Designing and Making A Lathe Bench
I've used my JET VS mini / midi lathe for months with it just sitting on top of my woodworking bench. Have turned all kinds of stuff during that time, giving the lathe a pretty good workout. Have done a ton of spindle type stuff, some hollow vessels, a few "boxes" and even a small plate so NOW I have a pretty good idea of what I want a dedicated lathe bench to do - for the way I work with the lathe.
I don't do measured drawings when I make things. I do use an old Mac (last update - '93) "object" drawing program called Aldus SuperPaint (Aldus bought out by Adobe and most of their products, including SuperPaint scrapped). The program does let me do primitive drawings - to scale. I work out the basics of my idea in SuperPaint then "Build / Design As I go", constrained only by critical dimensions - how wide should this thing be, how far off the floor should the bench top be, what's the max & min depth.
I also try, whenever possible, to use joinery that can be dry fit and self supporting / aligning. They work nicely with the "Build / Design As I Go" approach because -
- I can "measure" what needs to fit a space directly from what I've got - using "slip sticks" - no tape to misread, no lines to cut to, no possibility of cutting on The Wrong Side of The Line, not even a line to draw.
- I can change my mind along the way, changing things to accomodate something I overlooked during the initial design phase. It's a lot easier to see a potential problem - and work out its solution - on The Real Thing. You'll see the advantages to this aproach as you go through what follows. May work for you too - or not. At least have a look and consider Build / Design As You Go.
You can get to any page of this project from here. So if you get lost, each page has a link back to this Table of Content. If you have comments, suggestions, questions etc., use the e-mall link below.
Table of Content
1.0 The Genesis, initial idea and "how tall?"
2.2 "Joinery" (leave room for future options)
3.1 Slip Sticks - measure, set up and cut - without a tape or a pencil
4.0 The Rear Torsion Box Stretchers - with Lead Shot-and Option for Extending
5.0 A Chip Ramp / Chute, Piano Hinge & a Conflict.
6.0 Poly and a little - very little Padouk
7.0 Tool Shelf - and a "challenge"
8.0 To the finish line - finally?
9.0 About all those lathe "accessories" . . .
Comments, Suggestions, Constructive Criticism e-mail me