suitable casters for lathe stand

[devonwoody]

I am not completely happy about the positioning of my lathe M950 or CCL in the workshop for the coming season.

The Australian forum have members who have fitted casters to their lathe legs for mobility, (but advise avoiding unbalanced lumps on the lathe)

Can anyone here relate their experience with casters and which model caster to use?

 

[johnny.t.]

DW, I wouldn't have thought adding casters to a lathe would be a good idea full stop. Even with nice balanced blanks its surely going to add wobble and movement as you work on the piece. It may be that it would work if the blank was perfectly balanced and you took extremely light cuts but then its going to take ages to turn anything :?
If you are going to try it I think you would definately need casters with individual brakes.

JT

 

[wizer]

The ones that Axminster sell will be fine. On the large proviso, that you build it so that it can have legs that some how drop down and lift the base off it's wheels ever-so- slightly. Otherwise, as JT says, it'll be a nightmare of wobbliness.

 

[devonwoody]

Getting excited, I've got a wooden shed (full) but could build a shelter on one of its sides to house the lathe, the weather protection would come about with removable wooden sidings for summer time use and lathe stored away in winter in more permanent quarters.

The lathe could have 4x2's bolted to bottom of lathe legs either with or without casters.

So anyone here with casters actually fitted, want both experienced and others with their views.

 

[Blister]

Don't do it woody :?

You said you are not happy with the position of the lathe ? why not move it ?

Needs to be ROCK steady and if you can BOLT it down :lol:

unless you are going to turn extra long pens :mrgreen:

 

[Davyboy]

DW, I had castors on my lathe at one time, but only when I need to move it. Once it was in position, I merely jacked it up with a crowbar & inserted timber/rubber strip bearers. Only took a couple of minutes.

Davyboy

 

[Jonzjob]

From what I had with my lathe on a 4 by 2 wooden 'A' frame without casters, if you are going to fit casters to any frame them I would invest in a good pair of running trainers so that you can keep up with anything less than a perfectly ballanced piece on it!

I used to wander around that place if anything was unballanced in any way. Mind you all I had to do to put the lathe back to where it started was to leave it running and gently push it 8) 8) 8)

 

[duncanh]

I have some photos of my setup somewhere but can't find them just now.

Anyway, what I have is a Nova DVR on the Sorby metal frame.
Between each pair of legs is a rod that holds a board which has a castor attached at each end. Because the boards are on a rod they can rotate. When rotated towards each other (using the attached length of wood) they can be held in position by a connecting tube. When rotated they support the whole weight of the lathe and it can be moved to the required position.
Once in position the connecting tube is removed and the castor boards rotated back so they are not touching the floor.

The castors are nothing special, just something I picked up at screwfix.

 

[devonwoody]

Just shows, wheres theres a will theres a way.