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Just got a new Precision Matthews PM-1022V lathe, hoping to finally try my hand at pipe making along with some other metalworking uses for the lathe. Evidently, PM is discontinuing their stand so I had to build my own. Above is the video, if you want to see the SketchUp file, material list, and cutlist, see this link: http://craftedmagazine.com/build-metal-lathe-stand/

Nice stand!

That's impressive. When I build things for my shop, I rarely worry about appearance, but you even put up trim. Very nice.

The stand is great, truly. But I'm more impressed with the level of production involved with the video. It makes watching the project super enjoyable. Much better than some random guy trying to hold a wobbly camera with one hand and working on the project with the other.

Ocelot55 wrote:The stand is great, truly. But I'm more impressed with the level of production involved with the video. It makes watching the project super enjoyable. Much better than some random guy trying to hold a wobbly camera with one hand and working on the project with the other.

+1

I had to do the same (same lathe too) because the supplied stand put the lathe about 3" below my comfort height. And that's a MILE if you are working at a machine for more than about 2 minutes.

What I don't have is an engine hoist. What I do have is daughters with boyfriends.

Great stand it troubles me that a lot of
Pipemakers are this PM band wagoner

Absolutely nothing beats America or German
Steel or engineering. PM is made in the gear state
Of China I understand price point however
No Pipemaker needs a lathe to cut within
100 thousands of an inch. So there's
A lot of old steel Atlas ,South bend,
Harding etc. available for short
Money that will perform as good or better.
Sorry just a made in America guy

pipeguy wrote:Great stand it troubles me that a lot of
Pipemakers are this PM band wagoner

Absolutely nothing beats America or German
Steel or engineering. PM is made in the gear state
Of China I understand price point however
No Pipemaker needs a lathe to cut within
100 thousands of an inch. So there's
A lot of old steel Atlas ,South bend,
Harding etc. available for short
Money that will perform as good or better.
Sorry just a made in America guy

The old steel lathes seem to have availability in some regions of the country and not so much in others. I spent several months monitoring Craigslist every day and only saw one or two lathes that would fit the bill for a pipe maker. The mini lathes are plentiful here, as are the huge 14x40's or larger, but the 10-12" lathes are rare around here, and when they come up, they cost almost as much as Grizzly or PM, and if you figure in the accessories you'd need to buy and then the nightmare of getting it from their shop to your house, it's just not worth it. If you can get an old South Bend or Atlas where you're at, I'm all for it, but I'm not gonna knock the guys who don't have the option.

Exactly. Not to mention that if it's your first lathe, you're most likely better of with a new decent Chinese (like a PM 12" or an Optimum if you're over here in Europe), because they're in new condition and (save for an exception) work like they should.
If you're going for a used machine without experience, you have no idea how terrible the lathe you're buying might actually be.

I say this because I've learned the hard way. Bought a Myford Super7 which is pretty world famous, except mine turned out to be a Super7 ML7 hybrid with an accuracy of about 1mm instead of 0,01mm... Try cutting a tenon that fits on that...
I've since upgraded to a brand spankin' new Optimum TU2506 chinese built , german spec lathe, and I absolutely love it!

Well I never thought that there was no availability in the central part of the country
Plus in RI everything is 30 min or less away there were 52 lathes
Available today.As for starting out with Chinese lathe my opinion is bullshit
There old steel available turn key and still. No Pipemaker needs to
Cut to 0.01? mm for a tenon sand paper will get it to the final
Diameter Please understand if you are happy with what you
Have and it's working for you by all means carry on this is not
Lathe bashing day I'm just a traditionalist

I agree no pipe maker needs the .01mm precision. I was making pipes for 3 years with my 7x14 mini lathe before my upgrade. You just need a large enough swing over bed and preferably as heavy as possible. Of course, having the ability to be .01mm precise is nice for other projects you might want to do on the side.

It's not a binary thing...

Not all Asian machinery is Home-Depot-grade consumer junk. Some of it is functionally OK (though its life expectancy in a commercial environment is short).

Old School American iron is no better than its condition.

Throw a buyer's personality, budget, and resources into the mix and the "right" answer is situation dependent, every time.

Well crap, didn't have email notifications turned on I guess, didn't realize this thread had taken off. Thanks everyone for the nice comments about the production quality. I definitely put a lot of effort into it, glad it pays off. If you dig woodworking and making stuff in general, you'd probably enjoy some of my other videos. Hope to bring some pipe making videos to the channel soon. There is a distinct lack of quality videos on YouTube on the topic, with a few exceptions (for instance, I absolutely love Jeff at J. Alan Pipes videos on the topic).

As far as the old iron vs Chinese debate, I agree with both sides. I value American made products highly, but I also live in a relatively small town (Asheville, NC) and tools are generally scarce, overpriced, and beat to hell. I'm also generally impatient.