# Concrete cut out in shed



## trojan62 (12 Jun 2022)

Hi,
ive recently bought an ml7 Myford lathe and have been advised to have it on a concrete base.
my wooden flooring is definitely not ideal.
I plan to cut a rectangular shape out of the floor and make a concrete plinth.
the reason for the post is how exactly would I go about this, I’m not exactly the greatest when using concrete or building bases.
if someone has done this can you give me some tips on what to do.
any help or info would be much appreciated.
thanks

chris m……


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## Spectric (12 Jun 2022)

First really make sure that you do need the concrete base, then you need to cut out the rectangle and make sure the existing wooden floor is properly supported, add more wood to ensure this. Shutter out the rectangle, you do not say how deep this concrete base needs to be and you may have to dig out the ground to get a solid base, no good just laying it on unprepared ground.


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## Torx (12 Jun 2022)

What’s the wooden flooring? If standard shed T&G then perhaps reinforcement of some sort is worthwhile. A sheet of structural ply might be fine. What base does the shed sit on? Does the lathe have a stand?


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## trojan62 (12 Jun 2022)

Hi,
the shed sits on a t&g wooden floor, but underneath it is a patio.
so the whole shed sits on basically patio slabs.
the lathe sits on its own stand.
id rather not cut out the rectangle,but the floor is too wobbly.
I though I’d maybe build the plinth up to about 6 inches.
thanks
chris m……


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## Sachakins (12 Jun 2022)

You could lift the boards in the area lathe is going, shutter off are needed, infill with concrete, bringing the level up to the top of joists. When set add a skim of mortar, replace the floorboards and tap down to settle them into the mortar. Next day should be set enough to put lathe on, you could even drill through board and concrete and bolt your lathe down, being sure not to twist the stand or bed.


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## Torx (12 Jun 2022)

As long as the concrete slabs are solid I’d just use a hole saw to make four holes, use the lathe to make spacers level with the floor and anchor to the slabs.


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## Jameshow (12 Jun 2022)

How about mounting on a could of short scaffold boards to spread the weight? 

If the shed floor in on the slabs then you shouldn't have too much of an issue? 

What cabinet do you have for it the steel one? I'd pack up on boards??


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## PDW125 (12 Jun 2022)

Standard ML7 is change of 100kg even with the screw cutting gearbox so it’s not a heavy point load. Find your local yard that has scaffold planks - depending on the length of the shed you may only need one or two, cut them to at least 500mm either side of the lathe, screw to the floor (preferably into the bearers) and put the lathe onto that. You can coach bolt and level the lathe on top of the boards but it will go nowhere.


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## Fergie 307 (13 Jun 2022)

I would agree with the last post. Its not a heavy machine. Cuttting holes in the floor and concreting is a bit OTT.


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## Rozza (13 Jun 2022)

Torx said:


> As long as the concrete slabs are solid I’d just use a hole saw to make four holes, use the lathe to make spacers level with the floor and anchor to the slabs.



Great call Torx, the underlying patio slabs will be more than capable of taking the eight of approx 25kg of each foot. If the spacers are big enough, say 100mm diam, and a snug fit with the sawed-holes, they won’t even need anchoring


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## Sandyn (13 Jun 2022)

trojan62 said:


> ive recently bought an ml7 Myford lathe and have been advised to have it on a concrete base.



It's not the weight which is an issue. The Myford is quite small and you can't turn anything really large. It's relatively slow speed, so you probably could get away with putting a sheet of ply down and making a bench which is secured to the walls.
The real issue is the ML7 needs to be tuned once it's in it's final resting place. Basically, you have to use the 4 mounting bolts as jacks, to twist the bed slightly to reduce taper turning. We are talking about getting the chuck centre and apron travel accurate to a couple of thou over about 8 inches. If you are planning doing accurate turning, then you need to think about getting the lathe on a rigid structure then getting that structure reasonably rigid on the floor. There are those who say that by getting everything rigid, you increase the chance of chatter. The Myford is quite susceptible to chatter.

If you can create a rigid structure for the lathe bed to sit on, the mounting to the floor becomes much less an issue. Is the ML7 sitting in a Myford cabinet with riser blocks?

I built a very substantial bed for my ML7 from a Catnic steel lintel and welded frame. This created a rigid bed. I welded four bolts to the joist which I use to mount the chipboard table and lathe, I was then able to tune the bed of the lathe. Since the lathe bed/table is very rigid, it creates an isolated structure, which doesn't rely on the floor.


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## Jameshow (13 Jun 2022)

Sandyn said:


> It's not the weight which is an issue. The Myford is quite small and you can't turn anything really large. It's relatively slow speed, so you probably could get away with putting a sheet of ply down and making a bench which is secured to the walls.
> The real issue is the ML7 needs to be tuned once it's in it's final resting place. Basically, you have to use the 4 mounting bolts as jacks, to twist the bed slightly to reduce taper turning. We are talking about getting the chuck centre and apron travel accurate to a couple of thou over about 8 inches. If you are planning doing accurate turning, then you need to think about getting the lathe on a rigid structure then getting that structure reasonably rigid on the floor. There are those who say that by getting everything rigid, you increase the chance of chatter. The Myford is quite susceptible to chatter.
> 
> If you can create a rigid structure for the lathe bed to sit on, the mounting to the floor becomes much less an issue. Is the ML7 sitting in a Myford cabinet with riser blocks?
> ...


Well that explains why I'm such a rubbish turner!

Subscription to turner's magazine should soon sort it!


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## John Hall (13 Jun 2022)

It certainly doesn’t need a concrete base…as mentioned earlier a solid rigid table or bench is perfectly sufficient as long as the legs sit level on a decent plinth.
I have a Warco 250, which is 125kg plus tooling gears etc, sitting on a heavy wooden bench…on a 25mm t&g sheet floor…..no problem


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## Sandyn (13 Jun 2022)

Jameshow said:


> Well that explains why I'm such a rubbish turner!
> 
> Subscription to turner's magazine should soon sort it!


Well, I've made someone happy today, so that makes me happy   The Myford ML7 does need a bit of fine tuning to set it up. Perhaps tuning is not the correct word....... more like final bed alignment, otherwise it can cut with a slight taper.

Edit:- I don't think the link to Steve Jordan's video on how to do the final adjustment loaded properly, so I have edited my previous reply. Hopefully it works now.


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## Fergie 307 (13 Jun 2022)

It does need to be levelled, nothing to do with being level in the conventional sense, more making sure there is no twist in the bed. If the floor is that wobbly then the suggestion of drilling holes through to the underlying patio is a good one. If you used a hole saw to cut holes for 110mm pipe, insert lengths of pipe to the appropriate height and fill them with concrete that would be plenty strong enough. Then you will need to get hold of a precision level and watch some vodeos along the lines of how to level your lathe. You can donit without the level using various methods but the level is probably easiest.


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## trojan62 (13 Jun 2022)

Torx said:


> As long as the concrete slabs are solid I’d just use a hole saw to make four holes, use the lathe to make spacers level with the floor and anchor to the slabs.


Hi,
how exactly do you mean, spacers.
can you explain a bit more about this, because I’d rather not mess about trying to concrete a base. I’d prefer the easiest way possible.
mind you, I don’t think the patio underneath is any great shakes.
I think some of the slabs that came up elsewhere had hardly anything underneath it.
id prefer just to bolt the feet into the slabs but I don’t think their too substantial.
anymore ideas from people.

Thanks
chris m….


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## Fergie 307 (13 Jun 2022)

If you dont want to cut holes in the floor then i suggest you buy a couple of 8x2 chipboard flooring sheets. Cut each in half and glue them together so you have a solid sheet 4x2x3inches thick (assuming18mm boards). Trim to the required size then put four suitable sized coachbolts in to match up with the cabinet. Stick the whole thing to the shed floor using no more nails. Should be cheap and simple to do.


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## Jameshow (13 Jun 2022)

Fergie 307 said:


> If you dont want to cut holes in the floor then i suggest you buy a couple of 8x2 chipboard flooring sheets. Cut each in half and glue them together so you have a solid sheet 4x2x3inches thick (assuming18mm boards). Trim to the required size then put four suitable sized coachbolts in to match up with the cabinet. Stick the whole thing to the shed floor using no more nails. Should be cheap and simple to do.


A myford isn't going to bend 1-1/2 ply or chipboard tbh.


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## Stevekane (14 Jun 2022)

Is the shed wooden floor just sitting on the old patio slabs? I would have thought its likely that there would be bits of somthing lifting the floor a little off the slabs so that it didnt soak up water,,,adding to the springiness of the floor, heavy ply sounds like an option but perhaps a bit of additional packing between the underside of the floor and the base in that area would also help?
Steve


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## Fergie 307 (14 Jun 2022)

Jameshow said:


> A myford isn't going to bend 1-1/2 ply or chipboard tbh.


Agreed, just handy to have something fairly solid to fit the bolts to. And cant readily think of a cheaper way of doing it.


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## Oldnut (14 Jun 2022)

I like the sound of a previous suggestion, holesaw through the floor to fit 4 or better 6" plastic pipe, match the pipe to the 4 mounting feet, place lathe over the 4 pipes but raised up say 3" put long studs through the mounting holes with nuts above and below then mix and pour grout into the pipes, few days later remove the raising packing, lower the lathe with the bottom nuts, when as low as possible use an accurate (proper eng level accurate to .0001") level in both directions on the bed, especially accross the bed at both ends of the bed to remove any twist.


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## MikeJhn (14 Jun 2022)

Oldnut said:


> I like the sound of a previous suggestion, holesaw through the floor to fit 4 or better 6" plastic pipe, match the pipe to the 4 mounting feet, place lathe over the 4 pipes but raised up say 3" put long studs through the mounting holes with nuts above and below then mix and pour grout into the pipes, few days later remove the raising packing, lower the lathe with the bottom nuts, when as low as possible use an accurate (proper eng level accurate to .0001") level in both directions on the bed, especially accross the bed at both ends of the bed to remove any twist.


Good suggestion, but does rely on the ground bearing pressure under the shed, better to spread the load over as large an area as possible, but any differential movement will be disastrous.


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## rs6mra (15 Jun 2022)

I am not many miles from you but if you think a length of 40mm chipboard flooring @ 2400x600 would help then give me a shout.


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## sawtooth-9 (8 Aug 2022)

Honestly, this is not a large or heavy lathe - so a concrete base is TOTALLY unnecessary.
I did some quite accurate turning on a ML7 and it just sat on a sturdy wooden bench.
Once a lathe gets to around 500 Kg, and it has a decent swing - then think about a serious concrete base.


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