Das Lathe Bench - "almost" done

Hi Charlie

Good idea using the sliding stop ledge/lip, but does not seem very user friendly if you have to loosen 4 knobs every time you want to clear the deck.

Of course maybe one will do the job, still it's a clever setup, so you don't have to catch that falling skew with your shins.

How long before you can start turning wood, life is short,

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Some things to consider

The "lip" is only quarter inch ply so it's bendy over its 36" length. Had to go with quarter inch because the " male" knobs readily available, that would fit the T-nuts I had, have short threaded lengths. Because of the bendy nature of 1/4" ply, I need multiple connection points to keep it firmly against the back edge of the bench top.

The "lip" also covers the back of the shelf below the bench top - keeping debris off the shelf AND stuff on the shelf from escaping out the back

In retrospect - and given my attraction to rare earth magnates - the "lip" part of this thing could've been done with magnets. They'd allow the "lip" to be moved up and down easily while resisting being pushed back by tools etc.

But there;d still be the back of the shelf and debris issue. A spring loaded "flapper" arrangement would hold it shut enough to keep debris off the back of the shelf but could be blown open by compressed air for shelf cleaning out the back. Of course that would be more complicated.

However, since the bench is easy to take apart - there's always future options.

A buddy was over yesterady and helped me move the 7' long shelf cabinet that was occupying the space for this bench. Good thing I had the foresite to put that sucker on wheels. Easier to move but requires two people to navigate it to its new home.

Doug also helped, and that's an under- staement, get Das Lathe Bench off Das Woodworking Bench and over to its new home.

Should've glued the 80 grit sandpaper to the bottom of the leg leveler feet while it was still on my workbench but he was pressed for time. Will have to do that before firing up the lathe. Smooth steel feet and an epoxied cement floor don't make for good footing. I DO NOT want this thing walking while I'm turning - I've got enough trouble controling the cutting tool as it is.

Should have the lathe up and running on the new bench by this evening. Then I can turn some rosewood pins to hold the dust chute up when needed and work out the moveable plex ends vertical extensions / debris containers.. THAT's going to be a bit tricky because I'm going to add a shelf to the left / head stock side of the bench for the Tormek.

Having the Tormek on the left side of the bench and the gouges and chisel case/holder on the right should make for a good turning set up.

Still have the lighting to work out.

I'm basically a furniture making enthusiast. The lathe is just one more tool towards that end. It's also a relatlively instant gratifier - most of the time.

Fun this woodworking thing - if you're carefull.

charlie b

Hi Charlie

I lost you there, you are using t-nuts ???, seems like the wrong hardware for that application.

A cross dowel would seem more appropriate, that way you could use longer threaded rod and a cam clamp would make for a real fast hold down.

Also a set of this kind of bracket on the bottom end would make that more secure I think, Just a thought.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

This is the cam clamp I was trying to get the link for.

Well if you recess them - and then gorilla glue around the outside they don't pull out easily. And since I'm not going to have to really torque things down much they should be fine.

That page shows what I call a barrel nut - a section of steel rod with a threaded through hole through its side. If you've used them you know that the hole for the barrel bolt must be almost perfectly square to the hole for the bolt that is to thread into it. Be off a little and it's trouble in River City time. There's also the issue of holding the barrel nut at the right height and orientation relative to the bolt that's to thread into it. An earth magnet on the end of a dowel helps a lot for positioning and rotating the barrel nut down in the hole Bottom of the page - last two illustrations show a barrel nut application and the magnet on a dowel trick

In addition to all that, because the knob/bolt/cam levered bolt is down an inch from the top of the bench top, the hole for the barrel nut would have to be 2 3/4" deep in from the bottom. If I drilled in from the top of the bench top I'd have a nice holel - filled with debtris. I don't want to create things that trap crap.

The problem with the "flush" mount clips is that they aren't flush - that is to say that the two things being clipped together won't actually touch each other, leaving a gap - for debris to get into - something I'm trying to avoid.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will keep the flush mount clips in mind for some future project. Might come in handy for securing the fireplace mantle that's on my to do list.

Got the riser blocks for raising the lathe for underneath it clearance attached to the bench top and the lathe lag bolted to them. Glue some 80 grit to the end of the bench top to increase the grip when the bench sides are pulled into them with the nuts and all thread - and then it's "final" assembly time. I've got black and english walnut, apricot and almond ready to rough to round and all the tools are sharp and ready to go. Anxious to try the 1 1/4" skew.

And now that I found and removed the plastic cup stuck in the blast gate of the dust collector drop next to Das Lathe Bench, clean up should be a breeze.

Ditto.

charlie b