Second Lathe

I made a simple 4 legged table that just sits on top of the lathe stand and over the bed and about 3/4" below the center line. Nothing fancy, I just lift it out of the way when I am not using it. When the need arises nto do exact sanding I will make a miter slot. Untill then, I just free hand mostly curved stuff. I generally keep my jigs simple and complicate them if I have to.

BTW, the motor mounts under the lathe bed rails. Changing speed ranges is a piece of cake. Probably 10 to 15 seconds. The speed ranges overlap each other. I normally use the sander at around 2200 to 2400RPM. No particular reason other than it 'feels right' to me.
If I remember, I will take pics later on today,
There are several other folks on here that have the same lathe.
I dont know what the combined weight of the lathe and the cart but it is very stable. I bought four 3" locking wheels with brakes from Home Depot for around $50. Theyb are worth it.

BigCountry79 said:

I've seen one at the local store. No need for photos unless you want

Click to expand...

Too late now, I already took them. Anyway, here is the lathe with the disk sander on it.

The first shows the sanding table upside down so you can see the simplicity of it. It is a good fit so it dont move. If you want to slightly change position, I just use a spring clamp


Here is something important to consider - the height of the centerline between the head and tail stock. These are usually fixed by the manufacturer so not much options there. I have read several articles where the recommended centerline should be at the height of your elbow with your hand extended horizontally at 90*. I have found that for me this is oK for spindle turning with you looking down on your work. For bowl turning, which I do almost exclusively. I found that my ideal height for the centerline is with me standing with my head slightly tilted giving me a relaxing view into the center of the bowl where the most critical activity takes place. This is opposed to standing and bending.

@_Ogre
Most lathes have the centerline of the spindle on the headstock to the center of the tailstock spindle at around 40 to 44 inches off the ground. This is an old figure that is based on an average (Whatever that is) male standing at a lathe with the lower part of his arm (elbow to fingertips) parallel to the floor and this is typically 40 to 44". This is supposed to be the most common work position on a lathe for spindle making. Bowl turning requires a different body position. Usually almost looking directly into the bowl but just a little lower. Most comfortably for both arms and head position, this requires a higher centerline for the workpiece. The height of the centerline of the lathe to the floor should be higher to be more comfortable. This is because spindle turning and bowl turning techniques are not the same and neither are the tools until recently with the carbide tipped ones.
Picking a height of the centerline for you will be your best guess or do what I did..... I just set my lathe on top of an old cabinet and kept blocking it up until it felt right. Then I just measured the centerline height from the floor and built my lathe cabinet and wheels accordingly.


I will try to take a pic tomorrow if I am at the shop.