First workbench, for an ML7 lathe

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

Having just bought one, I need to mount my ML7 somewhere. I've read various discussions which suggest different options and just wanted to sanity check my decision!

I'm going to be moving home soon, so a bench that can be disassembled and moved in a reasonable manner, given the other demands of house moving is somewhere on my priority list, albeit not at the top.

This is what I was thinking of: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cwb1500d-engineers-steel-workbench/ – if rigidity is found to be less than ideal, then there is carrying capacity to add a kitchen counter worktop or a 6mm steel plate (cut to size for about £100 inc. vat https://www.buymetalonline.co.uk/product/mild-steel-sheet/) ontop of the existing one.

Sealey sell the same bench, with the same weight but mark it as a 1000kg capacity so maybe the fixings can be upgraded.

I am also happy to build one out of 4×2 and bolts, but with covid being what it is, I have limited access to browse and 'pop out to grab something I've forgotten'.

Any thoughts?

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

A Sealey AP2030BB Workbench with 5 Drawers Ball Bearing Slides Heavy-Duty

was sold underneath a Raglan lathe recently. No drip tray supplied, of course. I’ve no idea how good ,or otherwise, it may have been.

I’m never keen on machinemart and expect their advertising to be more compelling than the actual item.

Lathe stands often come up on auction sites and are likely a better buy?

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

Or maybe something more simple, like this – with a kitchen countertop ontop of it: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cwb300-heavy-duty-workbench/. ?

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

I have a cupboard for my lathe support with a drip tray with a shallow angle lip for my lathe and mill. It works well as it is a superb storage for tooling etc. The tray cost me about £30.00 bent an d welded at local fabricator it is 3mm thick and with bent edge it is quite stiff.

 

The drill has now been replaced with a small mill.

 

David

Edited By David George 1 on 27/10/2020 09:54:25

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

Thanks david, is that a bought cupboard? Do you have any front view pictures?

'not done it yet' , there are unfortunately no lathe stands anywhere near me at present, or they are half the price of the lathe itself.

How much of a terrible idea would it be to buy the cheap steel/chipboard workbench above, and replace the surface with a kitchen countertop? Is it going to be a complete waste of time and money, or will it do in the interim until I can source a proper stand?

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Tool porn alert this is stupid money

When Homebase was bought by the Aussies I got two of their blue 5 drawer cabinets, one has a Centec 2A on it + tooling the other has a shed load of tools and steel in it – no issues with either of them. I don't see strength would be an issue, they sold these then for £450+.

The trouble with the one you picked might be the needing to cut the back down to clear the motor. There's a flatter version that would be better + the Myford weight would be nearly on the top of the legs anyway.

Edited By Dave Halford on 27/10/2020 10:51:19

[Maurice TaylorParticipant @mauricetaylor82093]

I would consider something like this ,this is my outside workbench . Very strong and cheap to make ,4 x 4 fence posts for legs and 18mm plywood top ,4inch screws to hold it together.

Maurice

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

Posted by Dave Halford on 27/10/2020 10:47:41:

Tool porn alert this is stupid money

When Homebase was bought by the Aussies I got two of their blue 5 drawer cabinets, one has a Centec 2A on it + tooling the other has a shed load of tools and steel in it – no issues with either of them. I don't see strength would be an issue, they sold these then for £450+.

The trouble with the one you picked might be the needing to cut the back down to clear the motor. There's a flatter version that would be better + the Myford weight would be nearly on the top of the legs anyway.

Edited By Dave Halford on 27/10/2020 10:51:19

I was a bit worried that the cheaper one would be less rigid – but I guess if I'm going to end up putting a kitchentop ontop of it then that's fine.

The linked drawer cabinet actually looks pretty perfect – I was consideirng buying one with drawers to try and keep some of the moisture off my tools as much as possible. Would it be OK with the wheels though?

[Maurice TaylorParticipant @mauricetaylor82093]

This is what I made for my ML7,based on a design in MEW a few years ago.

Maurice

Edited By Maurice Taylor on 27/10/2020 11:44:45

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Posted by William Ayerst on 27/10/2020 11:38:22:

Posted by Dave Halford on 27/10/2020 10:47:41:

Tool porn alert this is stupid money

When Homebase was bought by the Aussies I got two of their blue 5 drawer cabinets, one has a Centec 2A on it + tooling the other has a shed load of tools and steel in it – no issues with either of them. I don't see strength would be an issue, they sold these then for £450+.

The trouble with the one you picked might be the needing to cut the back down to clear the motor. There's a flatter version that would be better + the Myford weight would be nearly on the top of the legs anyway.

Edited By Dave Halford on 27/10/2020 10:51:19

I was a bit worried that the cheaper one would be less rigid – but I guess if I'm going to end up putting a kitchentop ontop of it then that's fine.

The linked drawer cabinet actually looks pretty perfect – I was consideirng buying one with drawers to try and keep some of the moisture off my tools as much as possible. Would it be OK with the wheels though?

Wheels are not an issue with the Centec + big chucks, vices, industrial 6" rotary table.

You will need a thin metal top or a bit of vinyl flooring to keep the oil drips in check.

Don't leave it to long – as in go today if they have stock.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

If you're going to build something and cap it with kitchen worktop, I'd consider granite worktop (or maybe quartzite etc)
It comes in various thicknesses, so I'd go with one of the more substantial slabs; just keep reviewing your local free ads, Gumtree, ebay etc. for someone refurbishing a kitchen.
I've sliced it up myself using a conventional 7 ¼" circular saw, but with the blade replaced with a diamond cutting disk from an angle grinder. The hole size is different, but alternative clamping washers can be made to suit. I coupled up an old Aquavac to my saw as a dust extractor.

Drilling is best done with the diamond coated bits, rather than trying, and blunting conventional masonry bits.
I used a normal hand electric drill in a bench stand, but with the column reversed on the base.

In my case it wasn't for a lathe, but for the sink/splashback etc in the corner of my new workshop, though the intention is to obtain another slice for under the quorn.

Bill

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Posted by peak4 on 27/10/2020 12:01:02:

If you're going to build something and cap it with kitchen worktop, I'd consider granite worktop (or maybe quartzite etc)
It comes in various thicknesses, so I'd go with one of the more substantial slabs; just keep reviewing your local free ads, Gumtree, ebay etc. for someone refurbishing a kitchen.
I've sliced it up myself using a conventional 7 ¼" circular saw, but with the blade replaced with a diamond cutting disk from an angle grinder. The hole size is different, but alternative clamping washers can be made to suit. I coupled up an old Aquavac to my saw as a dust extractor.

Drilling is best done with the diamond coated bits, rather than trying, and blunting conventional masonry bits.
I used a normal hand electric drill in a bench stand, but with the column reversed on the base.

In my case it wasn't for a lathe, but for the sink/splashback etc in the corner of my new workshop, though the intention is to obtain another slice for under the quorn.

Bill

Bill,

I cut some granite tiles with an ordinary stone disc and got red hot lava from the cut

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

There are a lot of previous workbench threads on the forum you can also read.
Since you will be moving you could invent a packing crate that fits the lathe but also turns upside down to be the bench.
Kitchen top seems good but chipboard has little strength and once mounting holes are made oil and damp gets in and little strength goes to no strength. Use ply or real wood.
Since you are moving don't go for the heavy top at this stage. Thin aluminium is fine for the drip tray, light, easily formed by you.
Old fashioned bench construction is …… old fashioned. Nowadays think in terms of a kitchen cabinet style but not with chipboard, use real ply of reasonable quality. This provides the bracing built in instead of awkward diagonals, provides continuous faces to mount shelves, keep swarf out of the contents, and is cheaper.
You might find some old office metal cabinets, files etc to use as a temprorary bench and later as tool cupboards. Most 'hobby/garage' benches are poor value for money. However if you are a member of Costco their extra heavy rack (7'6 x 2' x 6'hi, about £150 in store) is strong enough to be a lathe bench using a double layer of 3/4 ply + ally sheet shelf. Even if you make a better cabinet one day the rack will go on being a useful store for a couple of hundred years.

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

Thank you for the advice – I'm not a member of costco sadly but I do get the picture.

Would this bench, with couple of layers of ply + alu sheet as a drip tray, be suitable? https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cwb1201e-engineers-steel-workbench/ A more substantial version is available also: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cwb1500d-engineers-steel-workbench/

It looks like both might benefit from a cutout in the rear wall for the motor to slot through, but is already 2' deep so should be fine in width without it.

My thoughts are that I can build non-supporting cupboard out of ply and slot it onto the shelf below, rather than attempting to cut thick ply by hand (for now I have a decent enough work space but no panel/band/circular saw)

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

FWIW, whatever bench is used to mount the lathe, it needs to be rigid.

Risking a lot of flack, the ML7 is not a terribly rigid machine, so a bench that flexes will not improve accuracy.

There is a lot to be said for the proverbial "Brick Mausoleum"! An overly substantial bench will be no problem for the machine. The converse is not true.

L H Sparey advocates a substantial wooden bench. My personal preference would be for a steel bench made from substantial (at least 40mm ) angle iron or steel box section. (But that would not be so easy to dis assemble and transport ). One or more shelves, beneath would add rigidity, as well as providing useful storage space. (There will never be enough! )

The top to any bench could well be worktop, thickest that you can find, to maximise rigidity.

If you are worried about oil, or coolant getting into the worktop through the mounting holes, you could always seal around the bolt holes with silicone before lowering the Myford into place.

As an aside, a friend had a lathe which had once been on a warship. The bench was made of HEAVY channel section, with six legs. It was heavier than the lathe. Apparently the Naval rule was that the workshop equipment had to be able to withstand the effects of a broadside!

HTH

Howard

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

I don't know how to weld, or know anyone who does – so this particular bench will have to be off the shelf Is the heavy duty bench in the link above (65kg, steel, 1.5m x 600mm surface) OK?

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

You can always bolt the bench together! That will make it easy to strip down for transport, when the time comes, with the individual parts each being lighter than the complete assembly.

My mill ( About 200 Kg ) is bolted to a 60 x 30 inch steel bench that was cut in half, to go through the door and then the joints flitched by bolting on pieces of angle iron The bench also has ladder frames of 2.5" angle bolted to it, at each end, to act as runners for drawers carrying tools etc. So the bench probably weighs more than the Mill or the individual drawers!

Howard

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Hi William my cupboard is a damaged metal office cupboard with plywood reinforcing under top and shelves. It was cheap for sale from local office suplier. It has two shelves and double opening front doors. It contains all steady, spare chucks, faceplates, loads if drills taps etc. I have screwed a home made back shelf unit to it to hold spare material drills and cutting oil etc.

David

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

You seem fixated on machinemart. See my previous post.

The stands made for the lathes worked. They were adequately rigid and clearly long-lived. Engineered for the job. Do remember that most of the weight of a lathe is concentrated at one end and that any out-of-balance operation may develop considerable stress on less than substantial items.

There is one (auction item number:164461533084) on epay at the moment. Looks like starting at £100.

[Maurice TaylorParticipant @mauricetaylor82093]

coolantPosted by William Ayerst on 27/10/2020 14:57:14:

I don't know how to weld, or know anyone who does – so this particular bench will have to be off the shelf Is the heavy duty bench in the link above (65kg, steel, 1.5m x 600mm surface) OK?

I think this bench will be suitable.I would put a sheet of 18mm plywood on the top and also a sheet of thin steel or aluminium with edges turned up ,as even if you don’t use coolant, the oil from the bearings goes onto the top plate.

The top has to be substantial to enable the lathe to be levelled . Hope this helps.

Maurice

The best option would be the stand on eBay as quoted by NDIY

 

 

Edited By Maurice Taylor on 27/10/2020 15:30:54

Edited By Maurice Taylor on 27/10/2020 15:32:42

Edited By Maurice Taylor on 27/10/2020 15:34:55

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

William, both those benches that you linked to above have the same fault – no diagonal bracing. Without that they are liable to start twisting around under even small loads, I wouldn't want a lathe mounted on top if it started to go. I've got a Clarke bench the CWB 1250 in my garage as a workbench with a vice mounted on it – no machinery. That has sheet metal side panels but even so sawing or filing in the vice had the bench moving and twisting. It was fine once it was fastened to the wall!

As Howard says above, bolted construction will be fine, and it'll be a lot easier to dismantle for moving that a welded bench. Even buying the steel angle from somewhere like B&Q I think you'll break even on the cost and have a better bench.

The top can be made of 12, 16 or 18 mm ply – reasonably easy to cut by hand or get it cut to size by the supplier, the thinner material WILL need support underneath it, but you'll be putting cross beams in under the lathe bolt holes any way – won't you.

On bench design I don't think of the top as support for the machine, that has to be part of the bench structure, the top is to stop things falling through and give you a flat area for the other items that you need while using the lathe. I wouldn't worry too much about a drip tray at this stage but if you want one have a look in the garden centres for either plant pot trays or "grow-bag" trays and put that on the bench top with the lathe in the tray.

[BizibilderParticipant @bizibilder]

A point not yet mentioned is that a bought bench is whatever size the manufacturer provides – At least with a homemade bench you can choose the overall size, especially the height, to make it fit both the space available and to fit your own stature (strangely half of us are above average height and half below!).

Edited By Bizibilder on 27/10/2020 15:38:32

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I made one out of 40*40*3 box very similar to Maurice's, but whatever you buy/make make sure it's high enough. I copied the Myford stand height and forever had backache after a protracted session. Lifting it up on 2 off 4" sq timbers got the cross slide up to about navel height, much better

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

It is hard for us older guys to judge value for money sometimes as we remember when things were quarter the price forgetting our payslip was even smaller, so the linked bench looks just bad value.
So I was about to say you could use it if you placed a couple of layers of ply under the top, between the top and legs to makeit less flexible. Then I saw the link to the manual on the website. It is made by having struts and bits welded to the underside of the top including brackets for the legs. This lets them use thinner tin and prevents any strengthenig.
Please don't buy this.
See if you can find something similar that has a full frame, then has a sheet top with a flat underside so that you can interleave a couple of layers of ply. An angle iron frame is good as you can then fill in with more ply – this ply is all to stop vibratons.
Also look out for dinky little screw feet like on this – little feetlets that wobble. You do not need them for levelling, use scraps fo solid wood. Screw feet don't become acceptable until they are about M20 with locknuts. (no your 'vibration damping feet' on your commercial lathe stand are not a good engineering bonus they are put there by marketing to sell it to the manager who doesn't know what a spanner is for)

Have you tried ebay for Dexion angle, not the newer tin can dexion shelves, the old 'big meccano' type.

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