Sheds and lathes? *updated*

[Alie Barnes]

Im in the process of putting together a pre fabricated common old garden shed and my question is this, with a wooden chipboard stlye floor, will i stil be able to have my lathe in it with out having any vibration issues?

does anyone else work out of a garden shed, itll have a slab base rather than concrete but will still have the chipboard flooring.

Cheers

 

[TEP]

Hi Alie.

In a word I would say no, not if you want a stable machine. But it would depend a lot on what size lathe you are talking about.

IMO anything bigger than a bench top lathe you could pick up and put in the boot of a car needs a concrete base.

 

[Alie Barnes]

Hi Alie.

In a word I would say no, not if you want a stable machine. But it would depend a lot on what size lathe you are talking about.

IMO anything bigger than a bench top lathe you could pick up and put in the boot of a car needs a concrete base.

well this is a dilema then, its a big sturdy slab base, it is the shed floor that i think will cause problems. if worst comes to worst and it probabaly will ill just have to cut the floor out and have the ched rest directly onto the slab base, not ideal but this isnt massively longterm though.

 

[TEP]

What size lathe are you running?

Some people have cut a rectangle out of the floor where the lathe is going to stand and just concrete that piece.

The real problem is that any wood floor will generally begin to resonate with a lathe working on it. OK I suppose if just small pieces, and all fairly balanced, but get a unbalanced piece on and watch the fun.

 

[cornucopia]

if you dont fancy cutting a hole in you're floor why not take the opurtunity to add more support under the floor boards- the sheds i see allot normally have 1 1/2" square runners with a 1/2" floorboard- but theres never enough runners- so you could add more runners so theres less gap's between them and less bounce on the floor board

 

[CHJ]

Alie, as has been said an indication of lathe type would help in recommendations.

One solution I have seen in a similar situation is to add a couple of extra supports as cornucopia suggested under the floor, then place some additional 50mm concrete slabs inside on top of the wood floor where you are going to position the lathe to give stiffness and dampen vibration.

 

[Bodrighy]

I work out iof a common or garden 10 x 6 shed with a tongue and groove flooring. I also turn a lot of off balance stuff and yes it vibrates like crazy. If you get the chance put some strong beams or concrete under the shed first that you can have the lathe resting on or better still as suggested bolted to. Size isn't a problem in itself but even with my mini lathe I get vibration and it's on a strong bench. With the perform it was actually easier probably because it was a lot heavier. For smaller stuff and in balance stuff there is not really any problem but upgrade ot big, off balance things and you will find that getting smooth cuts is difficult.

Pete

 

[penman]

Hi Alie

I have been using an 8 X 6 garden shed for the last 6 years and have had no problems with vibration. When the shed was first erected I installed loft flooring over the top of the original floor (Tongue and groove chip board). The lathe I am using is a Record CL4-36 VS.with lots of ballast on the shelf.

Malcolm

 

[johnny.t.]

My awvsl1000 is straight on the floor in my 12x8 shed, mind you the floor is made from decking and is really thick, I get vibration when something is out of balance but I can live with it and it is reduced by adding weight to the lathe. I don't think I'd be too confident with chipboard but if it were me(and not a monster lathe) I would probably get a sheet of thick ply to go under the lathe to spread the weight on the chipboard.

JT

 

[duncanh]

My shed floor is tongue and grooved (but don't know what thickness as I didn't make it). On top of that I have 5cmx5cm lengths of wood running crossways with rockwool slabs between. Then a layer of chipboard. The lathe (NovaDVR placed lengthways in the shed) sits on a sheet of 2cm (I think) MDF to try to distribute it's weight a little.

I get vibration when turning out of balance pieces, but I've always thought that I'd get that whatever the floor.

 

[Alie Barnes]

its a record CL4 Lathe, ill try the ply sheet under the lathe and keep trying everyones various suggestions till i get it sorted. i think thats about the best i can do.

thanks

 

[essexboy1951]

Hi Alie,
As mentioned by others you cannot beat a concrete floor to eliminate vibration through the floor and lathe.
If you do not want to lay a concrete floor for the whole shed, simply cut out two holes in the wooden floor where the bench legs will go. Then run shuttering around the holes to a depth of at least 12" and fill with concrete flush with the wooden floor.
You could then rag bolt the legs to the concrete pads or fill the bench with ballast.
My Myford Mystro is on a very solid bench made from 4x2 and 3/4" MDF.
The bench has a concealed compartment at the bottom filled with 8 bags of sharp sand. This all stands on a concrete raft 12 foot by 3ft. It is going nowhere.

 

[Alie Barnes]

Just as an update, have finally got round to finishing the shed and getting everything in. Will test the lathe hopefully today, its on the shed base at the moment but have added extra strength to the bench and lots of ballast.

so if there is excess vibration i shall try another Idea

 

[shedhead]

DO NOT make the mistake i made and go with a wooden hung floor. I will need to in the future cut holes and cement in concrete plinths. I have help my problem a bit by weighting down the lathe using 8 25kg bags of builders sand. This however has not stopped the lathe from moving slightly.

concrete floor always for woodturning.

 

[Alie Barnes]

DO NOT make the mistake i made and go with a wooden hung floor. I will need to in the future cut holes and cement in concrete plinths. I have help my problem a bit by weighting down the lathe using 8 25kg bags of builders sand. This however has not stopped the lathe from moving slightly.

concrete floor always for woodturning.

Sadly i dont have the option of a concrete floor, stillhavent gotten round to testing.

 

[NickWelford]

Hi Alie

I have been using an 8 X 6 garden shed for the last 6 years and have had no problems with vibration.

Malcolm

So how often are the pen blanks out of balance Malcolm? :lol:

 

[treeturner123]

I've spent the last 2 years trying to avoid cutting a hole and filling it with concrete to fix the lathe down better in my wooden shed. But today I have a builder in doing just that. Hopefully I will them be able to turn vibration free thin walled vessels. Providing I have the skill!

On the down side, no turning for a week or so, just my luck when the rain makes the garden a no-go area!

 

[penman]

So how often are the pen blanks out of balance Malcolm?

Not very often Nick but the 16" platters do sometimes show a bit of vibration

Malcolm

 

[Alie Barnes]

I've spent the last 2 years trying to avoid cutting a hole and filling it with concrete to fix the lathe down better in my wooden shed. But today I have a builder in doing just that. Hopefully I will them be able to turn vibration free thin walled vessels. Providing I have the skill!

On the down side, no turning for a week or so, just my luck when the rain makes the garden a no-go area!

Sorry for bumping an old thread but

How deep did you lay your concrete, im now in the process of doing just this!
I was thinking about 12" probably more.

Suggestions?

Upon revision i decided itll be more like 6-8" simply becuase its gonna make the lathe very high up.

Thanks