Lathe Stabilisation

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UKTony

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For the first time since the lathe arrived i have tried working on a larger log, the vibration made the job impossible - its fairly obvious to me that i need to "weight" the base of the lathe since the metal tray and four legs is all that supports it, before i get back ache what have other users done, Am i better junking the metal chassis and considering a fixed bench with the additional advantages of using the space underneath or just piling bags of sand etc on the metal tray

Tony
 
Try the simplest first, i.e. sand bags. Also if possible bolt legs to floor, (knock up and bolt on a simple angle cleat if necessary).

If vibration still bad, then go to next stage and build a MASSIVE wooden bench.
 
My lathe has one of those horrible sheet metal stands as well. I have mine loaded with a stack of logs. This seems to stabilise it quite well and bags of sand would be a lot better.
I personally would be wary of bolting the frame to the floor. The angular momentum of the log is being transfered to the lathe and if you stop it moving, then all that momentum is going to be used in other ways and I reckon that the frame will start to flex and deform with perhaps an eventual failure. With the extra weight though, the energy transfered to the frame will be the same but due to the extra mass, will result in a smaller movement of the lathe, i.e it won't be able to jump so far. Well, that's my theory anyway, others may have experience that will disprove it.

I intend to build a nice wooden bench for mine one day and will include space for lots of sand. Basically, the more mass the better.
 
Tony,

I have the Record CL4 lathe, and the instructions that came with it were most emphatic about the need to bolt the stand to the floor. This eliminated about 80% of the vibration, and as Barry said, loading up the stand with logs which are drying also helps a great deal (as would sand bags).

This is one of the main advantages of having variable speed - when turning an out-of-balance blank, I can start off very slow, and the increase the speed to the point where the vibration is unacceptable, and then back off just a shade. Once work starts on the blank, and it becomes more balanced, it is then possible to increase the speed, until the point when it is properly balanced (sometimes impossible to achieve with some blanks due to differing densities through the blank- spalted beech is a favorite for this).

As regards Barry's concern about bolting the legs to the floor leading to a fatigue failure, unless the stand is made from aluminium (which is very susceptible to fatigue failure), this shouldn't cause a problem, as although the vibration may well seem horrendous, the actual amount of deformation (and hence strain) in the steel legs will be well below the level needed to cause fatigue problems.

Regards

Gary
 
Taffy Turner":1u2z3w08 said:
Tony,

As regards Barry's concern about bolting the legs to the floor leading to a fatigue failure, unless the stand is made from aluminium (which is very susceptible to fatigue failure), this shouldn't cause a problem, as although the vibration may well seem horrendous, the actual amount of deformation (and hence strain) in the steel legs will be well below the level needed to cause fatigue problems.

Fair enough. I suppose any failure would take many hours of use in an out-of-balance state and as such a state is rapidly changed to an in-balance state by the removal of waste, then this is will not be a usual situation.

Not an option for me anyway as my floor is an old stable made of un-mortared brick sets on compacted dirt so all that would happen is that the bricks would start to move as well. :?
 
Not an option for me anyway as my floor is an old stable made of un-mortared brick sets on compacted dirt so all that would happen is that the bricks would start to move as well.

You'll have to rely on inertia then. I've found pine heartwood is an effective and economical timber to make a rigid, heavy bench.
 
I use sandbags hung of the centre bar of my stand and that gets rid of most of the vibration.
I was browsing the other day however, and came across this which I thought was novel, no idea if it would work though. :?

cd
 
ike":30e2467o said:
You'll have to rely on inertia then. I've found pine heartwood is an effective and economical timber to make a rigid, heavy bench.

Mine is loaded with a stack of beech, birch and sycamore. Seems to be quite effective but will reduce in efeectiveness as I use it. :cry:
 
cd":30t47f6h said:
I use sandbags hung of the centre bar of my stand and that gets rid of most of the vibration.
I was browsing the other day however, and came across this which I thought was novel, no idea if it would work though. :?

cd

I was going to mention this idea but you beat me to it.

In theory it should work well (even better than hanging the sand on the end of the bed bars). You're raising the centre of gravity of the lathe thus making it harder for an out of balance log to move it. Don't forget the pivot point(s) for the vibration is(are) where the feet of the stand sit on the ground. Not tried it myself though - my A-frame stand has I think 150kg (6 bags) of sand and doesn't move much unless the logs are way off.

Cheers,

Pete
 
I just have visions of buckets of sand falling on my head :wink:
I think I'll stick with the sandbags

cd
 
Thanks Gents, 6 bags of sandpit sand and packed the rest of it out with logs and hey presto no vibration will certainly be looking at building a bench when i do my refit, some nice draws along the top for tools will come in handy i think.
 
Hi Tony,

I needed to build my own lathe bench to ensure the correct height for the axis between centres for my height, the bench fittings manufactured for the lathe being too low.

I built two square pillars, from standard 18"x9" concrete building blocks, an appropriate distance apart, spanned across the pillars and the gap between with a 1" thick board of sealed MDF, then bolted the lathe down, through the MDF, into the concrete. Result: lathe at exactly the right height for me on a 100% solid bench, with no vibration whatsoever even with unbalanced stock. I also use variable speed as Gary describes which I think is a distinct advantage.

The space between the pillars has provided a useful built-in cupboard for lathe accessories (raised off the floor a bit to leave room for my toes), and the benchtop provides the resting place place for tools, etc., whilst working at the lathe.

Pressed steel ends from the manufacturer to construct a bench for my lathe cost £99 - timber has to be supplied in addition. Total cost of my solid, immovable bench - 30 quid! But no good at all, of course, if you want or need a portable lathestand. FWIW

Cheers,

Trev.
 

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