Best way to mount lathe to bench

[Bob Noles]

Just about to wind up my bench project and get the mini lathe mounted to it. This thing comes with rubber feet covered leveling bolts and looks like it is made to just "sit" on a bench top. Should I do just that or would it be better to remove the levelers and actually bolt the thing to the bench top itself? Not knowing the vibration factor of a lathe with a real blank in it, I am hoping some of you could share your expertise on what would be the way to address this.

TIA

[tod evans]

cinch `er down

[Chris Barton]

Hi Bob,

I just ran 4 2" drywall screws with washers through the tops of the rubber mounts and into the bench below. This keeps the mounts in place to act as vibration isolators.

[John Hart]

Yep...I second and third the motion...leave the rubber in place and cinch 'er down. You'll be amazed at the interia created by a slightly off balanced piece of wood.

[Bob Noles]

Thanks so much. I think I see the light ;)

[Carole Valentine]

Well, I am going to depart from the crowd on the rubber feet if they are like the ones on the Jet Mini. I don't like them, they get brittle and crack. If your bench is smooth and level and the lathe bed is machined properly you shouldn't need the leveler feet. If you feel you must have something under it, run by the hardware store get some rubber fender washers and use bolts...not drywall screws. And speaking of drywall screws NEVER use them to mount a blank to a faceplate! They do not have any shear strength. Sheet metal screws are OK.

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Bob

I will respectfully disagree with the practice of keeping the rubber feet between your lathe and the bench. Yes, they will help moderate vibration, but you want rigidity, not flexibility. If the lathe is free to flex even a little bit on those rubber feet, you are going to lose some of the benefit of having it bolted to the bench.

This kind of problem also manifests itself in those plastic washers people put on the lathe to keep their chuck or faceplate from seizing up on the spindle and making it hard to get off. All it takes is a little bit of flex to frustrate the turner from getting things running round and true. I have seen this personally on a lathe as big as a VB-36, so the size and quality of the machine does not enter into it.

Bill

[Bob Noles]

hmmm.... think I will go with Carole and Bill on this one. When they speak, people listen :D At least this one does :cool:

[John Hart]

Yeah...after rethinking this from an engineering point of view...Bill would be correct. If you view it from an extreme position, the ideal mounting would be an ultra-rigid mount on a 400 ton steel slab. This would give zero vibration, allowing your tool to sit on the rest in a smooth environment. Adding rubber to that arrangement would allow the lathe to move slightly while you and your tool remain stationary. The result would be ripples in your turning. I agree....skip the rubber.

[tod evans]

cinch `er down:)

[Andy Hoyt]

Bob - You put wheels under the bench. So to level it means that you'll always have to put the thing in the same spot thereby defeating the notion of mobility. Level is meaningless.

Do what Tod says, "Cinch 'er down"

[Bob Noles]

Ah, but Andy..... Did you miss those one ton stabilizers on the legs? :D I hope with over 300 lbs sitting on them it will be "Cinched" down pretty good. :cool:




Bob - You put wheels under the bench. So to level it means that you'll always have to put the thing in the same spot thereby defeating the notion of mobility. Level is meaningless.

Do what Tod says, "Cinch 'er down"

[Bernie Weishapl]

I took the rubber off mine and bolted it solid to the bench with lag screws per Bill. I also read where they said you get to much flex with the rubber feet and it can show up in your turnings.

[Lee DeRaud]

...while you and your tool remain stationary.I think that phrase pretty much defines the word "optimistic".:p

[ROBERT SCHUMAN]

I agree with bolting it down, with a mini lathe you probably wont get the sheer force with a big lathe so the bench it self will wiggle enough to keep from damaging the lathe.now on the other hand if you bolted a big lathe rigid..you came bend your ways snap off bolts break cement footings ,you want mass sand lead weights heavy timbers but not rigid .rigid breaks stuff. So on a mini lathe the bench should give it plenty of mass
bolt it down...

[Steve Clardy]

Another----------Bolt it down.

[Chris Barton]

So Bob,

You have some folks suggesting you bolt it down. If I remember correctly, this is a mini lathe you bought right? I am no scientist (hey, wait a minute, I am a scientist) but, I think that you would be unlikely to even be able to notice the difference between the bolt down option versus the screw down option. Bolts will be stronger but, I can get my mini held down by screws off it's base in about 30 seconds using a cordless screw driver. I wonder how long it would take to get the bolts off? You may never need to but, if you did...

[Lee DeRaud]

Bolts will be stronger but, I can get my mini held down by screws off it's base in about 30 seconds using a cordless screw driver. I wonder how long it would take to get the bolts off? You may never need to but, if you did......you probably wouldn't be in that much of a hurry?

[Chris Barton]

Good point!

[Bob Noles]

Just an update....

Based on what I consider the expert advice offered here, I have pre drilled my 2 inch bench top and the lathe to accept lag bolts.... nice big lag bolts at that :eek:

This thing ain't going no where when I'm finished!

Thanks so much for the help and suggestions y'all.

[Gary DeWitt]

Alright, I know you've decided, but I had in mind this great story, so I'm gonna tell you anyway.
I retired from the printing industry couple years back, but I had the opportunity to see two companies I worked for install new presses, one medium size and one newspaper (LARGE) size. In both cases, the prep alone took weeks. The press companies sawed out the floor, dug a trench a bit bigger than the press footprint, and poured a heavily reinforced FOUR FOOT THICK slab of special concrete. See, if a printing press can vibrate even a few thousandths, the print can get blurry...
So, with anything you don't want to vibrate, mass seems to be the answer. By bolting down your lathe, you are extending it's mass, hopefully into the floor.
By the way, when we had the Northridge quake here in '94, the Daily News had to move production off site for months while the press techs got those massive machines alligned within a thousandth again. Even our best engineering can't overcome the power of nature.