Adjustable rubber feet on power tools.

[Don Farr]

In an effort to help stabilize my lathe, I replaced the stock feet with larger vibration damping feet. They also swivel up to 15 degrees to compensate for uneven floors or in the case of my Ridgid lathe the angle of the legs.
They seem to help some but my question concerns the ball and joint on them that allows them to swivel. That point seems to encourage movement and vibration. Should I try to lock it down someway once the lathe is in place? They provide holes for mounting to the floor but not to lock the joint movement. I hope this makes good sense.

[Steve Inniss]

Don, I have a couple of suggestions for you.
I assume it is a metal angle iron type stand. Eliminating the movement in the joint will help but, depending on what you're turning(size, out of round, weight etc.), it won't do too much. Best is to attach to your workshop floor, if this is not feasible/desireable then use hockey pucks with countersunk -drilled at the angle appropriate for your stand- bolts and washers with lock nuts above the feet of your stand. Next, add weight on top and on any shelf your stand might have.
I use bags of sand totalling about 300 lbs. I also use pucks where my lathe is attached to the stand, then a beech table top and a pair of cast iron legs with a stretcher. I sometimes turn entire cross-sections of tree trunk(usually pine thankfully) 42" long to make workbench leg structures. When I am first trueing them up the lathe doesn't move too much, but the building does a bit. :) -Steve

[Bob Wilkerson]

In an effort to help stabilize my lathe, I replaced the stock feet with larger vibration damping feet. They also swivel up to 15 degrees to compensate for uneven floors or in the case of my Ridgid lathe the angle of the legs.

Nice looking feet.... I'm looking for some like this right now as I'm getting ready to build a few mobile bases. ICould you tell me where you got them and what they cost? I need ones that will support at least 400# per leg.....

Bob

[Jim Becker]

Don, what is most important with a lathe is having it absolutely rooted to the floor so there cannot be even the tiniest chance of rocking and vibration introduced by its footprint. And as Steve indicated...weight is a large part of the solution. Don't be afraid to consider building a whole new stand for your lathe...those stamped metal supports don't have a whole lot of mass themselves to dampen vibration. (I wanted to point you to a picture of the stand that Joe Quesada made for his NOVA lathe, but the pics are gone now that he upgraded to a Poolewood machine. There were compartments down low filled with scrap metal from a machine shop that totally kept his shop from leaving the earth...not to mention keeping the lathe in place!)

[Bart Leetch]

Here is a picture of my lathe bench. It is made with 3 layers of 3/4" material glued together with a 2x4 on each end for a foot with 1 7" concrete block on top of each foot with a 1 1/2" thick shelf then 2 more concrete block on top of the shelf & a piece of 3/4" material on top of the blocks & a 2x4 laminated up top for the top. there are 2 1/2" rods with nylock nuts & fender washers run through each foot & up through the block anchored through the 3/4" material on top of the block the 2x4 top is screwed down the the 3/4" material. With lathe this bench weighs 420 lbs. I can add 200 lbs to the shelf. When I want to move it I just put the roll around floor jack under it & jacket it up & move it.

[Don Farr]

Nice looking feet.... I'm looking for some like this right now as I'm getting ready to build a few mobile bases. ICould you tell me where you got them and what they cost? I need ones that will support at least 400# per leg.....

Bob

Bob, Sorry for the delay but I had a busy weekend. The feet came from Mcmaster carr and cost 6.94 ea. They are rated at 5000 lbs. ea.
Item no. 60985k21. I guess it will be OK with Ken, I don't work for them, but here is the link. www.mcmaster.com

[Don Farr]

Thanks Jim and Bart for the ideas and suggestions. This is a starter lathe for me and I am just trying to make it usable for now. It is a pretty poor excuse for a lathe, but with a little help maybe I can make do until my business picks up.

[Bob Wilkerson]

. The feet came from Mcmaster carr and cost 6.94 ea. They are rated at 5000 lbs. ea.
Item no. 60985k21. www.mcmaster.com

Thanks for the info, Don. Early Alzheimers must be hitting me as the LOML works for a machine shop and orders from them routinely..... She'll add my feet to the next order so I'll have a dozen in stock.

Bob - who thinks that 50 is too young to be forgetting the simple things....

[Dominic Greco]

Don,
My old Jet 1236 was a real light weight until I beefed up the stand. I've attached some pictures to this post to show you what I did.

I thought about making a new stand, but in the end decided it would be easier to modify the existing one. I added a compartment for sand bags, and then added a mobilization feature that me wheel it around the shop. This was mostly so I could clean around it. But adding the weight really, and I mean REALLY made the difference.

The lathe served me very well up until I sold it to Col George a month back.

See ya,

[Don Farr]

Thanks for the info, Don. Early Alzheimers must be hitting me as the LOML works for a machine shop and orders from them routinely..... She'll add my feet to the next order so I'll have a dozen in stock.

Bob - who thinks that 50 is too young to be forgetting the simple things....

Cheer up Bob it gets worse the older you get. Take my word for it. :confused:
I think I told you wrong on the load rating. My catalog said max rating of 5000 lbs. I think they what they meant to say was 5000 lbs. for the larger feet with larger bolts and less for the ones with smaller bolts like mine are 3/8 x 16. Anyway they still have ample capacity for what we want them for.

[Don Farr]

Thanks Dominic, That is pretty much what I am trying to accomplish with my lathe. I didn't think about completely enclosing it like you did, but that really looks like the way to go. That would add lots of rigidity to my Ridgid. :D
I also like the door in the back for adding weight.