space could be extended by blocking the exterior door, but I would only do this if the equipment blocking the door was on wheels (to facilitate doorway access if necessary). Would it be acceptable and safe to put wheels on, or otherwise mobilize, a 12 x 36 (or smaller) cabinet lathe?

And since I'm asking, how about the same for a milling machine of comparable size (like, say a cabinet-mounted RF 20/25/30)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chipper5783]

Sure. Of course you can do anything you want. In terms of the safety and machine performance, that depends on the details. It sounds like you recognize that the set up will be top heavy (so you will manage that). Make a very stiff robust base (many of the older small lathes are mounted on a robust casting - obviously that will be better in terms of stiffness and lowering the center of gravity, compared to welded heavy gauge sheet metal).

I am space tight as well, but the primary machines get used a lot (that is why they are “primary”) - so wheeling them in and out all the time doesn’t make sense. The small, or less used machines are on wheels, or “pallet jack ready”, but the main machines are on the floor (actually on shim plates since I am not a fan of a stack of shims - personal preference there). Regardless, the point is, do you really need every machine on wheels?

 

[FortyFivePalms]

Sure. Of course you can do anything you want. In terms of the safety and machine performance, that depends on the details. It sounds like you recognize that the set up will be top heavy (so you will manage that). Make a very stiff robust base (many of the older small lathes are mounted on a robust casting - obviously that will be better in terms of stiffness and lowering the center of gravity, compared to welded heavy gauge sheet metal).

I am space tight as well, but the primary machines get used a lot (that is why they are “primary”) - so wheeling them in and out all the time doesn’t make sense. The small, or less used machines are on wheels, or “pallet jack ready”, but the main machines are on the floor (actually on shim plates since I am not a fan of a stack of shims - personal preference there). Regardless, the point is, do you really need every machine on wheels?

Not every machine, but in this case the only available space for the lathe would be in front of a door, and I would like to be able to move it, on the rare occasion where I would need to open that door.

Back when I had a tiny two-car garage, having as much of my equipment as possible on wheels served me well, as I could temporarily re-configure the garage space to suit whatever project I may be working on at the time. It's a habit that's served me well over the years. Except for workbenches. My workbenches have always been bolted down to the walls or floor or both.

 

[dabear3428]

I put my 9X24 on a husky tool cart, but I would not want to do that with much larger lathe than my 200lb lathe.
you might try a steel base with wide wheels which is what i did with my g0758 mill and that works ok but even the heavy leveling casters have some squish in them and it is not as rigid as i would like. I plan on replacing the pucks in the caster with aluminum at some point to make it more solid.
the band saw is great this way and more stable than it was without casters but i expanded the footprint.
My bridgeport is on a pallet made from treated 4X4 with 2X4 top to allow a pallet jack to be used to move it, now that is stable.

 

[FortyFivePalms]

I put my 9X24 on a husky tool cart, but I would not want to do that with much larger lathe than my 200lb lathe.
you might try a steel base with wide wheels which is what i did with my g0758 mill and that works ok but even the heavy leveling casters have some squish in them and it is not as rigid as i would like. I plan on replacing the pucks in the caster with aluminum at some point to make it more solid.
the band saw is great this way and more stable than it was without casters but i expanded the footprint.

Nice setup!

What brand/model is the lathe?

 

[dabear3428]

Nice setup!

What brand/model is the lathe?

MX-600A 9"x24" mini lathe

well i bit the bullet and bought a MX-600A (1100w brushless 8.7X23.6 with a F/R H/M/L gearbox and a 1.5" spindle bore, shipps with a steady rest, a follow rest and a dead center) off of e-bay, after getting it and turning some steel (does a decent job IMO). I got this expecting a box of lathe...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[ARC-170]

The important thing with a lathe is to prevent the bed from twisting. Bolting it down will minimize this; having it on wheels will exacerbate it.

 

[Beckerkumm]

For a lathe on wheels I would place it, level the machine for best precision, wedge the strong base and put tape on the floor so I could return it to exactly the same spot. I would also mark and number the wedges so they are placed the same each time. Then I would move it as seldom as possible. Dave

 

[Mauzinette]

Leveling caster – combines two functions in one product.

Leveling casters are a combination of a caster and a machine foot. They are available with foot pedal or without and allow objects to be moved and fixed

sigerist.ch

Would heavy duty leveling casters like the above solve your problem?

 

[Jake M]

Hello folks,

I touched briefly on this subject in my first post, but I thought it would be better to give it its own thread.

I'm a huge fan of portability of all my tools and equipment. In every garage I've ever had, I have put casters or wheels on as much of my shop equipment as possible.

I'm currently in the market for a small-ish (12 x 36 or smaller) cabinet-mounted lathe and a similarly-sized mill.
My tool room is 13' x 9' with a 42" exterior door and a smaller interior doorway. My 'lathe wall' space could be extended by blocking the exterior door, but I would only do this if the equipment blocking the door was on wheels (to facilitate doorway access if necessary). Would it be acceptable and safe to put wheels on, or otherwise mobilize, a 12 x 36 (or smaller) cabinet lathe?

And since I'm asking, how about the same for a milling machine of comparable size (like, say a cabinet-mounted RF 20/25/30)?

Thanks in advance!

Putting stuff on wheels is very much something that people do. Not "most" people by any means, but it's been done, and it's workable.

My opinion on this- and let me give you some background here- My lathe is on a below grade concrete basement floor, in New England. I have to "adjust" my lathe bench twice a year. If that is, I'm doing something fussy enough to bother. The floor just moves. It's how floors "do". Except it is NOT the sort of thing that "normal" people would ever notice in a lifetime. It doesn't stop me, but it does need correction from time to time.

So, yes, if the base is stable enough to stay strong on it's own (no narrow little legs are gonna get pulled around), and it's wide enough that the casters swiveling in and out won't cause a stability / center of mass issue (tip over) when you push it around... Yes, it can be done.

As for levling- Leveling is nice. It's a common datum that you can transfer from one place on the machine to another, but "level" is absolutely not required in any way. The thing you have to worry about is "twist". That means that two adjacent corners, based on accessibility (probably the front two) will need to be equipped with a screw jack. The end two could work well too, just so long as they're adjacent. That will permit you to "flatten" the plain across the top, dialing "twist" out of the bed ways with the lathe in any placement on a floor. Or shims could work, but that's a pain in the tail feathers. I know because that's how mine is. I've procrastinated that because a new bench is coming, but priorities have kept it on paper as of yet.

Those two screws (NOT the shims) have an advantage over locking the casters and shimming them up. They act like "feet" instead of wheels. That is something that you might find valuable. And by "might", what I mean is "will"....

So yes, it's a very workable solution. It is absolutely a workaround, but far less imposing than many other workarounds that people live with every day.

For a mill....

The same general thing applies, it can and has been done. What creeps me out about that however is the top heavy nature of those (typically worse than a lathe), combined with a very small footprint. When the casters are "pointed" under the stand or cabinet, you're a lot closer to a center of mass that is very high, and the tip over thing would be a big, big deal. One little pebble on the floor would be a disaster... As I said, it HAS been done, and successfully, but it just takes a MUCH higher level of awareness and attention on your part.

Overall, if the machines don't fit in the space you have without a workaround solution, you've got two choices. You can live with a workaround, or not.