Lathe location

[scott stoner]

Hello,
I have a fully restored Powermatic PM90 lathe , that I hope to start using.
I/m a beginner and have only turned a few times.
I'm laying out my shop and I'm not sure how much space to leave between the back of the lathe and the wall.

The shop space is narrow so I planned on keeping the lathe parallel to the wall . But I'm open to suggestions.
I don't plan on attempting any out board turning, but would like to attempt bowls as large as the lathe will handle.

Thanks
Scott

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Scott,
The bulk of your chips and shavings will come toward you. I like to have my back to a wall so the chips stop. Leave enough room to be comfortable. My lathe is just over 4' from the wall behind me. I keep a chest of drawers containing chucks and accessories to my right. Sand paper rack on top of that chest. On the other side and behind me is my tool rack. Aside that is the grinder. I also keep a garbage container behind me that is positioned to catch many of the curls as they bounce off the wall. Saves some sweeping. It would save more if I had better aim. I rough turn bowls left handed so I can stay to the right of my work and out of harms way.
faust

[Thomas Canfield]

Leave enough room for the longest bowl gouge length from center (or just slightly past center) to wall or obstruction as minimum. A special short handle bowl gouge has helped me get the undercut on a bowl when a standard long handle would be a problem. I also like to have a shower curtain or similar to protect the wall from sap when turning wet wood, and also cover any things that might be mounted on wall which is a lot of storage space. A light on the backside to shine inside turnings also needs to be considered.

[John K Jordan]

Some of the positioning might depend on what you turn the most. I do more spindle turning but do turn bowls and platters, etc. I like my lathes quite close to the wall. I cover the wall with hanging chuck keys, calipers, rolls and strips of sandpaper, lights on swing arms, small shelves for small stuff - things I use very often and want within arm's reach. The primary lathe is kind of in a corner with other tools in drawers just a step away and a handy rolling cabinet with a more drawers, shelves, and a small table top. Most of the shavings fall into a large tub under the lathe - I use a larger one now than when the picture below was taken. Almost all the wood I turn is dry.

These two students are at the two lathes I use the most. The one on the right is also close to a wall but hard to see - the coiled blue air hose is on the end of a short wall.

333781

If I mostly did large things from green wood I might want more space behind the lathe. Been there, done that, like the smaller things from dry wood better!

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

I had my first lathe on a bench against a wall. When hollowing, it was a real challenge to contort my body to hollow the inside closest to me. Some people recommended that I put the lathe in reverse and cut on the opposite side. But my chuck would unscrew and my lathe didn't run in reverse.

On my second lathe, I had enough room reserve to go to the opposite side of the lathe occasionally when hollowing. I have found that it is very useful to go to the other side of the lathe when hollowing. You can hold the tools close to your body and have good control. Conversely, when hollowing from the "front" of the lathe, it requires you to hold your arms in front of you and try to control you movements. This just is not natural or particularly controllable.

So leave room to work from both sides.

[Pat Scott]

My lathe is 3-4' from the wall (garage door). That's enough room for me to walk around behind it and clean up shavings, plus it's enough room for my dust collector hose on a stand. If you had a real wall, you could make a bracket that mounts to the wall for the dust hose and get by with less distance from the wall.

[Thom Sturgill]

My lathe is 3-4' from the wall (garage door). That's enough room for me to walk around behind it and clean up shavings, plus it's enough room for my dust collector hose on a stand. If you had a real wall, you could make a bracket that mounts to the wall for the dust hose and get by with less distance from the wall.

My current lathe is in the middle of the shop floor, but before I had the current shop it was up against a wall. Impossible to clean behind and when pulling off a dust mask, I once lost a hearing aid. Did not find it until we moved!

If placing close to a wall, angle the lathe if you can. This would allow access to the tail end for hollowing and should you launch an item it will not bounce straight back at you.

[William C Rogers]

I also have a PM 90. A very heavy lathe. Right now mine is about two feet from the wall, but not enough room to walk behind. The way the cabinet is designed when you drop something between the ways it goes to the back of the lathe. I am in the process of raising mine for a 18" swing and when I pull the head and motor off I am going to move it where I can walk behind. Even though most chips are forward, you still get a good amount behind the lathe. After I move it I am going to steal John's idea and put a bin behind it.

[Michael Mills]

Mine is almost against the wall much like in John's picture. Assuming you have a compressor then the extensions arm (30") makes quick work of cleaning out behind/under it. My cabinet is wall mounted behind it so everything is within a couple of steps.
Having the open space behind me frees up space for fans, heaters, or other tools.

[Justin Stephen]

In my old shop, I turned with my back against a wall (probably about 4' gap). In my current shop, it is too small to do that so I turn with my back facing the middle of the room. The shop is so small that every large tool I own except the lathe is on casters and I pull each tool away from the wall to the middle, plug it into a hanging power cord spool from the ceiling, connect the DC and use it, pushing it back when done. I only have one DC hose so it is admittedly kind of annoying to get behind the lathe, disconnect the hose from the hood, pull it into the middle of the room to connect to the table saw/bandsaw/whatever and then reverse again when done.

I am probably about to move again (I may soon become a Virginian) and will have more space in the new house and have been thinking about lathe placement a lot. While larger, the workshop will be oddly shaped. I think I am leaning towards turning with my back to the wall again, mostly just to make moving the DC hose around easier.

[John K Jordan]

Mine is almost against the wall much like in John's picture. Assuming you have a compressor then the extensions arm (30") makes quick work of cleaning out behind/under it. My cabinet is wall mounted behind it so everything is within a couple of steps.
Having the open space behind me frees up space for fans, heaters, or other tools.

I have positioned my lathes against the wall in the three shops I've had since I began turning. My last shop was in a one-car garage and one person had to go out for the other one to walk past the lathe!

I have no trouble cleaning behind the lathe. Most chips fall in the tubs which I pull out to empty then sweep or vacuum behind. Shavings at my feet are easy to clean up.

If I did a lot of very large turnings OR a lot of hollowing I too might consider providing space to walk behind the lathe. However, unlike most shops (ha!) space is at a premium in my shop with the office, turning, flat wood, wood storage, electronics, weld shop, machine shop, etc... My lathe alcove is about 8'x12' which would allow one lathe away from the walls or two lathes against the walls. I realize many advantages with more than one lathe.

I can still turn large things and hollow in this configuration but it is more effort. (I do turn in reverse when appropriate - a chuck with a locking set screw keeps the chuck tight.)

Again, I do believe the positioning of the lathe depends a lot on what kind of turning you do. A blanket assertion that one configuration best or necessary might not consider the needs of every turner.

JKJ

[William C Rogers]

With my PM 90 enclosed cabinet you can't really access easily underneath. If it were an open stand it is much different. Right now mine is against the wall, but I am going to move it out. Everything you drop goes behind the lathe. I always reaching for the grabber or magnet.

[John K Jordan]

With my PM 90 enclosed cabinet you can't really access easily underneath. If it were an open stand it is much different. Right now mine is against the wall, but I am going to move it out. Everything you drop goes behind the lathe. I always reaching for the grabber or magnet.

At one time I thought about building a cabinet and enclosing under my lathe. I imagined creating a kind of tray that would extend to the wall to catch everything. Would that work for you?

I would put a dust collector hose there somewhere on a separate blast gate to suck up the shavings. I don't know if I would leave the suction on all the time - I too often drop still-good pieces of sandpaper and even small turnings I've just parted off!

JKJ

[Jon Nuckles]

I have a PM 3520 with the 18 inch extension mounted on it. I keep my lathe against the wall, but slide it out to clean behind it and to turn off the end. I have a painted wood floor and the lathe slides pretty easily. I clean up every time I turn.

[scott stoner]

Hello William
I'm thinking of raising my lathe, and putting a VFD on it. I come across 3 phase motors at work and work on a lot of equip with VFDs
What are you making your riser block out of?
thanks
Scott

[scott stoner]

Thanks everyone for the advise
I think Ill start out against the wall and see how it works out
Since my shop is narrow

[William C Rogers]

At one time I thought about building a cabinet and enclosing under my lathe. I imagined creating a kind of tray that would extend to the wall to catch everything. Would that work for you?

I would put a dust collector hose there somewhere on a separate blast gate to suck up the shavings. I don't know if I would leave the suction on all the time - I too often drop still-good pieces of sandpaper and even small turnings I've just parted off!

JKJ

John, I thought of that, but any type of shelf would need to be below the ways as anything dropped between the ways goes to the back. So still somewhat of a reach. I'm trying to decide if I turn it 90 degrees (tail stock to the wall) or just move it out another 18". I've been living with it against the wall as that was how I thought I wanted it. Just keep the grabber and magnet handy. Since I'm raising the swing I'm going to change how it is setting. Even after I take the head and motor off I may still need to bring the tractor in as the PM 90 with a cabinet base does not slide. If my lathe was open underneath I would probably be against the wall.

edit: I do have a dust collection hose right by the lathe.

[john taliaferro]

My lathe is 12 degrees to the wall out on the tail stock end and it makes turning straight difficult ,almost impossible sometimes . Even with level lines on the wall .