Mini-Lathe Table

custom300 · Post by **custom300** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:20 am

I am beginning to put my shop together, and was looking for a table design for my Delta Midi-Lathe. I ran across a pretty good site that has plans for various wood working projects. I thought others may be interested in this set of plans for a mini-lathe.
http://www.plansnow.com/minilathe.html

custom300 · Post by **custom300** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:22 am

I screwed up the hyper-link sorry. Here it is again, so you can link directly to it. http://www.plansnow.com/minilathe.html

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:35 pm

I've purchased a few plans from that site. They're pretty good. Thanks for reminding me that they exist - I've been considering building a couple shelving units for the living room.

JHowell · Post by **JHowell** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 1:01 am

It looks nice. Also not heavy enough. I've made all my benches out of standard hem/fir lumber, at least 2x8 and 2x10. I make the legs by gluing/screwing two 2x8s together into an "L" cross section, then bolt the stretchers (2X10 or 2X12) to the legs. Topped with whatever, either double thickness of 3/4" ply or something else. As Spock would say, crude but effective. The tool storage looks cool, but nothing is as massive as mass, and mass is what you want under a lathe. I'd forget the casters, too, and bolt whatever you make right to the floor or a wall.

custom300 · Post by **custom300** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:04 pm

Jack,
Any possibility you could post a picture of your table construction, or maybe a sketch. I'm wanting to make this project fairly simple and economical, but I sure don't want a table skootin around while I'm using it. Sounds like you have accomplished the goal with your design.

Thanks

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:54 pm

This thread has pics of my workbench and Jet Mini lathe. It also discusses a bit of how the table it put together. I built the entire thing in one afternoon for less than 60 bucks.

http://www.pipemakersforum.com/modules. ... umble+shop

If you have any questions about it feel free to call me anytime after 7 or so.... 765-726-8971.

JHowell · Post by **JHowell** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:15 pm

Hi, Jamie,

I'm emailing you a jpg of the leg/stretcher joint in one of my benches -- it has a glass top so you can see a top view. I haven't figured out how to post anything here, and I can tell right now it's not going to happen today. Feel free to post it yourself, though. As you can tell, the main strength of the joint comes from the bolts and the width of the material. You could glue the wood face to face for a little more rigidity, I guess, but I've never had a problem. If you get enough wood and enough bolts, it's not going anywhere. It's not joinery, by any means, but I wanted something quick and cheap to build, and that I could knock down for moving if necessary. Getting things square is always important, but this sort of makeshift construction is very tolerant. I cut everything the same length, then assemble the whole frame with C-clamps at the very spot where it will live. I knock it around with a hammer until it seems to provide a fairly flat surface for the top, then drill all the holes and install all the bolts. There may be some planing or shimming required to get good support for the top, and how you attach the top depends on what it is. The wood will move, and this standard framing lumber will move more than most, but, as I've already pointed out, this isn't furniture. A crack here and there bothers me not a whit. I have also built benches that used routed lengthways channels in the stretchers and long threaded rods (like the Lee Valley bench kits) to hold the legs to the stretchers. This method is also good, and uses a bit less wood, but is more time consuming.

Good luck!