3520B Question

[Richard Kennedy UK]

Hello again

Just a quick question do you bolt your 3520B's to the floor? I recently posted a question relating to the ideal floor for a mustard monster as it turns out there is to much play in my double skinned timber floor so I must put some concrete pads down for her to sit on but the question is should I be bolting her down too?

All tips and answers welcome! I have jigsaw I will cut soon! (just have to raise the courage to cut holes in a perfectly good floor!!!!!!!!!!!):eek:

Richard

[Brian Libby]

I would not bolt to floor. I feel the lathe is heavy enough (especially when weight is added ) so that "walking" should not be a problem if leveled properly.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Same here. I turn 20+ inch bowls and once rounded, it runs smooth as silk. I think having the ability to go as slow as 50rpm on a 3520 negates a lot of the necessity of bolting it down. Try it without it. You can always change your mind later.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mine is not bolted down. I have turned a few large out of balance turnings on it without any walking occurring.

[Nate Davey]

If it's the floor that is the issue, than no amount of weight added to your PM will help, IMHO. Can you get under the floor and add more shoring under that lathe?

[bob svoboda]

I have a particle board floor over joists in my shop. Even with added weight I was getting a lot of 'rock' with out of balance pieces because the entire floor was flexing. I added a plywood layer and bolted my 3520b down and it completely solved the issue.

[Tom Hintz]

I've been using my 3520B for five or six years now including turning some bowl blanks that had everyone else standing outside until I got them rounded some. I never have bolted it to the floor and have not had to chase it anywhere. I used the variable to keep things going slow when they should go slow and then speed it up as I get the wood more rounded. No problems so far.

[Baxter Smith]

Mine sits on a 3/4 inch plywood floor on 1" thick sleepers spaced 12"oc on a concrete floor. Even with the legs sitting directly over a sleeper I had vibration with unbalanced pieces. I added a 350# ballast box and it is better but I can still see room for improvement. If I was going to be turning offcenter or unbalanced finished pieces very often, I definitely would be tempted to bolt it down.

[ferguson jeff]

I had a 3520 for many years and had it bolted down for most of them. It did help reduce vibration, but only for a while. That stress has to go somewhere, and in a sliding headstock lathe a lot of it goes to the connection between the headstock and the bed. If a piece was even slightly off balance, I could feel the movement between the headstock and bed, no matter how tight I tried to get the connection. The 3520 connects the headstock and bed by a small round plate with surprisingly little surface area involved. The vibration for me got worse and worse (especially when trying to core) until I had the entire headstock replaced and unbolted it from the floor. Sometimes when coring I could get 1/4" or more of shadow around a blank while spinning that was partly from the headstock-bed connection that was weakened by bolting down. I now have an American Beauty, and it used a large plate and two bolts to secure the headstock to the bed, but I am still too nervous to bolt it down again.

[Joe Scarfo]

Not only is mine not bolted down.... it's mounted on 3" or maybe 4" casters from Woodcraft.... it seems to do ok for me...

I'll try to post again once I hoist up a couple of the big burls I've got hanging around waiting for something to be done with them....

I bought an elec chainsaw for trimming blanks round... i went elec so I would never have to worry about trying to start a very infrequently used chain saw... so no turning the big boys untill I've got the chainsaw thing worked out.

Low and behold... after a winter of non use.... the elec one is dead.... yeeeesh...