New Lathe.... Need stand

[rob]

Well, I picked up my lathe from a friend and it is a 4 ft old delta (sorry I didn't write down any serial numbers. It is basically the lathe and a motor with a belt that goes between four pulleys on each to control the speed.

Now.... My friend had it set up so that the lathe and the motor sat next to each other on a giant piece of plywood. I could just build some legs and a brace for that piece of ply wood.

Pros: -The distance between the motor and the lathe is already there so I don't have to worry about the spacing (belt tension is a concern).

- It would probably be easier.

Cons: Vibration.

-Overall quality

- An enormous footprint in a very small garage

- The danger of having a motor on the side.

Obviously I would rather build mine own stand. I realize it needs to be heavy and stable. ( I am thinking 6 legs with rubber screw adjustments for leveling. However, I am worried about a few things.

1. How do I know how far below I need to mount the motor. How can a measure the correct tension for the belt?

1. How can a set up a guard so parts of my body aren't ripped off in the belt? (I was thinking about building a hollow wooden column with a door that opens for belt changes. Also a protective guard on the top side)

2. What is a good overall design. Compared to the lathe, how much wider/ longer should the stand be?

A free lathe is sweet but I don't want to make it worthless with a crappy stand.

Thanks in advance

Robert Ward

[nailshooter41]

Hello, Robert. I would start here,

is a search of this NG for lathe stands that are home or shop built, along with some great discussions about weight, strength, and vibration dampening. Some threads even have pictures of the work on them. I even found a pay site in one of the threads with a set of plans on it if you don't want to design your own. I would pay particular attention the threads that discuss height of spindle when building your stand.

I'll bet the Delta you have is the one that has been serving faithfully for many decades now. With a nice stand, it should serve many more.

Robert

[nailshooter41]

Almost forgot. Check out the pics here:

image search is a rarely used function of Google, Dogpile, etc., and sometimes it gets me to what I am looking for more reliably than the normal search.

You will see stands for all manner of lathes including metal lathes and mills, but a lot of good pics on shop built stuff for wood spinners.

Robert

[rob]

I am also concerned about being able to move the motor closer and farther from the headstack end of where it is mounted. I think I need to do that to change the speed of the lathe. Or don't I? With a four pulley set up, can the motor just sit in one place?

Thanks for the help

Rob

[rob]

I am also concerned about being able to move the motor closer and farther from the headstack end of where it is mounted. I think I need to do that to change the speed of the lathe. Or don't I? With a four pulley set up, can the motor just sit in one place?

Thanks for the help

Rob

[Dr. Deb]

Robert, the stand you build depends on your resources. When I built the one for my Jet 1442, I had a couple 5' lengths of 4" drill stem (you did not want to pick up both at the same time). That and some 1/4" x 6" steel plate and off to a parishioner's shop to get it all welded up, along with some 2 1/2" angle iron he had and I had a nice, heavy and steady stand.

If you don't have a place to get steel welded, without paying an arm and a leg. Bolt one together out of 4 x 4's and 2 x 6's, using liberal amounts of glue in the process. Then weight the sucker with about 3 bags of 80lb Quickcrete (depending on where you live you will have solid blocks in about

6 months from the humidity) The real advantage to building your own is you can make it to fill YOUR needs

As for plans. The base needs to extend beyond the lathe and the legs by at least 4". The height is what is the correct height for you - standdard is that the centerline should be at your elbow when you have your arm bent. Other than that, it needs to be long enough for the lathe to bolt to, solidly.

As for the motor, do what they do on contractor table saws, let the motor pivot. The weight of the motor will keep tension on the belt. If that doesn't seem to be practical, build a tensioner from a pulley, fairly strong spring and a pivot, like the used to on on older garden tillers.

Good Luck - you will do great.

Deb

[lwasserm]

If the pulleys are matched, as they would have been when originally supplied, you shouldn't need to move the motor. The sheaves are sized so that the velt length will be the same for each pair.

[martin]

Dear Rob

Just seen your message of October - I've got a Delta stand complete with lathe bed, tail stock and tool stand - they are in my trailer ready for dumping - my delta 48 lathe gave up the ghost, the variable drive discs and belt gave up - so I'm about to dump the old and get a new lathe. If it's any use to you - you're very welcome to what youy need. I live in Epping, Essex and you can call me on 01992 574943 if you want to talk.

Regards Mart> Well,

[J T]

Mon, Oct 30, 2006, 7:28am (EST-3) [e-mail] doth say: I picked up my lathe Cons: Vibration.

-Overall quality

- An enormous footprint in a very small garage

- The danger of having a motor on the side.

Mine is a HF, 37" between centers, had it maybe 10 years, made the stand out of 1/2" plywood. Vibration - doesn't. Overall quality - as good, or better, than most of the store-bought stands, and a whole lot less expensive. An enormous footprint in a very small garage - my shop is 8'X12'. The danger of having a motor on the side - what danger? That's where mine is and I've had no prob.

JOAT If you're not making a rocket, it ain't rocket science.