Locating the lathe

[Jeff Horton]

With the DeWalt done I will soon have to do something I dread. Rearrange the shop. That means moving everything around! Including the lathe. Just glad I have a engine host loaned to me!!

Here is what I had in mind for lathe area.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/shop_lathe.jpg

I am starting to think about hollowing rig and at some point outboard turning set up. So that means I have to reposition the lathe. The Bowl lathe is on a cabinet that I use for storage mostly. Rarely use this lathe and may even sell it.


http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/shop_lathe2.jpg

This is my first thought. That should give me 5' to the Sharpening bench and over 4" between the back of the lathe and the table. Looks like plenty of room to me. Of course that means wide open spaces for the chips to fly!

I don't have a wall to mount my VFD if I do this or I have to mount in the wall behind me and run cords overhead or on the floor. Had not thought about that till now. I want to mount it off the lathe because it is sensitive to vibrations and dust. I can set up a remote control at the lathe using small gage wire connected back to the VFD and that may be the simple answer.

I am sort of thinking out loud and open to suggestions here. It's funny, when I had a small shop it was easier. There was usually only one place everything would fit. ;)

[Chuck Beland]

Jeff, I'll gladly trade you my 8' x 10' space for yours what do you say:D

[Brad Hart]

I just added my hollowing rig and foudn that it will requires a lot more opperating space than it looks like it should. As far a placing your VFD mine came in a nice metal electrical box which already had some small holes in it. I knew duust could get in it so I put another one larger than the rest at the bottom of the box so less dust got trapped in it when it came in the top. I also use my compressor to blow the and dust out regularly. But to deal with vibration I made use of 2 mounting holes by running a length of thin rope through them and hung several hooks from my cieling joists in strategic places near the lathe. This way I could move the controller where I wanted it (or close to it) from any angle I was working at on the lathe. Also having a foot switch when hollowing is a right pleasure, there is less to think about when that long piece of wood starts vibvrating and going off center.

BTW if you want to control where wild shavings go I have a friend who uses shower curtains hung from the cieling that encircles his lathe about 2 feet on each side. This keeps shaings off his wife's 1963 porche (of course me I would simply find a new place to turnn for fear of her wrath should I put a bowl through the windshield or scuff the original paint.)