# Wood Lathe Vibration Problems



## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

While turning wood on the lathe (it's a piece of black walnut) my lathe started to vibrate A LOT. It even started shifting and jumping around the table, even though I have it clamped down. I just got it one month ago and it was fine until now. I know the wood is centered properly, but the lathe is on a rather small, light table (it is still pretty heavy, though). Is this because of the table?

I have only been turning softwood until now, and the piece of walnut is pretty heavy (3 in.x 3 in. x 24 in. in length).

Is this from the lathe, the table, or the wood (or another problem)?

Anything will help.

Thanks


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

Too many variables to diagnose the problem without lots of pictures and how it's mounted and so forth ..
Mine is bolted to the bench and vibrates too, but the motor and pulleys aren't lined up real straight yet.. That's still on my bucket list of things to fix one of these days..


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## Jim Frye (Aug 24, 2016)

Could be all of the above. Bolt the machine to a securely mounted base. Mass in the machine is your greatest friend. My lathe (14"x36") clamps to my 12'x27" workbench, which is bonded to the concrete basement walls and floor. I don't know how much my house weighs, but vibration is only felt at very high rpms. This may be a factor with yours. Is the vibration present and just certain rpms or across a range?


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

Jim Frye said:


> Is the vibration present and just certain rpms or across a range?


It only goes away if it's at the lowest speed, but at the lowest speed my lathe just stalls every time a tool gets near it. I'm running it at 1800 rpm.

Thanks


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

The wood is just out of balance, if you can slow it down and slowly get it turned round the vibration will very likely go away.

As said mass is your friend, if you can build a sturdier bench to mount the lathe on, and for a little more mass build it with shelves that you can lay some bags of sand or saccrete on that will help dampen the vibration

But if there is mechanical problems with the lathe they will have to be repaired first,but I doubt there is you would be able to feel any slop in the bearings with your hands before it would shake that bad


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## holtzdreher (Jul 20, 2016)

I have seen some heavier lathes "walk the floor" Last year I turned a piece of trunk of an eastern red cedar and because of the trunk deformaties and knots, the lathe started for the door at anything over 600 rpms. Yes it stalled a few times while getting it round but more so because of the little knots. Once I got it about 60% round, I could go up to a much higher speed, but still not the highest. I learned to use a bowl gouge for rounding such knotty pieces


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

Thanks, everyone! I just put a ton of weight on my lathe table and put it on the lowest speed (1100 rpm). It still shakes a lot and "walks" a little, but not nearly as much. I was thinking of just turning it round to see if that made a difference. Is it okay to turn it while it' shaking so much, or is it dangerous? I just don't want to bust up my lathe.


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

I found out the problem. My flimsy table is way too light and is very uneven, causing the entire lathe track to bend a slight bit upwards. I'm going to buy a new, solid table.


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

I used the old stand from my HF #34706 lathe. I measured for length and cut it down to length, added a piece of countertop and turned away. My lathe is a Rikon 70-050 VS. No problems with vibration, so far.


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

Catpower said:


> The wood is just out of balance, if you can slow it down and slowly get it turned round the vibration will very likely go away.
> 
> As said mass is your friend, if you can build a sturdier bench to mount the lathe on, and for a little more mass build it with shelves that you can lay some bags of sand or saccrete on that will help dampen the vibration.
> But if there is mechanical problems with the lathe they will have to be repaired first,but I doubt there is you would be able to feel any slop in the bearings with your hands before it would shake that bad


Thanks, this actually worked. After adding 4 50 lb. dumbbells and an old steel railroad track, the vibration was dampened until I could turn the wood round. I even finished my project!

Here's a picture (Some of them are of the lamination lines: I used walnut floorboards):


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## Techsniffer (Feb 19, 2017)

WhoWoodHaveThought said:


> Thanks, this actually worked. After adding 4 50 lb. dumbbells and an old steel railroad track, the vibration was dampened until I could turn the wood round. I even finished my project!
> 
> Here's a picture (Some of them are of the lamination lines: I used walnut floorboards):


I wouldnt waste your money trying to buy something sturdy enough for a lathe, you'd be better off just building a nice solid table with a lot of mass and maybe some leveling feet to keep everything level. If you know where to get some cheap angle iron and either have or know someone with a welder that would be a good option, heavy and sturdy. If you have any metal shops around they might be able to build you a table out of scraps that would be pretty cheap.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

WhoWoodHaveThought said:


> Thanks, this actually worked. After adding 4 50 lb. dumbbells and an old steel railroad track, the vibration was dampened until I could turn the wood round. I even finished my project!
> 
> Here's a picture (Some of them are of the lamination lines: I used walnut floorboards):



Glad it worked out for you, nice looking project

I turn a lot of laminated items, finding large enough turning squares is kind of hard and when you do find them they are pretty pricey 

The bench I used for many years on my old lathe was made out of 2x4 glued and screwed together, and plywood gussets for the spreaders, then I screwed up I built in a 2x4x48 box and filled it with Sackcrete, yeah I mixed it up never thinking about someday wanting to move it LOL

So the next time I just got bags of play sand for the ballast


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

Catpower said:


> Glad it worked out for you, nice looking project
> 
> I turn a lot of laminated items, finding large enough turning squares is kind of hard and when you do find them they are pretty pricey



Thanks! It is true that I can't seem to find any hardwood turning blanks of that size for a good price. I also usually laminate my blanks because it's cheaper.


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