Lathe bench

[Ed Frie]

I am about to plunge in and buy a lathe. I am thinking about a Jet 1442 (1 hp) for $1K or a Delta 46-715 (3/4 hp)for $700. I don't have a lot of floor space, but I do have a sturdy bench, 8 ft by 2 1/2 ft, made out of a lot of 2x4 and a top made out of 2 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood with a 1/4 in hardboard surface. It is screwed into the wall.
If I am not happy with the stand that comes with the lathe, can I achieve vibrationlessness by bolting the lathe body onto the top of this very sturdy bench. Any down side to having a lathe mounted near a wall? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.:)

[Paul Engle]

Ed, I have a jet 1236 bolted to bench bolted to wall and floor, it is good up to about 11 in stuff then shakes fairly well till I get it rounded , birch with soft spots rumbles all the time unless I get it down really thin, the jet has swivel head stock and that is why I bought it so I could swivel it away from the wall and that works very well.I am now using a pin guide on the band saw to getem as round as I can and that helps alot , on the smaller under 7-8 in not a problem. Good luck and happy chip making !!!:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ed I have my 15" lathe on my bench. It is bolted to the wall and floor. I built a shelf below it and have about 380 lbs of sand added. It very seldom viberates to much.

[David Walser]

Ed,

Bolting your lathe to a bench might be a good idea. However, it sounds from your description that your bench is fairly deep. For turning between centers, may not present much of a problem (other than the fact the position of your lathe might impair the use of you bench). For face turning (bowls and such), you often want to be able to reach around to the other side of the lathe -- which might not be possible with your bench.

[Ed Frie]

Thanks for the help. The more I think about it, I am probably going to save the bench idea as plan B if I cannot get satisfaction from the legs that come with the lathe.

Thanks again for helping a know-nothing rookie.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Ed, I selected the 1442VSK Jet(with legs) over the Delta for a number of reasons. I have not been sorry. I have followed the directions Jet gives and built a shelf for between the legs and also did a bench top for between the legs and the rails. I have no complaints! When the lathe started dancing on me as I pushed the limits of size and also did some outboard turning of bigger stuff I just added some logs to the shelf for weight and she settled right down. You caught me with a dirty lathe but here are some pics that might explain better what I did. Oh, by the way, I did make the mistake of installing the top bench solid. I later took it off and cut an opening under the rails. Curlies tended to fill the rails and vacuuming was no fun. Let me add that I kept the overhang of the bench on the back side to facilitate outboard turning by swiveling the headstock. Works great.:)

[Ed Frie]

Thank you Mr Hartley, I am glad that my choice of lathes has worked so well for you. I hope to use mine as much as you use yours, and thanks for the tip on the opening in the upper shelf.