Dumb Question

[Noah Barfield]

I think I know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

My lathe arrives tomorrow and I've built a wooden stand to raise it up. Currently my garage has 1/2 interlocking dense foam tiles / mats on the floor. Should I remove the tiles and place the stand & lathe directly on the concrete? Or will I be ok placing the stand & lathe on the foam tiles?

Noah

[Norm Zax]

I think I wouldnt rely on a foam base even for a mini lathe. Dont remove the tiles, just clear four holes for the legs.

[Josh Bowman]

Noah, first off, congratulations on the new lathe. The lathe will be better off on concrete. To that end I even have bags of sand in a "tool shelf" to give it even more stability. Looking forward to seeing you first project off the lathe.

[David Gilbert]

I also have the foam tiles on my shop floor. I have a Jet 1642 that weighs several hundred pounds. It's heavy enough that when I first placed my lathe on the tiles it depressed small circles where the feet were. It flattens these spots so well that they stay depressed when you move your lathe. Since I have moved my lathe at least four times I have a series of depressions that are only good for collecting my wood shavings and dust. My solution is to place the lathe on a couple of board to distribute the weight and then I can move it around as much as I want. To answer your question, I don't think that you need to cut out spots in the foam pads. The lathe will create its own.

I haven't added ballast to my lathe. Since I have variable speed my approach is to turn the blank slowly enough that the lathe doesn't rock too much when I first start. Once the blank is approaching something round, I can increase the speed. There was a thread here about adding ballast and how much it stabilized the lathe. As I remember, it wasn't as much as I expected.

Enjoy your new lathe!

Cheers,

David

[Jim Burr]

What kind of lathe is it?

[David E Keller]

I think I'd place it directly on the hard surface, but I don't know that it's imperative... If I was going to be a big PITA, I'd probably just place it over the tiles.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Whether you place your new lathe directly on the tiles, a board or the concrete - remember that you will want to be sure and level it. It does make a difference in performance and is something to check each time you move your lathe.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I would cut holes and make sure it is sitting on the concrete. I agree that it should be level.

[Noah Barfield]

Thanks all for the advice! I wound up cutting holes for my new Jet 1642-2. It is ever so slightly off-level. Given that I've bolted it directly to a wooden stand, how do I make it level? Would you recommend some kind of shims? I'll post pictures shortly.

Noah