Lathe stand height?

[Jerry Ingraham]

I'm watching a Richard Raffan video that I found at the library and i notice that his lathe's drive center is at about midway between his navel and chest height. It seems to give him good leverage there. is there a recommended height? Mine is a Grizzly and is quite a bit shorter than that, placing the drive center at about my navel. Do any of you seasoned turners have advice on this?

[Jim Becker]

The generally agreed upon "starting" point for spindle height can be measured (with help) by standing straight and bending your elbow so that your lower arm is parallel to the floor. Have someone measure the distance from the floor to your elbow. That should be where you start relative to height. You may need it a little taller, depending on the kind of turning you do, how you use your tooling and what tooling you use. I needed mine slightly higher for that reason to be comfortable.

[Michael McDuffie]

Jerry,
I'm about 6' 1" and have four layers of 3/4" MDF between the stand and my Grizzly lathe. That puts it at "elbow height" for me and made it more comfortable to work at.

Michael

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I'm 6'3". When I built my stand, the top is at 36". That puts the spindle point where it is comfortable for me.

Bruce

[Pat Salter]

My old Yates-American needs 3/4" plywood on some 4X4's, but WHAT a differance. Yeah, elbow high is the right one for me.

[Jerry Ingraham]

I went back to the library and found that they had the companion book to Raffan's video and in there he says the same as all of you-start at elbow height and adjust from there. I'm going to lift mine tonite and see where I need to be. Thanks for your help.