Best Ballast for PM3520B? What worked for you?

[Dan Case LR]

I'm working with some less-than-balanced blanks and need to add some weight to my PM3520B. Before I spend too much design time on a ballast box ("recreating the wheel") I'd like to see what some other Powermatic users have come up with and what does and doesn't work well. I basically want to add as much weight as I can within reason.

If you've added weight to your PM3520B, What did you use? Has it worked well for you? Anything you'd do differently if you were rebuilding it?

Thanks!

D.

[John K Jordan]

I'm working with some less-than-balanced blanks and need to add some weight to my PM3520B. Before I spend too much design time on a ballast box ("recreating the wheel") I'd like to see what some other Powermatic users have come up with and what does and doesn't work well. I basically want to add as much weight as I can within reason.

If you've added weight to your PM3520B, What did you use? Has it worked well for you? Anything you'd do differently if you were rebuilding it?


Dan, I don't have extra weight on mine (unless you count the bed extension!), but is your lathe somewhat near a wall? Many decades ago a friend of mine figured out how to add a huge mass to his old Delta lathe so he could turn big out-of-balance blanks. He used pipe clamps to fasten the lathe to the wall of his garage. The mass of the wall was far more than he could have added with weights.

JKJ

[Dan Case LR]

Dan, I don't have extra weight on mine (unless you count the bed extension!), but is your lathe somewhat near a wall? Many decades ago a friend of mine figured out how to add a huge mass to his old Delta lathe so he could turn big out-of-balance blanks. He used pipe clamps to fasten the lathe to the wall of his garage. The mass of the wall was far more than he could have added with weights.

JKJ



That sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, my lathe is too far from the wall. Still, a great idea.

D.

[Bill Blasic]

Dan I have a board across the bottom with 3 70lb bags of sand, works fine.

[brian zawatsky]

Im turning on a G0766, which has a very similar configuration to your Powermatic, although I believe the PM is a bit heavier. Just like Bill posted above, I bridged the legs with a couple 2x10s and placed 2 50lb bags of sand under each leg. Worked like a charm, quick and dirty.

[Mike Goetzke]

Dan - I need to build a storage cabinet under my lathe to store my goodies. I came across this LINKY (http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot852.shtml)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dan, I added a ballast box to my Jet 1642 many years ago. Worked great! Here is a link to an old thread that shows just how crude the box is. Ballast Box (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?47406-Jet-1642-2EVS-1-Month-Old-(long)&highlight=ballast)

One thing I would do different today is to use sand instead of quick crete. I am sure that over the years moisture has wicked into the bags and I now have a box full of huge rocks!

[Bob Bouis]

Bags of sand. I don't even know how many. As many as would fit.

I need to go back and put a center support under the 2xs, as they tend to vibrate before the lathe itself does. Gotta get around to hauling my floor jack into the shop...

[Reed Gray]

2 by 12 spanning the bottom, and 'tube' sand, which are tubes of sand, 60 or 80 pounds each, made for putting in the back of a pickup in the winter time, available from my local Ace Hardware store. It doesn't let me turn big unbalanced chunks totally without vibration, but does help a little in the nibbling off process. That is what variable speed is for.

robo hippy

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I added a lot of concrete to my lathe, bolted the floor to the lathe, or the other way around :D

With larger pieces like this 30some inch rootburl a steady lathe is needed, and that I have.

At one time I tried to add stability by bolting it to my shop wall, ONCE ONLY, as I could not shut the lathe down fast enough, it would have taken my wall and brick outer wall out in a minute or less :eek: :eek:

348834

[Stuart Muncer]

Glad you asked this, have the same question. Was considering a shelf and sand bags.

[Dan Case LR]

Thanks guys for all the ideas and comments. For the short term I've put a 2x10 between the legs and I'll pick up some sand bags tomorrow. In the longer run, I want to build a box to contain the sand bags, if for no other reason than the magnetic attraction between bags of sand and sharp tools. I'm working on a design that combines some of the best features and ideas I've seen.

Thanks again!

D.

[William Bachtel]

Best way is to bolt it to the floor.