Some responses to points I see from various replies-
For the block base the blocks are set with mortar as per regular building practices. That mortar being on the outside is highly important since that's where the support between the blocks rests. The first course of blocks is also mortared to the floor so again there's a nice stable and FULL contact support.
The lower courses are filled with 3/4 minus gravel packed in as it was filled. This locks the blocks into place as well as adding mass for even more vibration damping. The upper course and a half are filled with concrete to support the mounting bolts as well as more firmly lock the upper two courses together.
Concrete cures more slowly than some realize. I left it as shown with the tray in place for 3 or 4 days before I lifted the machine into place. It may be hard to the finger after a few hours but it stays quite soft for a few days. So it's well worth being patient. The last thing you want is the weight of the machine on the mounting studs "bruising" the concrete while still "green" and coming loose within the cast portion.
In my first picture the tray is weighted down on some shim sticks in the fresh concrete so that it lays flat and the studs vertical.
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Steel plate on the floor?
I'd suggest not. First off the lathe isn't creating a load on the floor that is any worse than a car or a couple of motor cycles parked close together. Also the steel is rigid enough that it'll sit up on any high points and teeter. So it'll create a source of twisting which you'll never eliminate.
Bottom line? Never consider ANY floor as being anything but wavy. The only thing that the words "flat" and "floor" have in common is the "f" and "l". And what is flat by floor standards is lightyears large when you're working with thousandths and parts of a thousandth of an inch. It's just a whole other scale of concern.
So it's not a good base material. Odd as it sounds some thick plywood is going to be a better choice simply because it'll form over any irregularities. But even better would be to sit the box base units on a leveling setup. Or if you can fit leveling feet to the boxes of the base that would be superb. You can make your own from squares of 1/2" thick steel that is 4x4". In the middle drill a shallow divot so that the end of a 1/2 or 5/8 bolt can rest in the divot. Or even weld short lengths of threaded rod to the plates. Ideally you'd drill and lag the machine down to the floor with shims so that the stands are bedded evenly and not pulled down out of alignment by the lags.
There's a number of online sources of material for setting up the bed and tail stock to remove twist. And likely a good number of You Tube videos. When I looked around I found some that made easy sense and seemed more practical than others. But that's me and my thinking. So I'd suggest you do your own google search and you tube search on "lathe setup" or "lathe bed setup" or "lathe alignment" and find a source that clicks with your own thinking.
In the end the one I liked and mostly used was;
http://www.neme-s.org/Model_Engineer_Files/Align1.pdf
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Pieces of pipe can be used as rollers to waltz a lathe around a room.
Who let the pyramid builder in on this?
I did that with my father when I was young. Yep, it works and works well. Just watch it when working with a top heavy machine. Things can get away from you REAL quick. We never dropped a machine but it came DARN close a few times. But done with care it turns a daunting job into a piece o'cake using the cheapest and simplest of tools. And it's dead nutz simple to boot.
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Engine hoist-
I originally bought my hoist with the intention of moving to the new digs and selling it once all set up. But it's proven to be SO handy and takes up so little room the rest of the time that it's a solid keeper.
I recently upgraded the lift height by welding up a riser block that fits under the foot of the cylinder. Now I can get a hair under 8 feet of lift height even with the load in the second "1 ton" boom extension hole. It increased the lower height but that was a fair tradeoff for the added lift height.
Because it doesn't fold down flat now I partially break the lift down for storage. But it's only a minute or so to put it into order for use.
It's worked out so well that another mod I want to do is replace the stock rough cast iron casters with larger diameter heavy duty urethane casters so it rolls easier with a load on it.
Someone mentioned using an engine hoist and lifting it down onto dollys for rolling around. No need though. Just set a couple of 2x6's across the forward splayed legs and lower the load onto the boards and use the hoist itself as a dolly. With the load down low and off the boom it's stable as houses.
Just be sure the chain and all the shackles are rated for well over anything you plan on lifting. Buy good stuff once instead of dubious stuff two or three times.
As Leeper and fingers point out it's simply not worth the risk to you or the machine to do it the hard way.
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I think you'll find that if you have a truck that you cay buy the engine hoist and do this yourself on your own schedule and have a rather handy hoist for much less than the cost of commercial movers. And then the hoist is around for next time where otherwise you'd need to pay for movers all over again.
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Trev raised a good point about the chain and avoiding marking the machine. What you see in the picture is not how it was left for the actual lift. Where it runs under the carriage and bed there was a hunk of 2x6 placed so that the inward pull from the load on the chain was taken by the wood board and not the bed and carriage. Also wadded up rags were placed where the chain runs over the corners. I can only think the picture must have been taken mid way through setting up the chains for the level lift. It was a while back now and the pictures were almost skipped in my concentration on the work.
The heavy lift sling belting would be nice. But I had the chain and didn't have the belt slings. Also chain is far more versitile in length for a wider variety of lifting jobs. So it's my option of choice. I do agree with the issues though and trust me. Padding the chain and using wood blocks to take the inward pressure where needed is a key part of any of the lifts I do with the hoist and chain. It's not what you use, it's how you use it. But that's good advice to be aware of.
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blastattack said:
You need to be able to level the lathe one it is setup, so it cannot just sit freely against the floor, nor can it be bolted down to anything fixed. While fixing the lathe to concrete or raising it on pallets sounds great, it will induce flex in the bed unless extreme care was taken to assure that the surfaces are highly parallel, co-planar, and level.
I posted them as 5/8 studding earlier which is wrong. 5/8 fit but just barely as I recall and would have left zero room for any slight errors. In the end I went with 1/2" so it was loose enough in the holes of the lathe that some slight misalignment wasn't an issue. This also allowed for any slight shifting of the bed legs during alignment adjustments without binding. Something that I totally agree is important.
I also agree that all this is a lot harder if the support for the machine isn't locked to the floor. And even if the lathe is set up well originally if it is free to move around on an unsecured stand it can walk itself away from the original spot or get bumped. And the new position may well put some new twist or bend into the bed. Much of that same thinking is why I went with the fixed and heavy block pedestals over a free standing unit.
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Terry G,
If you're reading this I tried the same thing at the old place. But the wood risers were never solid enough and the machine was never stable enough to make a truly parallel cut of any length. The wood as risers is simply too soft and flexible when fractions of a thou count. I do agree though that raising it IS important for the back. But in practice it's better to use what you and I did as a proof of concept and to then work at some more rigid and solid final option.
Perhaps make up risers from a pad of 8 inch concrete blocks? Sort of a mini version of what I've done? Or if you don't want it that high then a couple of large patio pavers? If you do it that way use mortar as the "glue" to stick them together. And if you don't want to mortar them to the floor at least lay down a sheet of building plastic and a bed of mortar on the plastic for the first paver so it's seated very evenly to the floor. You'll LOVE the extra rigidity it gives you. And if you drill for mounting studs and use some shims to even up the loading on each contact point you can then look at aligning the bed correctly and with some finality.
Of course I talk a good story but it took me a long time to walk the walk. I tolerated the wood risers wobbling around for a good 15 years or more before I moved here and made up the block pedestal setup.....
I knew that whole time that it sucked. I just never quite got "a round tuit".
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It took me a while to get used to the high mounting height. Currently the center line of the head stock is a couple of inches below the bottom of my sternum at 47.5 inchs. It WAS 48 but I added an anti fatigue mat. This high felt really odd at first. But as I posted earlier I would NOT go back now. I COULD live it it a couple of inches lower but I would not want to go more than that. A couple of inches lower would put it pretty much mid way between my belly button and the lower point of my sternum. Between that and to where it's just a little under the point of the sternum is a range of roughly 3 inches. Any lower than that mid point between belly button and lower sternum and I'd be back to having to lean over again.
To close this rather long post out (it's taken me nearly 45 minutes to write all this) here's a picture of the present setup all done and in regular hobby use. The use of the roller cabinet and tool box has FINALLY made it so I don't load up the top lid with crap which has to be cleaned every time I want to change speeds.
I hope there's a gem or two to help you and perhaps Terry out among all this drivel and random thinking.
First shot is the lathe with the new backsplash in place. It runs down and is bent so the chips run forward and into the tray. If you look just under the wheel for the tail stock you can see the bend;
And here's the lathe's friend, an Alba shaper. The tool cabinet is really handy to hold tooling for both machines. There's room to walk through to the rear door behind the tool cabinet. The paint, oils and solvent storage can just be seen behind the upper tool chest in the background.
