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Pad for lathe feet

Joined
Jul 15, 2016
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HI all,
I have a new Nova 1624. I bought it the weekend before Christmas. I have the DVR upgrade motor on order. I am very pleased with the lathe. My issue is I'm short. Last week the DR.'s office said i'M 5'7". That's taller than I've ever been. (Haha ) I have the adjustable feet on my lathe, but I'm thinking about removing them. My shop floor is tile that has varying thicknesses and finishes, even though it's all the same tile. What would be a good material to put under the 4 feet of the stand?
 

john lucas

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Kevin I am 5'7" and have a Powermatic 3520. I had to screw the feet all the way in to make is short enough for me. I like my lathe centers to be about 1 1/2" above my elbow height which might be a little high for some people but it works well for me. You can guy thin heavy duty rubber pieces at the hardware. The package I bought had 2 thicknesses and they were about 4x5" so it would be easy to cut them up to size.
 

Bill Boehme

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Make sure that all four feet are making solid contact and carrying roughly the same weight. This means that you might need several different thicknesses of shim material. If you use rubber, it should be firm and not something soft.
 
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I have a PM3520B and do a lot of unbalanced natural edge bowls. When I first got the PM I tried setting it on a heavy duty stall mat which is very hard rubber. I found that putting it directly on the concrete floor and using steel washers for shims was much stabler. The last two lathes I had were bolted to the concrete but the PM is heavy enough to be petty stable. I have considered bolting it directly to the floor but so far (five years) it works pretty good. I keep thinking I might move it but probably won't.
 
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Sep 3, 2012
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Hi Kevin,
I turn on the very same lathe but still a little shorter yet. I'm about 5' 5'' on really good day. I have the cast legs on mine so I ended up building a platform to get me to the right height. I find for hollowing it has made a very big comfort and control difference. Good luck and let me know what you think of the DVR upgrade I've procrastinated about it for sometime.
 
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Thanks for the replies. Good ideas. Mine is supposed to be the right height for me, but it's not super comfortable, especially while sanding. The floor does not really have different heights, but grooves throughout each tile. I don't really want to bolt it down. I may try to add some weight, at some point. I checked it last night, and the rear right foot was not carrying much weight. I adjusted that out. I do think if I take the adjustable feet off, it will be too low. I wish I had the cast legs. I will review the motor after it comes in, and I've turned on it a bit.
 
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Jan 20, 2006
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Kevin.....use a level running different directions on the ways.....I use a 1 foot level and a 3 foot level
 
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Thank you, Stu and Richard. With the right compound, I should get a little rubber into the tile texture, and the lathe feet into the rubber.
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
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Location
Athens, WI
Robust lathe's are now supplying little chunks of conveyor belt, instead of the little adjustable feet, they used to have. the main legs are still adjustable also. Found this out when I went with a friend to pick up his new lathe. When I helped him set it up, they worked really nice, sticky, yet not spongy. In fact, Bret gave me some pads for mine while we were there, and I changed mine out also. You could also use some 1/8" foam sheeting that wallmart sells, under the legs. thin enough not to be bouncy, but will not let your lathe skid around. If your main legs on the lathe are not adjustable though, you are probably still going to have to shim one leg, as I cant imagine floors being that level, unless you are being really lucky.
 
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
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Location
Cincinnati, OH
Hey everyone. I have a question about changing the lathe height in the opposite direction. I just got my 3520b and I'd like to raise it. I could extend the adjustable feet to make it taller, but I'm a little uncomfortable with all that weight being supported on the threaded shafts of those feet fully extended. Does anyone have any ideas on some type of riser block that could be bolted directly to the cast legs and then put the padded feet on the riser block to dampen vibration?

I thought PM made something like that but I can't find anything.

I could bolt a couple chunks of wood under them and then run the adjustable feet into the wood, but I'd almost have to use some type of heavy duty threaded insert to support the weight on the threads in the wood risers I think.

That's why a cast riser made to bolt under the legs would be awesome.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.
Kevin
 

Bill Boehme

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Hey everyone. I have a question about changing the lathe height in the opposite direction. I just got my 3520b and I'd like to raise it. I could extend the adjustable feet to make it taller, but I'm a little uncomfortable with all that weight being supported on the threaded shafts of those feet fully extended. Does anyone have any ideas on some type of riser block that could be bolted directly to the cast legs and then put the padded feet on the riser block to dampen vibration?

I thought PM made something like that but I can't find anything.

I could bolt a couple chunks of wood under them and then run the adjustable feet into the wood, but I'd almost have to use some type of heavy duty threaded insert to support the weight on the threads in the wood risers I think.

That's why a cast riser made to bolt under the legs would be awesome.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.
Kevin

I would suggest hard mounting the lathe to the floor if you have a concrete slab. Rubber pads just isolate the lathe vibration from the floor and allows the lathe to shake. Unless your lathe is flexible, hard mounting stops the lathe from shaking.
 
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Apr 18, 2013
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Cincinnati, OH
Thanks Bill!

I do have a 3/4 T&G floor over a slab so that would be an option.

So you are suggesting riser blocks say out of a 4x4 bolted to the cast legs and then bolting the 4x4s to the floor right?

I'd lose height adjustability that way but I suppose I could build the riser blocks out a laminated block of BB ply and fine tune the height I need based on how many layers I use. I mean once it's set, it's set and shouldn't have to change. The floor was poured level so an uneven floor isn't an issue.
 

Bill Boehme

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Thanks Bill!

I do have a 3/4 T&G floor over a slab so that would be an option.

So you are suggesting riser blocks say out of a 4x4 bolted to the cast legs and then bolting the 4x4s to the floor right?

I'd lose height adjustability that way but I suppose I could build the riser blocks out a laminated block of BB ply and fine tune the height I need based on how many layers I use. I mean once it's set, it's set and shouldn't have to change. The floor was poured level so an uneven floor isn't an issue.

I think that would work as long as everything is solid.
 
Joined
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Thanks Bill!

I do have a 3/4 T&G floor over a slab so that would be an option.

So you are suggesting riser blocks say out of a 4x4 bolted to the cast legs and then bolting the 4x4s to the floor right?

I'd lose height adjustability that way but I suppose I could build the riser blocks out a laminated block of BB ply and fine tune the height I need based on how many layers I use. I mean once it's set, it's set and shouldn't have to change. The floor was poured level so an uneven floor isn't an issue.

Use the 4x4s vertically and cut to exact length/height. They're stronger and stiffer that way - more so than plywood laminations, which are essentially cross-grain. To attach to the floor, embed single anchors at each leg, extending to the lathe feet. If not attached, counterbore the bottoms of the 4x4s for the bolt heads.
 
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Apr 18, 2013
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Use the 4x4s vertically and cut to exact length/height.

Thanks Joe! I definitely like the 4x4 approach better. I was trying to decide if it would be better to cover the entire span of the stand for stability or us them vertically like stilts. I guess in the end, it's already sitting on just the four feet so the span of the stand isn't offering any support directly on the floor anyway.

I was thinking that if I didn't want to drill into the floor in the end, that I could use a through bolt for the feet instead and double nuts to lock them in once the height is set. That would prevent the holes in the wood risers from having to support any weight. I might try something like that first and if I'm not happy with how that works, I can always go back and drill the floor.

I'll give this some thought and let the forum know what I end up doing.

Thanks again.
Kevin
 
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