Lathe stand question

[Dawn Sunkle]

I'm picking my Jet Mini lathe up this weekend and I'm also going to build my own stand for it. Does anyone have any suggestions on the deminsions?
Height? Width?

Thanks for any advice.
Dawn

[John M. Cioffi]

Hi Dawn,


Look at the Penn State catalog...www.pennstateind.com I think that's the address. They show a couple of cabinet type stands you might concider.
I bought the Jet metal stand when when I bought my set up, It came in the whole package,on sale.
Hope this helps.
Happy turning.:)
John

[Matt Meiser]

I made mine from construction lumber and concrete blocks. The concrete blocks are capped top and bottom by 2x material and threaded rod runs through each stack to hold it together. Very quick and very stable.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=9061&stc=1

Height is probably best determined by your personal preference. I was able to adjust the height of mine by adding 2x blocks between the top and the concrete blocks.

[Raymond Overman]

Dawn,

I've read in other forums that the lathe center height should be 2" below your elbow when standing. This gives a comfortable, ergonomically correct stance when turning. As for other dimensions, I suggest larger than the lathe. :)

Weight will be a consideration also so plan for a shelf to hold a sandbag or two. Making it heavier will help when roughing out of round pieces and make the lathe more stable. I've loaded mine down with pavers.

[Harry Pye]

Dawn,

What I have read and experienced differs a bit from Ray's suggestion. And that is to keep the center at about elbow height. I'm tall and that means getting the lathe up fairly high. But it is better to spend a little time getting the height comfortable than to suffer a backache from bending over all the time. I find that if I have to bend just a little bit, my back starts to ache.

Just my 2¢ and you get what you pay for! ;)

[Raymond Overman]

Har,

I'm sorry and you are correct. I looked back at a couple of places and saw where the suggestion is 2" above your elbow. It's been a while since I had to worry about it.

One of the forums I looked at said that Raffan suggested the height in one of his books so it must be right this time. :)

[Robert Cox]

My version of what Matt built

I used 6x6 for the feet, made them longer for stability.

4" concrete blocks, and 3/8" allthread.

When you shop for allthread consider buying some couplers.

I am thinking about moving the lathe to the right to be able to work around the end better.

Pull the plastic feet off and use 5/16" (I think) bolts to hold it down.

Most materials were dictated by what I had on hand.

http://home.comcast.net/~robertcox/Wood/Lathe1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~robertcox/Wood/Lathe2.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Height is important and is a personal thing, but the general starting point is the center of the spindle should be at the same height as your elbow if you stand straight with your arm bent at 90º forward. (Elbow at your side) Please note that I said "starting point"...depending on the type of turning you do, your normal body position and a whole host of personal comfort things, you may want slightly higher or not. Regardless, the base should be sturdy, heavy and have mass that dampens vibration. Too heavy is better than too light!

[Carole Valentine]

Dawn,
The one thing I would suggest that you take into consideration when building a stand is to leave room for your feet and make it so you can get really close to the lathe. That may sound silly, but when turning the inside of bowls, at the start of the cut my right foot is under the lathe, my hip is against it and my right arm (holding the tool handle) is extended way beyond the back of the lathe. That's what I like about the open design of the Jet stand. I have seen cabinet style stands that I think would hamper stance and movement. I do need to add some weight to the Jet stand though. It is fine as long as a piece is reasonably balanced, but a badly out of balance piece will send the whole thing into rock-n-roll mode! Just a newbie's two cents worth. :)

[John Hart]

This is just a goofy little add-on that I'll throw in...I built my lathe stand out of 2X4s in a long cabinet arrangement so I could store stuff underneath with a butcher block kind of top. It was fairly stable but rattled a bit with large odd shaped blanks so I screwed the cabinet to the wall....This worked really well. Also, to help with lower back pain from standing for days on end...I put down some of that interlocking foam floor padding to stand on. It was so cheap and worked so well that I ended up covering the whole shop floor with it.