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Mounting a lathe on casters

M

Mark Ahlenius

Joined
Apr 23, 2022
Messages
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Location
Lombard, IL
Hi,

I have a circa 1953 Delta Rockwell lathe which I have rebuilt. Currently its legs are mounted to a pair of 2x4 at each end of the lathe. It’s rather difficult to move this heavy unit around when I need to get to one side or the other. I’ve been thinking of mounting it on lockable casters (neoprene or similar) to make it easier to move. I’m concerned with safety esp when doing rough turning of blanks that the lathe might tend to move/wobble a bit when doing heavier cuts. I would of course select casters whone load bearing rating is more than rated for the weight of my lathe. I am using this lathe on my concrete basement floor.

Appreciate anyone’s experience with this topic.

thank you in advance.

’mark
 
One of the best investments i made was a hydraulic table.
I’ve used it to move powermatics, woodfasts, generals.

Also makes an auxiliary table for the bandsaw after raising a large blank to table height.
Then it rolls over to the lathe for a small lift or I can use 2x4 levers to get a blank to center.
 
 
Darryl Fective said:
Something like this would allow mobility, but still let it sit solidly when in use. At nearly 900 capacity, these should handle it well.

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Thanks Darryl, unfortunately I don‘t have any verticals to mount this type of caster to. My legs are similar to the Zambia’s caster shown by someone else’s response. Appreciate the info.
 
The biggest problem I see with lathes on casters, is that where you move them to, the floor may not be level/flat. This can create wobble problems. Maybe mark a spot and then level up your lathe, and then mount the casters.

robo hippy
 
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level or unlevel floor doesn’t really matter with the Zambus. They make what are called “leveling casters.” You lower the locking part till it locks. May be different for each wheel but it’s solid when casters are locked down.
 
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I had a couple somewhat unusual experiences with casters. One was a 1200 pound vibratory deburring machine that came from the factory with rubber or urethane locking casters. To function machine vibrates and with the casters locked it wore a flat on each of the casters after 15 years of being in the same location.

The other problem was a very heavy machine not being moved in many years the casters developed a flat spot just from the machine's weight.

The best solution is to have some sort of jack screws at each corner to screw down to take the weight off the relatively soft casters. The jacks can help to level the machine and stabilize it on a floor that is not perfectly flat.

Another thought, if you use locking swivel casters try to find some that lock both the swivel and the wheels from turning.
 
One other issue with casters is the potential to raise the lathe centerline height. Once at a symposium, the lathes were mounted on wheels about 5" in diameter, so the demonstrators could swap to get the lathe they wanted. I attended a demo by Cindy Drozda, who is about 4"11" on a tall day, and seeing her struggling to turn at shoulder height was tragic. (She just shrugged it off, and did a terrific job making a very nice finial box during the period.) Your casters wouldn't necessarily raise your lathe that much, but even a little bit could be uncomfortable.

I suppose the opposite might hold. The casters might prevent a tall person to raise the lathe to the height they need, since the levelers would come off and you couldn't shove blocks of wood under the feet to get more height.
 
Alan Weinberg said:
Zambus as mentioned makes great casters that lock.
View attachment 57123
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I have these same casters on my 3520 (also my with some blocks to add additional height). Been using them for >15yrs and very happy with them. Most of the time I don’t even raise them off of the wheels for turning ~12” and under bowls; if I have a large log on, or notice wobbling, I do. Highly recommended
 

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Mark Ahlenius said:
Thanks Darryl, unfortunately I don‘t have any verticals to mount this type of caster to. My legs are similar to the Zambia’s caster shown by someone else’s response. Appreciate the info.
Click to expand...
That could probably be solved with a couple pieces of steel angle.
 
My little Jet is mounted on a shop-made stand on casters. To get it stable, I made four wedges that I whack in next to the casters. That stabilizes everything and I can tap the wedges out every time I need to move the lathe. I am thinking about the Nova Nebula (if they ever get to the US) and I'll probably mount the Zambus casters to it.
 
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