When I got my G0766 last Summer, it came crated in some very nice plywood. I saved the plywood with the intention of making a ballast box....eventually. I finally got around to it. I used the Grizzly plywood for the exterior and then filled it with four 50 lb bags of play sand from HD. The tricky part was, putting the box between the legs on the cast iron shelf brackets cast into the legs. The box wouldn't go in without removing the legs. Then I had a brain storm. I removed all of the screws holding one leg on except for one. Then carefully rotated the loosened leg out of the way and slid the box into place. I braced up the unsupported end and rotated the leg back into place and reinstalled the leg screws. Then filled the ballast box with sand bags and brad nailed the lid on. The lathe is even more stable now for those big wet bowl blanks.
Nice going, Robert. I don't know if it is my imagination or not, but as my G0766 "ages" it seems like it is more stable and gives me less vibration than it did when new. Like you, I put about 200 pounds of ballast in a container supported by the legs.
Really nice work, Robert! I may do the same for my 0766 at some point. I used my crate plywood for a tool cabinet to hold my gouges and supplies, so I'll have to use regular plywood when I do make it.
I agree very nice, I still have my plywood for this very project.
I built a similar box. What I did is put it together in place. Very few fasteners are really needed. I cut 2x material to exactly fit the bottom. I used 2x6's and had to rip one to fit perfectly with no gaps. Did the same with the ends, front and back with those having plywood cladding. The front/back went in first. Then the bottom boards. Then the ends. Everything was nice and tight once I packed it full of sand bags. My top included a cabinet of 6 drawers set in the middle. I added 2 filler top panels on each side to keep debris and tools from falling into the sand box. These are screwed down and keep the sand box square. The cabinet of drawers then slide right in between the filler panels and is secured with just 2 screws. The whole thing comes apart by removing just a handful of screws. I posted photos in this group back when I did it.
