Greetings, all!
For the past two years, I've been hauling a friend's Delta Midi to shows where I demonstrate. I got so attached, I built a folding table for it - sized so the spindle sits at my elbow height, with captive nuts in the table top spaced so four screws would hold it rigidly in place.
Last month, as my birthday passed, my spouse presented me with the page from Woodcraft displaying the Mercury mini lathe, and told me it had been back-ordered. :-( She decided I was due for my own mini, and had casually asked last summer which I would choose. I'm hooked on variable speed, and liked its small size, so I said the Mercury.
Yesterday, it arrived!! :-) I'm very pleased with how smoothly it runs, but can't tell you yet how it works, because I need to mount it to a bench first. Right out of the box, it sits unbalanced - problem: the fan housing on the motor (or more specifically the screw holding the fan housing in the
6:00 position) extends below the bottom profile of the lathe feet. The instructions included call for the unit to be raised 1-1.5" to allow airflow under the motor and to keep chips free from the fan. This will solve that problem, and the odd arrangements for mounting - bolts must be passed up from beneath into female threads cast into the lathe body. No problem for those permanently mounting theirs to a bench, but I want an "easy on-easy off" approach for craft shows.I decided to create a set of feet to raise the lathe the required 1" and allow me to attach to my existing captured nuts in the table. It was then that I discovered just how much smaller the Mercury is than the Midi - the feet must overhang by 2" on each end to reach the existing holes. And, even with the 1" riser, the spindle is 5" below elbow height.
So, now the dilemma. I have about $50 worth of Baltic birch in the folding table (I modified plans from Wood magazine - it folds to about 3" thick and locks down rock solid. I even built in a means to support a polycarbonate safety shield in the front). Do I keep this table, and build a 6" high box which I bolt to the underside of the lathe? Do I build a new table to fit the Mercury, and pass the old table on to the owner of the Midi? Do I build the bench I've seen somewhere to hold the Mercury - the one that clamps into a Workmate?
Your suggestions would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'll have to set my new toy aside, and get busy on my N3K - I have a three-week long show in a local coffee house starting October 18, and about 20 boxes roughed and waiting.
Thanks for your help!
Ron Williams MinnDak Woodturners Moorhead, MN