Lathe position

Space. Need room to get by the machine. Need to make the most open area possible for moving around and handling materials. In commercial shops, the machine tools are often placed at 45 degrees to the walls. If you have plenty of room in your shop, have at it.

Pete Stanaitis

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Canchippy wrote:

I never stand behind the lathe, being a right-hander, so the wall supports my tool racks and catches the shavings that run up and out when making bowls. The outsides of things drop the shavings right into a conveniently placed bag. Scoop and sweep clears the table behind the lathe and between the bed and the wall.

If you have a window, consider erecting a "wall" above the back of your stand for shaving control.

Hi Pete,

Once upon a time my lathe was in a clear and unfettered space at the open end of a two car garage. It was obviously the king of machine tools. The king and I could turn and sweep up and generally mess around with no lesser tools and gear to bother us.

To make tool sharpening gear too close to ignore, the grinding wheel insisted on being moved in near the headstock. A stray wolverine took up with it and if not tied close to the grinder would snap at my backsides. An exhaust fan stood on its right to take over the back of the lathe bench and a window fan with air condx filters insisted on being seated up front so it could blow the dust about the entire garage. It did agree to sit in the back, just not very far back.

Vacuum and air pressure hoses, dust exhaust pipes and 220 volts came traipsing down from the balcony where the garage door opener had once lived alone. A heavy steady hung by a pulley from a ceiling joist. We thought about hanging an overhead lift, but never did because we used its space for a huge overhead operating room light. I'm glad we didn't add the lift since our big blank days are a faded memory.

The turning tools and turning accessories resided happily on their movable cart and had easy access to the king. It wasn't long before the cart was hemmed in with no room to move. The king wasn't pleased.

Extension cords, a broom, a big dust pan a lidded garbage can and a hand truck all hung around near the king. The cords sometimes were crass enough to get under foot. Several ready to turn blanks were always waiting nearby. They planned to move out to the backyard, but never did. Discarded sandpaper, greasy kitchen paper and a can or two of dried tung oil had the temerity to lie on the end of the lathe bed or sit on the bench while they 'temporarily' waited and waited and waited, to leave the building.

I have tried several times to restore the once green, elegant and pristine environment around the lathe to its once safe, unwarmed natural glory, but each time the remaining one car garage became a no car garage. My wife wasn't pleased.

I reckon the king and I are commoners and slobs at heart so now the lathe is covered with dried lacquer, glue and chips, my face mask is clouded and my shirt is dirty with pockets full of chips.

Somehow, we both seem not to mind our mess. We hope that at least it shows that whether or not we do it well, we actually do turn wood. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

A few reasons here- first, I don't normally do outboard turning. My lathe will do it, I just haven't gotten around to getting a left-hand thread faceplate yet, and it hasn't been much of a priority, as most of the wood I get fits on the inboard side.

The second is that the lathe is parallel to the wall only when not in use- if I were to take a picture of it, that is how it would likely look. But when I am turning, one of the first things I do is grab the tailstock end and slide it out about 30 degrees (my lathe is mounted to a wooden platform with three "runners" on the bottom, which make for easy sliding- maybe not the way I would have done it, but the guy I bought it from is about the same height as I am, so I left good enough alone)- this allows me to hollow without my chisel whacking the wall.

Third one is that I occasionally do remove the tailstock entirely. Usually, there is plenty of room if I slide it back all the way, but if I am hollowing something tall, I hate whacking my elbow into the live center.

All that being said, if my turnery was a square (It's an L-shaped room in the basement because there is a small bathroom using one corner) I think I'd be inclined to do as you have, and mount the lathe to the floor on a steel stand right in the center. Having it against the wall is a little bit of a compromise, but it fits the space much better. If it was mounted as yours is, I could secure it with concrete bolts, and that could come in more than a little handy with some blanks. (And with as much as that little bath in the basement actually gets used, one day I may tear it out and do just that!)

Well, at least I'm not the only one! :)

I have to wonder what the guys at the recycling center (who run our garbage disposal service as well) think when they get a two-yard dumpster filled level full with shavings, sawdust and metal chips every three or four months. The real story is simplicity itself- the turnery gets piled with chips until it looks like it's been attacked by a heavy snowstorm, and then I rent a dumpster and shovel it out with snow shovel into the dumpster.

Slobbish? Of course- but that's why the lathe is in it's own room. It was just flat-out costing too much money to sweep up after every project and send the shavings in the regular garbage. It was nice to put them on the curb for the neighbors before I started playing with non-ferrous metal on it, but now the debris is no good for gardening, so it just has to go out in the trash.

I *did* stop finishing on the lathe when I got my big one, so at least there are no laquer or glue chips on it. I was kind of mad at myself when I saw what lathe finishing had done to my midi lathe, and it took several hours to clean it up before I sold it. Not to mention the condition of the wall behind it!

Well George I am also a right hander and sometimes it's a lot easier to reach inside a hollow form from the other side than it is lying across the lathe ways. I also have a shaving collector behind the head stock and about 3 quick steps to the outside door. Tools behind the lathe to me are a hazard. Reaching over a rotating tool is not healthy. I also use a dust collector with a "Big Gulp" hood on it for catching shavings before they hit the floor or the garbage can. I had a bench top lathe before I got my Delta old iron and found it to be a real pain as everything was so obstructed. I also find that the amount of space taken up is actually less because the space around the lathe is being used more efficiently. Sun shines through the window from noon until sunset and there is something about turning in natural light that I really enjoy, so I would not block it off. Thanks for the reply Pete Visit my site at:

Arch a 2 car garage would be my idea of heaven:-) I occupy a 24' x 11' single car and the space is also shared with table saw, jointer, drill press, thicknesser, chop saw and 16' bench, compressor, and DC. At the moment there is also a stack of logs waiting to be cut up and rough turned, and also the remaining pieces of 7 large drawers that still have to be finished for a built in bedroom unit. The shop is still evolving and will probably become a bedroom also if I spend much more time out there:-) Retirement has now given me the luxury of working on projects that have been on the back burner for a long time. Clean up is also now becoming a habit before I turn out the light. Ahhh! life is good. Pete Visit my site at: