lathe working height?

[Homerjh]

Hi all, quick question.

I am looking at getting a lathe in the next few months but having a read have come across the issue of working height.

It will be in the outhouse/storage/workshop which isnt massive, but has bench space which will fit a lathe in.

the bench height is currently 3ft high (36") as on kitchen cabinets for the storage of tools and suchlike that gets stored outside.

Now i am not the tallest person and measuring to my elbow (this seems to be mentioned) this is about 41-42"),

so this could be an issue for the comfortable working height?

A step could be made easy enough to add a few inches to my height in the interim, and the cabinets could be lowered, but probably no more than 4 inches tops (they seem to have a 6" gap under, which is also use for storage!), so a long step to stand on would probably be a solution

 

[CHJ]

The oft quoted height of the spindle centres to the elbow is only a guide, I would not make a decision about it until you have the lathe to sample working height.

Age often has a lot to do with comfort at the machine, many of us of more mature years prefer to have the spindle height as much as 100mm higher so that we can stand more upright, whether the lathe has a rotating headstock can also influence the stance due to it eliminating the need to lean over the lathe bed for some tasks.

 

[Glynne]

Another gauge is how easily you can stab yourself in the elbow / arm with your sharp tailstock centre. If you can't, the lathe is probably too low, if you can then you will always remember to remove the centre the second you've finished with it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:lol: ^^^^ as Glynne. The centre needs to catch you right on the end of the bone, where it's really painful. It is actually better to set them a little higher than you think necessary, as you can always stand on a duckboard if needed, but if too low you have no option but to break your back or put the thing on blocks, which unless well done doesn't do much for stability.

 

[Glynne]

Just been out to measure mine - 1190mm floor to centre of headstock thread.
I'm pretty sure a lot of people will find this on the high side, especially as I'm a very average 5'10".
I came to this height by constantly fiddling with my old Axminster M900 and so when I upgraded to an Axminster 1416, I built around and raised the stand that came with it.

As you can see, I added a fair amount of ballast to supplement the already solid stand.
As Phil says, you can always stand on a board / boards if need be but by not moving your lathe you should be able to get it rock steady.

But overall, the optimum height is the one that suits you!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Same height as you, mine's 1130mm. Perfect elbow splitting height for me. Mine's on a factory bench with 1 1/2 cwt of sand and the bricks from six night storage heaters in the base. It ain't going anywhere.