# Lathe Stand



## Glidden (Dec 2, 2010)

I just have a mini-lathe, but needed something the correct height for me to use, so after doing the research on what would work for the correct height I built the following. I allowed enough extra room to hold my small bandsaw and my bench grinder. Wheels on the bottom make it easy to set out of the way if I need the room. I also included a picture of my recent turnings, mainly bottle stoppers requested by friends and co-workers. Starting on the left is oak, then a laminate of maple and purpleheart I made, then Bubinga, Cocobolo, and another laminate.


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

That's the way to do it. Make it safe, comfortable....and SOLID.:thumbsup:


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## Bonanza35 (Jan 20, 2011)

I have a similar setup and have been happy with it but am still struggling with the perfect height. I learned a valuable lesson yesterday about placement of the table. Windows give really good working light (backlight) but an 8" Beal buffer spinning at 1800 rpm a couple inches over the lathe deck looks a lot like a baseball pitching machine. Turns out it's a pretty effective one at that! I'll be installing a new window in my shop today.


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## AZ Termite (Dec 20, 2008)

Nice bench, and very nice bottle stoppers. The first lathe I had was an old Craftsman lathe. I built my own bench to mount it on. I thought I was happy with the height, until I did some turning on my uncles lathe. I decided that I had the bench too tall. I took some measurements on my uncles lathe and came home built a new bench to mount the lathe to. I found that having it too high did not allow me the control I really needed to have. I have since inherited my uncles lathe and no longer use the old Craftsman.


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## Glidden (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks everyone! I tried to build all the utility I needed into this one stand, mainly centered around the lathe. The melamine top helps for cleanup, and I've run all the power cords though the top so that I don't have cords everywhere as well. I found this height is good for me turning, as well as being able to easily change speeds.


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## txpaulie (Jul 21, 2010)

Good stuff!:thumbsup:
Table is well done, well planned, and way too neat!
I like the bottle-stoppers, what finish..?

p


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## Bonanza35 (Jan 20, 2011)

What height (in relation to your body) should the turning center be? I'm about to build a long work bench that will hold some other tools too. I'm guessing elbow high is about right for most tools so I'll drop the bench down a foot from there. Any thoughts?


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## Glidden (Dec 2, 2010)

txpaulie, I typically do 2 to 3 coats with a friction polish, then 2 coats with a minwax wipe on poly for that extra protection. None of my stoppers so far have seen a lot of handling or use since I just started doing this at the beginning of January, but it seems to be a pretty standard finish from what I've gathered on the board here.

bonanza35, mine is right around elbow height which is pretty comfortable for me, but it puts the bandsaw a little bit high, and the bench ginder a little bit low, but of the 3 tools I'm on the lathe 95% of the time so the other two aren't as important to me, at least not right now. 

I still need to build a rack for tools that swings out from the bench when in use, but can be locked against the bench when not in use or when I need to move the bench. One thing I'm really glad I added was the small shelf underneath the lathe to hold faceplates, drive centers, chucks, allen wrenches, whatever else I may want or need close at hand.


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