Need to build a metal lathe bench

[mlitt12345]

Hello, I need to build a bench for my 240lb 8 x 12 HF lathe. Open to suggestions on what material and how you would build it. I do have some leftover metal from another project I could use...... 1/2" thick 48" x 30" steel plate for top, 4" x 1/8" square stock for legs, 3" x 1/4" angle for braces. This seems like major over kill for this small lathe, what do you guys think? The lathes footprint is 30" long by 18" wide, guess I could use the left over space on the bench to mount other stuff like vice etc. Thanks for any advise.

Mike

 

[rsanter]

Im going to send you in a different direction.
dont build a bench
go back to HF and buy one of those 40'' toolboxes and then mount the lathe on that.
it will be mobile and you will have the storage for the lathe tooling

if you do decide to make your own bench you will want drawers for tooling
you can mount a mid chest underneath, however you really need to look at option 1 above

bob

 

[mlitt12345]

Im going to send you in a different direction.
dont build a bench
go back to HF and buy one of those 40'' toolboxes and then mount the lathe on that.
it will be mobile and you will have the storage for the lathe tooling

if you do decide to make your own bench you will want drawers for tooling
you can mount a mid chest underneath, however you really need to look at option 1 above

bob

Thanks Bob, Did you go this route with your lathe? My only concern would be is it rigid enough on casters? Would love to see some pics, the drawers would be a plus.

 

[NUTTSGT]

You could combine what Bob suggested and what you want. You could build a frame for that HF box to sit in and have a steel top for the lathe to sit on.

It's not the best picture but if you look in the background, my step-dad started to built a rolling frame for a 40" Craftsman bottom box. He never finished it and I changed the design a little bit and made a rolling stand for my miter saw.

 

[lilredex]

If you do build your own, go something like this one. You can never have too many drawers, as has been already mentioned.



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Not mine unfortunately, just a picture on file.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Drawers for tooling underneath a lathe is a good idea. I would not place a lathe on a wheeled bench due to bed twist and accuracy considerations.

 

[muibubbles]

id recommend a top that has a "tub/pool" so if/when you are using coolant it doesnt spill everywhere.. drawers are also a huge +++ who doesnt like drawers?!?! more room for your tooling/Acc!!!

 

[ptschram]

Drawers for tooling underneath a lathe is a good idea. I would not place a lathe on a wheeled bench due to bed twist and accuracy considerations.

Folks usually don't buy those lathes with much consideration for such things.

Both of my 9" South Bends are on wooden benches. Works surprisingly well although I do get some chatter once in awhile.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Folks usually don't buy those lathes with much consideration for such things.

Both of my 9" South Bends are on wooden benches. Works surprisingly well although I do get some chatter once in awhile.

Nothing wrong with a wooden bench without wheels. Keeping the twist out of the bed ways is the main consideration, or you will never get a cut on a long turn without taper.

 

[ptschram]

Nothing wrong with a wooden bench without wheels. Keeping the twist out of the bed ways is the main consideration, or you will never get a cut on a long turn without taper.

Or consistent threads, or any of a number of things.

My primary lathe is on a cheapie wooden workbench kit from one of the lumber yards, it was quick and dirty, gets the job done. The one with the collet chuck on it is a heavy wood bench that's probably as old as the two of us together (er, I'm getting to where I can't say that any more!), it and the lathe came out of the Stewart-Warner SouthWind plant in Indy-they made heaters for aircraft from the war to about '88. The bench is heavier than he lathe!

 

[larry_g]

I've had a couple of Logan 10" lathes. One was on a steel table with 1" square legs and a 3/8" top. The other was on a wooden bench similar to what is pictured above. I found that the steel bench would set up a resonance and the chatter was bad. The wooden bench would absorb and dampen the vibrations. With a 1/2" top and the smaller lathe you should be ok.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[regguy1]

I built one out of wood, lathe weighs 600 lbs..... never any trouble.
It was a very simple build. metal top (thin) with 2- 3/4" flake board under it.

 

[mlitt12345]

Thanks for the replies and pics... I got to have some drawers for it now. I just seen Steevo's work bench he built using tool boxes and really like it. I could do the same thing but anchor my frame down with concrete anchors and use double nuts to level it with.

Mike

 

[steel 35]

Thanks for the replies and pics... I got to have some drawers for it now. I just seen Steevo's work bench he built using tool boxes and really like it. I could do the same thing but anchor my frame down with concrete anchors and use double nuts to level it with.

Mike

You are on a roll! and I would use the same feet steevo is and you should be just fine, one of those boxes is going to get heavy enough real fast, don't cut the lenth of that top leave it long so you can mount a vise or grinder to it as well. I have been thinking about building the same thing for my ongoing project.

Post pictures

 

[lilredex]

This is the bench that came with mine. It has a 4 X 4" frame with a 2 X 6" edge glued top. Never found that it was high enough, with those grey step up blocks, it now has a spindle center line of 47". Just right for me at 5ft 6 in.
One of these days I'll get around to pulling that front off and build a slide in bank of drawers similar to that one I posted above.



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Note those boxes on the floor. I keep spare chucks and faceplates down there, and they do get heavy. There no room for wheels, so I added these to help out.



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[gorilla]

A lathe really doesn't care if it's level or not, it cares if the bed is twisted. Think about a lathe on a ship. A level is a simple way to check for twist. You check at both ends of the bed and make them both exactly the same. Make your bench top strong enough that you can shim any twist out of the lathe.

 

[steel 35]

Now I will be checking to see if one will fit here as well.

 

[mjb]

I built mine out of 1.25" square 13 gauge with a .25" top. Bought a couple of cabinets on sale and I was set.

Good luck!

 

[rsanter]

A lathe really doesn't care if it's level or not, it cares if the bed is twisted. Think about a lathe on a ship. A level is a simple way to check for twist. You check at both ends of the bed and make them both exactly the same. Make your bench top strong enough that you can shim any twist out of the lathe.

very true and exactly what I was going to say.
yes if I was dealing with a big lathe I would level it in all directions and then leave it alone but smaller lathes are like the OP has is on a fairly rigid backbone so all it needs is to be attaches to a board or plate and trued/squared so that it will run true. to do that be sure you leave it in one place during the setup process and then after that when you move it on its mobile base it will remain true to itself.
added note. I hate to say it but when you are dealing with one of these imported general purpose lathes that are only so accurate from the factory and they are intended for general purpose use and not high precision. if you want high precision you will need a much better lathe guys....

bob

 

[rsanter]

Thanks Bob, Did you go this route with your lathe? My only concern would be is it rigid enough on casters? Would love to see some pics, the drawers would be a plus.

yes I did
take a look at the pictures and I think we have almost the same lathe but from different sources. it has worked great and I wouldnt have it any other way. originally I was going to make a frame and put 2 26'' cman toolboxes (used) underneath but when the HF boxes were on sale I bought the HF box for $271 out the door. I was going to use a butcher block top from IKEA but this laminate covered top was given to me and was the right size other than being too deep (trimmed it off a bit)
the lathe is bolted through the top and to the toolbox
the setup moves around my garage without any tipping problems but I will say that will all the tooling I have the box feels a little 'heavy' to move.
the lathe has even been loaded onto a flatbed truck with a liftgate and taken to a friends to be used there for a few weeks

also look at the pictures of the Cman lathe (which has since been sold) that was mounted mobile on a Cman workbench. this setup worked great but the wheels were not as good. look in the backgound at the mill on the mobile base

in the last picture take note how nice the free priority mail boxes fit in the drawers to be used as cheap divider system. not **** or fancy but works great and keeps the stuff organized

feel free to use any of these ideas as you will and you can buy me a beer if I even find myself in your neck of the woods
bob

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[mlitt12345]

There all great ideas....thanks for the pics. It helped steer me in the right direction. I will post some pics of mine when it is finished.

Mike

 

[Brad54]

I've been looking for a really inexpensive, Craftsman/Atlas lathe.
When I find one, I'll mount it on a piece of I-beam, with box-tube legs set up like a saw horse.
The legs will be capped with machine leveling pads with rubber feat (like a hockey puck), and I'll put a roll-away under it for tooling.

-Brad

 

[NASTYZEN]

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Your mill is on wheels?!
First time I see that. I love GJ.....

 

[mlitt12345]

Hello, my lathe bench is almost complete. I used my Hobart stick welder to put it together and my 2 post lift helped with the heavy lifting. I'm a noob welder so the welds are not the prettiest but they will do, practice makes perfect. Still need to prime and paint the lower metal under the table and install the lathe and see how much room is left over on the table top for other goodies vice etc. Here are a few pics.

Mike

 

[rsanter]

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Your mill is on wheels?!
First time I see that. I love GJ.....

yes and its one of the bast things I have done
in the last house I had an even smaller garage and didnt have the space for free room around the mill as you would need. so I built the base so it could be sucked into its hole and then pulled out for use.
I have moved (from house to house) the mill twice since and it makes it really easy to put on a trailer
the base is 6x6 angle about 5/16 thick (surplus) and the wheels were given to me by a friend. there is rubber between the base or the mill and the mobile base to give it a 'seat' and assure that it will not rock and it will be less susceptable to any flexing in the base ( which I have not detected)
15 years later I have had no troubles with this setup

bob

 

[SWells]

Here are a couple fo pics of the bench I made for my 3 in 1 (Lathe/mill/drill).

 

[sanddrag]

I have the Harbor Freight 8x12 lathe on a piece of 3/4" MDF on a Harbor Freight 13-drawer chest and it works just fine. I never even bolted it down and it hasn't given me any problems yet. Been using it that way for about 3 years or so.

 

[tkbowman]

I mounted my SB 9" lathe to a cast iron former punch card reader stable. The table is almost as heavy as the lathe.

 

[demographic]

For a start off I'll admit that I basically know next to nothing about using a lathe but I was reading a 1950s Machinists handbook recently which mentioned that they used to make the benches for precision grinders with three legs because that meant that the bed wasn't twisted by the bench.

Made sense to me.

 

[rsanter]

the type and weight of the lathe are important to if it will twist or not

the atlas/cman type lathes that many people here have can get their bed twisted by bolting them down because they are a fairly light casting. this is easily fixed by shimming.
if the bench its on is rigid enough then it wont matter if the setup is moven around.

very early bench lathes as well as most modern ones have a heavy cast backbone with only 2 mounting points and will make them less suceptable to mounting making the bad twist or misalign

old even very large lathes that sat on the floor needed to be leveled not to make them level but to make all parts of the bed true to one another and 'level' is just easier as a refrence

bob

 

[darkzero]

I used to have that same lathe (it's actually an 8x14) sitting on a cheap Craftsman Workbench. I used a drop pan replacement for a dog kennel as a chip pan & it was a perfect fit. Had just enough room to fit my litttle surface plate on the right. I only had three drawers under it but those three drawers were so very convienent.

Sometimes I miss it, it was a great lathe after all the tweaks & I learned alot on it.

 

[mlitt12345]

Darkzero, thanks for the pics I really like your chip pan, may have to incorporate that idea for my lathe. What QCTP is that? I need to get one for mine, been looking at lathemasters and little machine shops. I bought the HF lathe to learn on, eventually I will get a bigger one and a mill. This hobby is addicting. Mike

 

[rickairmedic]

Well there goes $200.00 bucks .

http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3534&category=


The A2Z set is great by the way .


One other option for a cheap chip tray is an oil drip pan from the automotive section at Wally World .


Rick

 

[mlitt12345]

Here are a couple fo pics of the bench I made for my 3 in 1 (Lathe/mill/drill).

Nice looking bench, are you putting in any shelving or tool boxes under there for tooling?
Mike

 

[mlitt12345]

I have the Harbor Freight 8x12 lathe on a piece of 3/4" MDF on a Harbor Freight 13-drawer chest and it works just fine. I never even bolted it down and it hasn't given me any problems yet. Been using it that way for about 3 years or so.

I mounted my SB 9" lathe to a cast iron former punch card reader stable. The table is almost as heavy as the lathe.

Do ya have any pics? I keep getting so many good ideas for mine.

Mike

 

[darkzero]

Darkzero, thanks for the pics

Yup no problem. Hope you don't mind but since it's your thread, I'll post some of the mods I did to my 8x14. With a few mods & adjustments, the 8x14 can turn out great parts.

I really like your chip pan, may have to incorporate that idea for my lathe.

One other option for a cheap chip tray is an oil drip pan from the automotive section at Wally World .

An oil drip pan is a great solution & is what I originally used. But for the size I liked, around here I could not find a "flat" one. They all had raised lettering/logo which the spindle side sat on. You can see it in the pic below. The main reason why I went with something else as it affected the leveling of the lathe. I really like the chip pan I got after as it fit my Craftsman bench better & had higher edges to catch the chips, plus it was flat.

What QCTP is that? I need to get one for mine, been looking at lathemasters and little machine shops.

LMS (LittleMachineShop) are great people with great products. But I choose not to get the A2Z mainly cause it was made of aluminum. For light duty use it's fine but I've heard of people stripping them.

I went with the LM (Lathemaster) QCTP since it was designed for this lathe. As you probably know, the LM8x14 & HF8x14 (named 8x12) are identical lathes, made in the same factory. The LM QCTP bolts right on with no modifications needed to the compound. And it's an AXA size. I don't think the A2Z is an industry standard size.

I used the LM modified tool holders too. However, to use 1/2" tools, you still need to mill 30-40 thou off the bottom of the LM holders otherwise the 1/2" tools will not reach centerline of the spindle.

Here's the lowest I got with 1/2" tools with an unmilled LM holder.

On the left is a milled LM holder, on the right is an unmilled LM holder.

Also milled the parting blade holder.

And with the LM QCTP you could always buy AXA holders from elsewhere cheaper & mill them down. I took most of mine to a local engine machine shop & they milled them for cheap. Or mill the compound for the QCTP to sit lower so you don't have to mill each holer.


I added knobs for quicker access. You'll find yourself opening the drive cover quite often.

Belt changes for speed sucked. So I used a Fenner Power Twist belt (3/8" width) to make the belt length slightly longer. This allowed the belt to be removed much easier. I also change the hex head bolt for the belt tensioner to a hex socket bolt, much easier to use a hex t-handle to loosen/tighten the tensioner.

The change gears for the leadscrew are noisy. Since changing the gears also *****, I left them set to a TPI that I used often rather than for feeding. I just feed by hand most of the time. To reduce wear on the change gears, to the right of the bottom gear is the adjuster, I loosen the bolt & pull the top of the assy slightly back so it disengages from the spindle. Quick & easy.


If you're going to do any threading, it's a good investment to get the speed reduction pulley from LM. http://lathemaster.com/SPEED%20REDUCTION%20PULLEY.htm
It's pricey but well worth it. Don't forget that when you use it, you'll have to switch the spindle direction as the plentary gears inside it makes it spin the opposite direction. It's possible to thread fine at 125 RPM (lowest speed stock) but if you're threading coarser TPI it can be pretty interesting at that speed.

These are the speeds I got with it.
RPM Actual
2000 2459
1000 1269
620 840
420 205 (RP)
210 103 (RP)
125 60 (RP)

Or do a DC varibale speed motor conversion.


When I called HF they told me the back splash was discontinued (early 2009). So I contacted LM & they agreed to sell me one.

The coumpound bolts stripped out in less than a couple of months. Couldn't find quality replacements easily so I got some grade 8 hex head bolts, threadeded them, cut them off & used them as the nuts inside the cross slide. I then used hex socket bolts. I used metric so I still only had to keep a metric set of hex t-handles by the lathe. Never had a problem with stripping them again.

I even did this to my 12x36 even though they never stripped. I just find it much more convienent to use a hex wrench than an open end wrench.

The threading dial is what limits the travel to the right. If you remove it you'll gain extra bed travel. But if you choose to always leave it on like I did, replace the hex socket bolts for the half nuts (between the apron & the threading dial) with set screws. I shortened the set screws to the shortest possible length to reduce how much they stick out. I then shortened the spacer for the threading dial. You don't gain much but every little bit helps on a mini lathe.

For the tailstock, making a quick release cam lever would be best, but if you never get around to making one, add a long spring on the bolt in between the bottom of the tailstock & the plate that locks onto the ways. The spring tension will help it release better when you loosen the tailstock nut.

I also shortened the arbors on my drill chucks & centers that had a tang. This gets you more tailstock travel for drilling. Again not much but every little bit helps. Just don't shorten them too much or you won't be able to eject them out of the tailstock ram. I also made a plug for the tailstock to keep unwanted chips out. Since the lathe is short, leaving a drill chuck or center can get in the way.

a 5" chuck is the largest chuck I would put on the 8x14. Some people have put a 6". LMS sells a bolt on adapter & I really loved using the 5" 3-jaw. That is until I got a 5" Bison 6-jaw Set-Tru. The price new cost almost 3 times than what I paid for the lathe on sale & with discount. Luckily I got the chuck used at half price. But I had to make a back plate for it. (I have plenty of pics of when I made the backplate for it, I won't post unless someone's interested)

If you use the carriage lock often, you can add a handle in place of the bolt. Kipp makes multi position handles that allow you to pull up on the handle & move it into a different position after it has been tightened down. I did not figure this out until I got my 12x36 but you can easily add one to the 8x14.

Here it is locked/tightened.

Then pulled up.

And moved into a different position

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting but I've probably bored you enough already.

 

[mlitt12345]

Thanks darkzero for the info and pics. Looks like I will be busy now doing all these tweaks.

Mike

 

[Richard D]

Lots of good tricks on the import lathe. I was too lazy and gave mine away and got a Southbend. Mounted it to a steel industrial desk, $40 off Craigslist.

 

[bad_idea]

i'm going to have to stop reading this forum! you people make me want more toys! now a small lathe is added to my list of toys to buy for my already crowded 14x20 garage.

 

[BellyUpFish]

I thinking about grabbing a Grizzly 602 and am considering sticking it on the HF 44" tool cabinet..

The issue is that the lathe is 46" and the box is only 44".

I'm considering a wooden top laid on the HF cabinet to help get the length I need and maybe dampen some of the possible vibs.

Any of you guys with some experience here see any issues with this?