DVR lathe stand finally done!! Lots of Pics

[Alan Trout]

Well I have finished up the lathe stand except for painting a few pieces and making a few touch ups from assembly rash. All up the lathe does weight north of 800lbs. and seems to be super stable. The center tube has about 75 lbs of sand in it and the ballast box has seven 50lb. bags of sand in it. I kept the sand in the bags for easy removal in the future if I need to move the lathe. Today I made the last few pieces. The diagonal bar that supports the swing bed section has two 1/2" spherical rods ends. One is right hand thread and one in left hand thread so it can be lengthened and shortened by turning the bar. It does add a significant amount of rigidity to the bed as you can seen by me sitting on the bed segment. I use two clevis pins to keep the bar in place. Takes just seconds to install. I will put some hooks on the back of the box to hold the bar when not in use.

I also built an articulated arm to hold Moffatt lights. It mounts to the plate that holds tooling. I still do not have the lights but it will hold two lamps and has facilities to plug them into on the lathe. I am hoping that Santa brings me the lamps. That would be a big help. The lathes electrical is all powered off of one extension cord. There are two outlets also at the front of the lathe for what ever power tools or accessories you want to use with the lathe. Also mounted on top of the load center is the surge protection for the lathe which has been wired for 220v. I also plan to add a few more components for a vacuum chuck, but that will have to come over the next couple of months.

All in all I am very happy with how it came out. I am really excited to get using it and look forward to many happy years with it. It may not be my last lathe but I really hope it will give me the service I think it will. I will let everyone know how it goes.

[Alan Trout]

Here are the rest of the pics.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Extremely nice work Alan! You have created a lathe stand to be proud of! Fit and finish look top shelf and you have added a lot of features that I am sure will come in handy! Have fun with it! Hope to see some of your turnings real soon! Again - very nice work!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I wish you lived next door! I can spell welding on a good day and that is my total talent in that field! Nicley done Alan!

[Don Carter]

Alan:
Wow! It looks great. You really have done some great work. How are the casters working out? All that's left is to turn some wood.;)

All the best.

Don

[Glenn Clabo]

WOW! That is an excellent design and better execution. Make sure you mention it in your will...it will out last you for sure.

[Alan Trout]

The casters are working out great. It rolls easy and the ratcheting levers that raise and lower the pads work very well, even with such a heavy load. I am very pleased with them.

Thanks,

Alan

[Pete Jordan]

That is some great setup!

Much better than my duct tape solutions.

[Curt Fuller]

You ought to patent that baby! That's an excellent piece of fabrication.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Outstanding Alan. That is a heavy duty piece.

[Gary Kvasnicka]

Well done!!! I wish I could weld. I thought of something similar for my DVR 3000 when I first saw a Robust lathe. The folding bed extension is one thing I would never have thought of.
If you ever feel the need for a do over I would take that one off of your hands.:D

Cheers,
Gary

[Bill Bolen]

That is one heck of a stand! And your options are well thought out. If Nova offered that stand as an option I think it would tack and additional $1K onto the price. Ditto what Glenn said. It should outlast you...Bill...

[Bruce Smith]

Great job Alan it certainly looks like you have constructed a winner. Like
someone else has said, I believe you should patent it. Good luck and
Merry Christmas.

[Alan Trout]

Thanks for all the kind words. It was a fun project on its own. The cost of the project was less than one might think. I have less in materials then the set of cast iron legs. Most of the materials were purchased from a scrap steel yard so it was purchased by the pound. The most expensive part of the project was the casters and they were $120. I have wanted a full size lathe for a long time. Even before I started turning I wanted a full size lathe but was having a hard time deciding. My big problem has been footprint and price. I always like the features of the Nova DVR lathes but wanted a long bed lathe without the space. When I saw the new swing away attachment and then the sale at Woodcraft I felt this was my opportunity. I am no expert on wood turning but I wanted to make a stand that added to the abilities and versatility of the DVR. Only time will tell if I have achived what I was wanting, however I am going to have fun finding out.

Thanks,

Alan

[Jim Becker]

Pretty nice setup there, Alan!

[alex carey]

heavy duty I like it.

[Don Orr]

That's one fine setup Alan, beautiful work all around. Well thought out design and options. You should send these photos to Nova and show them how their lathes SHOULD look !

Strong work !

[Alan Trout]

Don, Thanks.

I did get a chance to turn on it tonight. It is pretty awesome. Super stable, smooth, and plenty of power. So far I am very please.

Alan

[Allen Linton]

Holy cow; that is a killer stand. I suspect it would take a pretty heavy unbalance blank to move that thing. I hope you have it where you want it!

[Rick Markham]

Great looking setup Alan!!! I got the itch bad when the DVR went on sale too, having to buy the stand separately really turned me off of the deal. I agree you should patent the design, it's brilliant. If you didn't want to build them, I am sure someone would want to buy the rights off of you! That's a killer lathe you have. I need to take up welding too... why are all my interests the expensive ones? Oh well... it's only money... can't take it with ya, might as well turn with it!

[Lupe Duncan]

Thats really nice work Allen. Great job on the Fabrication and congrats on a Lathe. I got the itch for the same one, I can only keep scratching...

[bob svoboda]

Very nice, Alan. I'm sure it will give you many years of quality service. Now go out and ENJOY it.

[Alan Trout]

Thanks guys,

This is a pretty old thread but having had my DVR XP for a couple of years I can honestly say it has been a great lathe. The stand really has turned the DVR XP into a different lathe. I intended the stand to be a integral part of the lathe that would add to the overall stability which it has done nicely. It is as stable or more stable than any lathe that I have ever turned on. I an not scared to put 100lb piece of wood on the lathe. I have had 60lb out of balance loads turning at 500RPM and it barely has any movement. The only movement you get is in the footed caster. There is a little play in the foot itself so there will sometimes be a little oscillation in the foot with very heavy out of balance loads. I thought about modifying the base a bit so I could have a solid 3/4" threaded rod jack screw that goes to the floor but I really have not found a need to do that as the movement is so slight.

I have not found the size of the swing on the DVR to limit what I do. I do not do that many bowls and when I do bowls they are always under 16". I do mostly hollow vessels and a 16" diameter hollow vessel is a monster. Most of my hollow vessels are 12" or smaller in diameter.

The DVR has really served my needs well. I also have my mini lathe and a Woodfast 16" lathe. I really like having multiple lathes and probably will buy a bigger lathe one day for no other reason than to have one. Maybe the new bigger DVR when it comes out, or a Robust American Beauty, maybe a big Vicmarc, who knows when that day comes, but you can bet I will be keeping my DVR XP.

Thanks,

Alan

[Roger Chandler]

Well, to say the least, I am impressed BIG TIME!!!!! That is a well thought out design, great fabrication, and a real work of ingenuity! Alan, that is a turning center any one would be proud to own. Super work here! The accolades coming from this group ought to tell you something........these folks have seen a lot and done a lot with setups over the years, and yours is just............. well IMPRESSIVE!

Congratulations on some fine work and great ideas!