Lathe location

[Leigh Betsch]

So where is the best place to place a lathe in a shop? I bought a Harvey T40 from a fellow Creeker, and plan to pick it up tomorrow. It comes with the cast iron legs so I don’t need to build a bench for it.
Right now I’m in the final stages of building my new shop and I’ve started to set my big machines in place so the electricians can put in ceiling drops. I have plenty of 230 outlets around the perimeter of the shop but plan to have ceiling drops for most of my bigger machines that will be placed in the middle of the shop.
so my question is: if you had the option of putting your lathe in the middle of your shop or along a wall. Where would you put it? And why? I have clearview 1800 with plenty of drops so I think I will have dust collection close to wherever I put it, but now is the time to make sure I have power where I’ll need it.
Attached pic of my shop

[David M Peters]

In my new shop I put the lathe out in the middle in order to maximize use of the walls for storage. In my old space it was along the wall. Overall I'm happier with its location. While the wall does help constrain shavings storage on it winds up being covered in shavings anyway so ultimately it isn't that useful. Plus you're then forcing yourself to lean over a spinning lathe more often.

https://tracezero.net/woodworking/shop/walls-columns/

I have a few photos here of my lathe area. Lathe stuff is on rolling tool carts or the wall storage off to the right.

[Richard Dooling]

Even with a lathe that can run in reverse, sometimes it's good to be able to access both sides of the work.

[Kevin Jenness]

Mine is along a wall with enough room to stand behind it, giving access to wall storage and occasionally working from the back side. I keep the center of the shop free for staging material and work in progress. If I were strictly a turner it might be a different story. Similar threads that might be helpful-

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....on-in-the-shop
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....Lathe-location

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Mine sits just inside the large bi-fold doors across the front of my shop. It allows full access all around the lathe and a great view of the forest and creek outside. The rest of he shop's middle space is taken up by a large assemble table workbench that doubles as outfeed for the tablesaw. The lathe is at front and center because it is what I built the shop for, and is what I'd prefer to be doing even if I have to do flatwork once in a while.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My only advice is don't put it in front of a window.

[John K Jordan]

Leigh,

I think much depends on what you like to turn. If you like to turn lots of bowls and large bowls, it's sometimes useful to have access space on the back side of the lathe. If your lathe has a sliding headstock and you like to turn hollow forms (without a captive hollowing system), having space at the end of the lathe can be useful. If you commonly live-stream or make videos it may be useful to have some space behind the lathe for cameras and lights.

I like to turn a wide variety of things, mostly towards the smallish size, and almost all from dry wood. I personally like my lathes right up against the wall. I've tried several methods and this is by far the best for me. I keep two lathes in the shop (sometimes have several students at once) and I built two walls out from the side of shop to make a lathe alcove where both lathes can be close to the wall. I built a small workbench to fit between the two lathes (stacked up with turning blanks in the photo!)

WV_boys_IMG_20170319_154641_356.jpg shop_floorplan_lathe_space.jpg

Some reasons:

- I can bring a dust collection duct down the wall and it will be right where I need it.

lathe_dust_pickup.jpg

- I can power the lathe from a wall outlet eliminating the need to put power in the ceiling, in the floor, or run a cord across the floor. Same thing for compressed air - I run an air lines in the walls with outlets at the lathes and other key places.

- Adjustable task lights are easily mounted on a wall or shelves. Using multiple small source lights can help a great deal in seeing and evaluating the complex curves in many turnings. They also let you see scratches and defects better. The worst type of lighting for this is broad diffuse lighting or a number of light fixtures spaced out on a high ceiling.
All my lathe lights are fed by outlets controlled by a single switch so they all come on at once.

lathe_PM_IMG_20160331_18501.jpg

BTW, I use the wall space all the way to the ceiling - I keep spray can finishes and things on the highest shelf and keep a long-reach grabber handy to reach them.

- I keep a large plastic tub under the lathe and pushed tight up against the wall. This catches most shavings and requires less effort to clean up.

lathe_PM_tub.jpg

- But the biggest reason of all is I can use the wall behind the lathe to keep things I use often within arm's reach. I also mounted some small shelves there. A thin plywood skirt on the longer shelf serves two purposes: to hide outlets and wires for the task lights and to give me a nice vertical surface to mount magnets to keep small things handy. I made a long dispenser to keep rolls of Klingspor Gold sandpaper within reach and little plastic bins for fine sandpaper strips and such.

lathe_PM2_Jan17_IMG_5751.jpg lathe_wall_IMG_5749.jpg

The workbench just behind me has a number of shallow drawers for tools without handles, things for measuring, markers, brushes, etc. Other tools and supplies are stored in cabinets, tool boxes, and shelves near the end of the lathe With this arrangement almost everything I use is within reach or a couple of steps.

tool_drawers.jpg

I'd recommend trying it both ways and see what you like better. For years in my garage shop I simply stood a piece of 3/4" plywood up behind the lathe and mounted tools and things to the plywood. This made it easy to try different arrangements. When I finally built my new shop the first thing I moved in was the lathe and the second was that piece of plywood (instant tool wall!) eventually mounting things directly to the wall. (All my shop walls and ceiling are 1/2 plywood so it is easy to mount things.) I use deck screws too support most things.

JKJ

So where is the best place to place a lathe in a shop? I bought a Harvey T40 from a fellow Creeker, and plan to pick it up tomorrow. It comes with the cast iron legs so I don’t need to build a bench for it.
Right now I’m in the final stages of building my new shop and I’ve started to set my big machines in place so the electricians can put in ceiling drops. I have plenty of 230 outlets around the perimeter of the shop but plan to have ceiling drops for most of my bigger machines that will be placed in the middle of the shop.
so my question is: if you had the option of putting your lathe in the middle of your shop or along a wall. Where would you put it? And why? I have clearview 1800 with plenty of drops so I think I will have dust collection close to wherever I put it, but now is the time to make sure I have power where I’ll need it.
Attached pic of my shop

[Bill Bukovec]

I keep it near a wall most of the time. The wall is great for stopping flying wood.

I'll move it near an outside door when turning large bowls. I can use my tractor to lift the blanks onto the lathe and it's easy to shovel the shavings out the door.

[Dave Bunge]

I have mine against the wall. I turn a lot of bowls from green wood which generates a lot of shavings. Having the wall behind helps to contain them. And, unfortunately, I don't have a large enough shop to put the lathe anywhere else.

If you think you might turn bowls, you should consider putting curtains around your lathe to contain the chips. It's worth planning now where to put the curtains so you can avoid hanging other things from the ceiling - like air cleaners, or air hose reels - that would interfere with the curtain's path.

[Leigh Betsch]

Lots of excellent points. Looks like I won't know until I I actually try a few locations. The wall location already has the power, dust collection, and air planned. The center of the shop ha dust and air coming down from the ceiling. I think I'll have a 220 ceiling drop added. I totally forgot about having 110 drops for task lights put alongside my 220 ceiling drops. But none of my 220 ceiling drops are in yet, although the wire is laid above the sheetrock. I need to add some 110 to the ceiling. I hope I have enough spaces in the sub panel. Thanks again, you've helped me head off a big issue.

[Jim Jackson Wyoming]

My only advice is don't put it in front of a window.

I'm not doubting your answer Ken, but I have to ask why not in front of a window? Before reading the reply's that is exactly where I would have suggested. I have my mini lathe on a home built cabinet/base with wheels, and in front of a window is where I use mine the most, mainly for the added light. The only disadvantage I can see is something launching through said window. What else am I missing?

[David Walser]

Interesting question. If use of the lathe were the only consideration (which it never is), I would place my lathe at a right angle to the wall, with the headstock to the wall. I would place the headstock as close to the wall as possible, while still allowing easy use of the knock-out bar, vacuum chuck, index wheel, etc. This would allow easy access to the lathe from both sides. I could easily store on the wall drive centers, chucks, and other accessories that I use at the headstock. They would be within easy reach. Behind my back as I stand at the lathe, would be bench with my sharpening tools and a 'ready rack' for commonly used turning tools. (Most of my turning tools are on a cart that I wheel between my two lathes. When I'm starting a project, I take the tools I think I'll need and move them to the ready rack.) This arrangement makes it easy to, when necessary, add additional lighting. It also keeps (virtually) all my tools within arm's reach and provides no excuse not to sharpen when necessary.

Until recently, this was how I had my lathe arranged. At the time, I had a short bed lathe. Now, I have a PM 3520C. With my small shop size, putting the lathe in the same orientation would cause the lathe to extend half-way across the shop. That just won't work. So, the new lathe is against the wall. (It is far enough away from the wall that I can fit on that side, but I wouldn't be able to turn from that side.) My tools are now stored in holders along the wall, between the two lathes. My sharpening center is now on a mobile cart. I've yet to create a place to store my drive centers, face plates, chucks, etc. I think those will go in a cabinet, yet to be built, underneath the lathe. For working at the lathe, it's NOT as nice as my prior set up. But, it allows easier access to the rest of the shop when I'm working on other things.