Raising Lathe a few inches - question

[John Beaver]

I'd like to raise my lathe by a few inches.

I can probably put some feet on it, but I was wondering if anyone has added wood riser blocks between the stand and the lathe. How did that work?

Which would you recommend?

Thanks.

[Ben Richardson]

I had to add 8" to the base of my Jet 1642 EVS lathe. I used XS stacked and bolted thru where the feet were. It works great no more sore back.

[David Walser]

To raise my lathe to a comfortable spindle height, I put it up on some 2x4s. Each 2x4 is a little wider than the lathe's base (measured from front-to-back, not end-to-end). This widened the lathe's footprint a few inches and gave the lathe a little more stability. I notched the bottom of the 2x4s, creating a foot pad on the end of each board. This made leveling the lathe easier.

Good luck.

[Paul Atkins]

I added blocks to both of my 1460 Delta lathes not only to get height, but to get some distance under the lathe so it's easier to clean and my tools fit under there - and I don't jam a gouge into cast iron as easily either.

[Jeff Nicol]

I needed something better than the feet that came with the 3520B so I made some spanners that go front to back on the feet. They work perfect and the added height is just right! Here is a link to the post I put the pictures under.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=100441

Jeff

[Thom Sturgill]

You didn't mention what lathe you had so we can only address this in generality. Placing wooden 'feet' under the lathe can have several benefits. If on concrete, wood blocks (or boards like Jeff's) can act as a 'softener' between the cast iron and concrete and adsorb some vibration. On a wooden floor, a runner (like Jeff's) helps spread the load so that it is not individual 'point loads'. Wood placed in direct contact with concrete should either be treated or of a specie that resists rot.

If putting something between the cast iron bed and cast iron legs, I think you would rather have something rigid like metal blocks rather than wood. I think something under the legs would work better, and be more easily maintained.

If putting something under a lathe attached to a table, either works fine, and raising the lathe itself has benefits as already mentioned.

[Reed Gray]

I had my PM up on 4 x 4s. Worked fine. The Robust has telescoping legs. After seeing them, I am surprised that this isn't standard on more lathes.

robo hippy

[Jason Solodow]

Depends on what kind of lathe it is, and what the stand is. If it is something like a 1642 or something where the legs are formed and bolted to the lathe, I would not put something in between the legs and lathe. If it's bench mounted, no reason why you couldn't. I currently turn on a Jet 1236 and I had to put it up on concrete filled cinder blocks with 2x8 on top to get it up to a height that was comfortable for me (I'm 6'3") and that works great. The added weight of the cinder blocks and increased footprint certainly made it more stable. Not to mention the 240 pounds of concrete I have placed on the legs...

[Richard Madison]

By my calculations Ben must be at least 6'-6" tall. I had to remove the screw-in feet, although with some turnings I would like it a couple inches higher.

[John Beaver]

Thanks for all the assistance.

It looks like adding something to the feet is the way to go.

I think I'll make some wood blocks with holes for some feet to fit into. This should make it easy to level, and take away any chance for it to walk off the blocks.