lathe workstation

[cripto101]

Hey everyone!
I am going to be getting my first lathe here in the next few days. I have been looking at how I am going to be putting it into my shop and i have decided i want to build a fliptop workstation. I saw one in a recent magazine that had a rather large flip top workbench and i like the idea but not the design. It did not look to be very robust to me. I have been thinking of a few ideas but not 100 % sure on how i want to go about it just yet. I know i am thinking 3/4 baltic berch, a 3/4 pipe, and 2x6 frame. I wanted to build it about 36"x60" plus or minus a few in length. My idea is to make the table have 2 sections. One that will hold the lathe on one side and two stationary standers on the other. The smaller table will have my grinders on one side and my jet combo planer jointer on the other side. I am going to over build the frame as i want to make it as stable as i can for the lathe. My question however is what would be the best way to lock the table down as sturdy as i can. One idea i had was take a large wooden rod of ash or something hard make a point out of one side to help guide it into the whole and make it a rather tight fit. Would a large ash rod be strong enough or should i look at using some metal? Any ideas or thoughts would be great right now. I have not worked up all the details just yet but when i do i will post what i come up with.

 

[BKind2Anmls]

I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I would worry about vibration with a flip top and a lathe. I had my midi lathe bolted down to a table before. Now it is on a cabinet sort of like a pedestal desk where every part is 1.5" thick MDF. Two men cannot lift it and it is only 4' x 20". It was an amazing difference between the old table and my new stand, especially for things like off-center turning (which is still a little scary).

 

[cripto101]

Yeah thats something i was thinking about as well. One idea i had was setup a bolt system or something of the sort to almost take the two sides and use them like a vise but i dont know. I think its could be doable just need to come up with a good way to keep the top from moving. when i do not need it to.

 

[Carl Fisher]

I personally don't think I would consider a lathe one of those tools suited for a flip top.

Most lathes are a touch on the heavy side and unless you offset it with something equally heavy, flipping will be an interesting experience. Plus that's a lot of weight to be hanging upside down putting a decent strain on your work top and mounting bolts.

Plus there is the vibration issue. Any work piece that is slightly out of balance will just be a bear to work if the lathe isn't solidly mounted.

Just my $.02 anyway

 

[aplpickr]

I also agree that a flip top is mostly useless. The smallest lathes worth owning are 100+ pounds. Mount the lathe on 2"X material or stacked 3/4" plywood. Put a bunch of small drawers below and between the lathe legs. The volume of small junk, drives, jam chucks, etc. will be larger than your lathe after several years . If at all possible, have an outside window behind your lathe, it will greatly improve your finishing. It will enhance TRUE colors and help in removing scratches. A mix of incandescent, fluorescent, and natural daylight is best.

 

[Mike Davis]

You can put your lathe on a flip top table. The table needs to be made from 2x4 steel tubing, welded and filled with sand. The whole thing will weigh about 500 pounds.


Or just put it on a cabinet and save the flip top for smaller machines.

 

[arcwick08]

My midi lathe sits on one of the work bench unit thingers from Lowes. Faster was better than cheaper for me at the time.
It's got drawers and everything already and is pretty sturdy for $200. Only thing I did was add a piece of 3/4" ply to the top to stiffen things up. No vibration problems (within reason)

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?productId=50109236

 

[jgt1942]

As suggested most lathes are too heavy to be lifting up. However is you install a pulley system it would be possible to lift much more than any lathe will weigh. Following is an image of my Nova 3000 and a stand I recently built. I modified a suggested stand in the owners manual. The open bottom was for extra weight if needed, as it turns out I don't think I need extra weight and I've been using it for about 6 months. The only time I had trouble when I mounted a large piece of wood that was not centered. Over the bed I can turn something in the 11" dia range if I need to turn something larger I can swing the headstock 180 degrees and turn about 7' dia. However I don't see myself turning something this big. If I turn something big then I will need a lot more weight in the bottom.
View attachment 15009
Also in the open area I will be installing some drawers for sand paper (I highly suggest the Mirka Abranet Ace disk). I sometimes start as low as 40 grit and work my way up to at least 600. On somethings I go as high as 2000. Other drawers will be used for chucks, rest and other lathe tools (not the turning tools). Thus I'm still playing with the drawer design. The wood for the ends, bottom and top are 2x4's on their sides glued together thus they are just over 3" thick. The bottom front and back for the extra weight is a 2x8.

Still pending are the screw-down stabilizers and wheels. I can move the lathe and stand with difficulty but wheels would make it much easier. The wheels will be such that they can be easily moved up and down.

The center of your lathe should be about elbow height, for me this was 48", my height is 6' 1".

I used SketchUp to create my design mainly because it forces me to think more about what I'm doing.

The light I used is an LED light, a friend of mine purchased one similar for Woodcraft and his has a much longer neck and I prefer his light.

You did not mention what type of lathe you were looking at, whatever you get I highly suggest one with a variable speed. I have to move belts to adjust my speed, while it is easy it is a pain and I'm looking for a great deal on a larger lathe with speed adjustment.

 

[Rick M]

I think it's more useful to use the lathe stand for lathe stuff storage. Between tools and accessories you will have plenty to store.