hollow bed bars

[barryb]

Hi to all
I have a question that i would like some help with my lathe is a dml 24 with hollow bed bars and i would like to know if anyone has had any luck with using sand or cement in the bars to add weight and deaden any vibration.
cheers be happy

barryb

 

[Bean]

barryb
I have not had any experience with this, but then I do not turn wood. I know that some hollow aliminium sections are foam filled to increase stiffness. It may be another aveenue to pursue although it would not add weight.

Bean

 

[woodshavings]

Hi Barry,
my previous lathe had a hollow centre tube . I found the greatest improvement was ensuring the lathe was firmly bolted to its stand and then fitting a sand box to the full width of the stand. This made is very solid and reduced vibration significantly.
HTH
John

 

[Cutting Crew]

Hi Barry,

All the Record lathes I have in the school are the ones with solid bars but I also have one of Hegners 200DBXL's, this uses large hollow box section steel for the bed and although I haven't done it I know of turners who have filled these sections with oil damped sand and found improved results.

Filling any area that adds weight should help, bench, stand etc. Having said that, I've found that over the years there is no substitute for lathes using heavily cast parts. I have a new Powermatic from the US and this weighs in at over 700lbs and is a dream to use.

Hope this helps.

Regards....Mike Swain RPT

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Barry,

I saw a lathe of the same type advertised for sale second-hand. The advert mentioned that the bars had been replaced with solid steel rods.

Having bought solid steel rod in the past, I'll bet you could get hold of some for less than £10 to replace what you've got from your local metal stock-holders. Less messing and more solid than filling tubes perhaps?

Cheers,

Lee

 

[barryb]

Hi everyone thanks for the replys .

I have had a think and I am going to give sand a try cause I'm a bit tight and i have some sand if it don't work I'll take a crow bar to to the wallet

cheers all Barryb