brwoodcrafts

I have a full size Jet lathe. I bought it with the stand. I feel that I am bending over to far. My back starts to hurt after awhile. I'm just under 6' tall. I would think with buying the stand, it would be of the right height. Is there a rule of thumb how high the lathe should be? I thought I heard someone say that the wood should be at your elbow with your arm hanging down. Advise is welcome.

Brian
brwoodcrafts

firefighteremt153

Im new to turning as well. I just bought a Rikon lathe and figured I would make my own stand for it b/c I could make it beefier than the store bought one's and I'm 6'5" and usually have to modify things to keep the back pain away. I had read that your elbow needed to be the same height as the center of your headstock as well. I built mine that height and so far it has worked really well for me.

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firehawkmph

Brian,
I too have the full size jet. I am about 5'-11" and it seems to be a very comfortable working height for me. I don't find myself leaning over at all. Are you standing on concrete? I use rubber mats throughout the shop. Sometimes my back will start to ache just from standing on the concrete. I have always heard the same thing about your elbows being about the same height as the c/l of the headstock. If it proves to be too low, maybe you could get a heavy duty set of lockable wheels to raise it up some. If not, maybe try shimming with different thicknesses of wood to try different heights.
Let us know what happens.
Mike Hawkins

john lucas

I like to have my lathe spindle at elbow height. I'm a lot shorter than you guys. I think the Jet mini stand has a lot of adjustment but I don't know how high it goes. The one I demo on at our club is the right height for me and it's in one of the lower settings.

misfire

I built a table to put my lathe on, right about where my elbow is