Options for a lathe stand?

[Scott M Perry]

Hi all -

I have a Delta 46-700 lathe that I'm hoping to put back to work. I need a stand for it. Didn't have one when I bought it used. A while (good while) back I built a bench that was to double as a turning stand:

Workbench by Scott, on Flickr
(Ignore all the miscellany...)

Works great, obviously steady as hell. Problem is that, now, maneuvering a 120 pound lathe in and out of the underside of the bench, well, doesn't sound like fun. So I need a stand. This lathe takes the 46-705 stand, which is apparently non-existent in the wild anymore (go figure). So I need a homebrew option. My concern is that, short of another large space-chewing benchtop (which I haven't got real estate for), anything sawhorse style I build is going to be way top heavy and inappropriate.

Anyone have any pointers/designs/pictures they can point me to?

Thanks for any help.
Scott

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

The 46-705 stand is basically just a sawhorse made of relatively light gauge metal angle stock. You could knock together a decent solid wood stand that would equal or exceed the 46-705 pretty easily, I would think. As long as the footprint of the stand is wider at the base than the lathe, I wouldn't worry too much about "top heavy." That said, lots of folks build in a shelf and load it up with sandbags (or build a box into your stand and fill it with loose sand) for stability. In terms of moving the lathe, loosen the bolt that secures the headstock and slide it and the motor off the bed, and also remove the tailstock and banjo as well. The headstock/motor assembly is probably as heavy as the bed is... If you used the bench in your picture, you would probably still want to secure the lathe bed to the bench somehow. So I think of it as more like a removable tool rather than a portable one.

[David M Peters]

Hey Scott, Alan Lacer published a design for a sawhorse-shaped mid-lathe stand. It works well, I build a version of it for my Jet 1221VS. Well worth a look!

[Scott M Perry]

Hey Scott, Alan Lacer published a design for a sawhorse-shaped mid-lathe stand. It works well, I build a version of it for my Jet 1221VS. Well worth a look!

Thanks David - exactly what I was looking for!

Scott, marveling at how great The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly really is...

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

I built a bench for my Jet 1221 out of pieces cannibalized from a workbench left in our basement by the previous owner. I have taken it apart and redesigned it a couple times as I have used it and learned what doesn't work for my uses.

From the start I did secure the lathe to the bench.
In a small shop, portability is key. The first version of the bench sat on heavy duty castors. This allowed to much movement of the bench and lathe in use. I switched to castors that let the bench sit solidly on the ground and only lift it up on wheels when it needs to move.
The first build had space on the bench on the tail end of the lathe for storing centers, chucks, etc.. I later moved the tail end of the lathe as close to the bench end as I could and moved that storage space elsewhere on the bench. When making boxes, bowls and the like, I like to have as much room as possible to stand and work from the tail of the lathe. I like the idea of the storage spot for the tail stock on David's stand but for my uses it would get in the way.

The attached photo is at least one bench revision old, before moving the lathe even closer to the tail end and moving the wooden tool holder.

Maybe some day I'll spend less time rearranging the workshop and more time actually building stuff!