According to rigger :
Andrew VK3BFA asked:

How do I manouvre(sp) it up, onto the bench, line it up with the
mounting bolts, and get it down onto the mounting bolts. Without
killing myself, or needing to take yet another trip to the Chiropractor

to fix my back. (Again).

Where do you live Andrew? Anywhere around here and I've "got you
covered". What are neighbors for right?

His e-mail address tells me that he is in Oz (Australia).

On the MDF issue I'd agree with everyone else. It's coefficient of
expansion is suprisingly high (at least to me). Something else more
stable might be a sheet of thick phenolic. I'm not sure if linen or
paper base might be best.

Agreed -- it is amazing how much a much larger lathe can shift
with just the pressure from a single finger -- when you have a Starrett
"Master Precision" level on the bed to measure it. And a 9x20 is not as
stiff as the lathe on which I experienced this (a 12x24" Clausing with a
metal stand. *Don't* use anything which can change with the humidity.
And don't even consider something like a slab of 1" thick aluminum. The
differing temperature coefficient of expansion will warp the bed as the
two parts expand --just like the actuator arm in a thermocouple.


Steel and Cast iron are not that different, so that would be
what you really want.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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