Positioning a lathe.

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Cannot find a dedicated thread covering something this important, so I'm going to start this off with my take that I hope helps newcomers and those like me who always find useful info here. Apologies if already done.

1) Position – NOT hard up against the wall if possible, as I found with my first lathe.

I wish I had not done so with the Emco V10P, as it did not have a splash back meaning that some of the swarf ended up on the floor between machine and wall, and access to the motor was impossible.

Never occurred to me to make a shield too busy with making things and running the shop

My Warco BH600G, on the other hand, on a reinforced factory stand and raised 6" (150mm), is at an angle to the wall with Headstock 10" (254mm) away.

This givies me easy, albeit cramped, access to the rear of lathe, and enabled me to fit the 3-phase motor quite easily. (needed a week to unbend myself, but heck it's part of the fun!)

Also, with the Tom Senior being within spitting distance, the angle allows long material to be fed through the spindle if ever needed.

It does of course depend entirely on the space available, and where the lathe is positioned.

2) Spindle height – Mine is 50.1/2" (1.28m) from the floor.

I stand on a 5" (127mm) high duckboard. I learned a hard and painful lesson from having to bend over to work on the Emco.

I can easily make a lower duckboard if needed, compared with the much much more difficult task of raising the lathe.

3) Lathe stand – As solid as possible goes without saying, with adjustable lathe hold-down bolts being an absolute must.

4) Motor – Fit a 3-phase motor with VFD control if finances allow.

Most new lathes appear to come with finger twiddling speed control nowadays though.

Fitting one absolutely transformed the BH600G and with luck the FeedRod mod, when done, will do something similar.

5) Lighting – As much as possible.

I have one of those IKEA flexible LED lights pointing at the chuck and being easily repositioned having a bulldog style clip at the end.

Enough from me, so over to the Collective for any other suggestions/recommendations/experiences?

Geoff – In recovery mode from gardening yesterday

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Suggestions and experiences.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

My Myford is mounted against a wall as tight as it will go (to the back) in a corner with the Tailstock to the end wall. I left only as much room as I needed to remove the Tailstock. The wall behind the lathe is clad in whiteboard for easy cleaning and I have a detatchable angled board running from tight to the rear wall into the swarf tray of the lathe so anything that hits the wall just sides down into the swarf tray. The headstock end is adjacent to my main workbench and I can hold a temporary steady in my bench vise to stabilise long lengths through the headsock. (usually just a bit of wood with a hole in it).

My friend has his headstock tight to the wall and has a 4 inch hole in the wall in line with the bore to accommodate long stock (when not in use this has a rubber bung fitted)

regards Martin

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

I had plenty of time to think about mine. The chester crusader has ended up with the cabinets on raising adjustable feet, just far enough from the wall that i can squeeze behind to get at the electrical cabinet and motor and the back access suds pump cabinet. My sit and think at table is to the headstock end which also gives change gear access. the mill is to the tailstock end with a small clearance gap for the table travel and when I can find the 'roundtuit' then it's a simple matter to t-off from the suds pump and share it with the mill. The only downside to being away from the wall is I can't hang stuff on the wall and reach over. But then if i did I couldn't squeeze behind anyway!

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

I have done as Martin, my lathe is mounted as close to he wall as possible because I have a very small workshop. Would have been nice to have a large workshop so I could place the lathe like you did Geoff. There is room to the left of the headstock so a long bar can be turned. The lathe stand is made from 50mm square tube welded together, and so high that I don't have to bend over. The lathe can be adjusted to turn straight with four MF14 x 1 screws. Have fitted a 3-phase motor and VFD like you Geoff.

Thor

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

The 10 in Geoff menioned is rather small and I increasingly regret pushing things up against the wall. If I had room I would go for 45 degrees and a wedge shaped storage cabinet on wheels to make use of the space, except the space to remove that would soon bet filled.
One problem is the operator's space. It needs to be dual purpose so it serves for both the lathe and mill or access to storage. The swing out of changewheel cover annoys me as, while a long bar workpiece can project between stuff on shelves close by, the stupid cover needs clear space. A swing up conversion is called for, except it hits the shelf above and behind. Pull forward perhaps, or leave it off as one has been for decades.

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

You have made some very good points. I have 1 meter to the wall at the tailstock end, and the headstock end is 1 m from a door. I can put a bar into the lathe and make up a makeshift steady to support the bar, like a home made bar feeder. On the underside of my little tool cabinet on the wall is 2 strips of LED lighting. It runs off a 12V transformer. It puts out loads of light, runs the full length of the lathe.

Neil

[Jesse Hancock 1Participant @jessehancock1]

If the lathe is large it will be heavy and without going into lots of detail it's best to prepare.

Good set of crow bars and levers with hard wood blocks for pivots.

Hoist or 'A' frame readily available.

Good strops – wire,rope, and nylon woven varieties. Avoid chain unless it's been tested and you are using lifting eyes.

Have your adjusting spanners at the ready.

Skates can be a real god send. Hire them if you have more than just a few feet to move the lathe.

Get a few mates around to help. Don't attempt moving heavy loads on your own. Then as above.

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Correction to make Bazyle happy.

BrainFade episode when I measured.

Although the Headstock is 10" from the wall, the end cabinet is 18" (547mm) away, thus allowing me to get feet against cabinet, back pressed against the wall and knees round my chin. Quite comfy once in place, but oh the palava getting out again and unwinding was something else.

The two end cabinets are connected with 2" (50mm) angle the previous owner fitted, making the whole stand pretty rigid, with me adding some ubiquitous 2"x4" (50x100mm) wood.

Geoff – In tidy up mode.

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

Positioning under a clear roof panel in an unheated, single skin workshop is a mixed blessing.

1. Get plenty of light
2. Clear roof panels drip more than other parts of the workshop, so need a rain cover.

Regards,

Richard.

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