Lathe bench

[tony]

Hiya folks , I am about to make a bench for a secondhand lathe I recently bought ( Nova DVR 3000) , I plan to make one similar to the one in Keith Rowleys book . His design has splayed legs , is it worth the extra work or should I just make them straight up . The sketch also shows the 4 end legs made from 4" x 3" & the 2 middle legs made from 4" x 4" , what is the reason for this & why do the middle legs look as though they do not touch the floor in the sketch , but if you look at the photo on the next page , they definitely look like they are touching the floor ? Hope you can help , thanks Tony

 

[SVB]

Hi, I can't see the picture but gut feel would say that splayed legs with bracing etc should be more stable so I'd go that way.

(Also tip for mounting lathe on a bench - check clearance reqd for tool post to protrude through banjo if this lathe needs that. Also, consider mounting bed on blocks so you can at least get to underside of bed when you drop a jaw carrier screw down the gap or even better, have space to get a hand-brush under every now and then!)

 

[beganasatree]

WEIGHT AND STABILITY ????

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

The primary need is for vibration to be minimised or all the quality and the safety suffers. Splayed legs help with that but bolting the thing securely down is even more important if it doesn't have sufficient mass.

 

[SVB]

The primary need is for vibration to be minimised or all the quality and the safety suffers. Splayed legs help with that but bolting the thing securely down is even more important if it doesn't have sufficient mass.

A suggestion often made is rather than just a shelf at shin height which is a feature of many designs (which really helps with bracing etc) build a 6" deep box at shin height and fill it with bricks / paving slabs / concrete / sand & oil mix / depleted uranium / dwarf stars etc etc (I was never sure on sand / oil - smelly / fire risk / pita to get rid of).

However, more weight the better is usually good rule and this keeps the functionality of a shelf but allows significantly more weight.
S

 

[WoodMangler]

Hiya folks , I am about to make a bench for a secondhand lathe I recently bought ( Nova DVR 3000) , I plan to make one similar to the one in Keith Rowleys book . His design has splayed legs , is it worth the extra work or should I just make them straight up . The sketch also shows the 4 end legs made from 4" x 3" & the 2 middle legs made from 4" x 4" , what is the reason for this & why do the middle legs look as though they do not touch the floor in the sketch , but if you look at the photo on the next page , they definitely look like they are touching the floor ? Hope you can help , thanks Tony

I made this bench for my own lathe. I think the splayed legs definitely help stability - I also added a hollow shelf at the bottom, filled with builder's ballast, and the whole thing is solid as a rock. The middle legs on mine don't reach the ground, it's plenty rigid enough on just the four legs. Ignore the stuff on the left, it's the belt-drive cover and switch for a larger old lathe I sometimes use.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Mines got 2cwt of sand in a tray under the top and 2cwt of sand and the bricks from four night storage heaters on a shelf near the bottom. It goes nowhere.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

All great ideas. I particularly like the idea of storing a dwarf star in your tool shelf