I was asked to enter the fray as it were about lathe balancing and on
my site http://www3.sympatico.ca/3jdw8/antivibration.htm I have a
balancing system for a homemade lathe.
These things change and I no longer have the CTC lathe so do not use a
weight mounted high. Instead I use electronic speed control and find
that this is better for turning out of balance wood. (For wood that
will remain out of balance I use counterweights to balance the mass on
the lathe.) The electronic speed control allows the turner to start at
zero RPM, thus large pieces can be mounted and turned and once they
have their high spots turned off the speed can be increased to allow
faster turning.
I do still use my outside lathe but quite frankly the speed control is
so much more convenient that I only use the outside lathe for
relatively small faceplate turning. The counterweights mounted high
above the spindle do work, but they are dependent upon the base being
firmly anchored to the ground too and on the tightness of the bearings.
(Sloppy bearings are the worst thing for turning as the wood will move
as the tool is placed against it, causing all kinds of problems) I
actually found that the base of the lathe was wobbling back and forth
while the massive weights I have mounted high up are sitting relatively
still with a out of round piece turning in the lathe.
There is additional stress on the bearings and I find that I have to
tighten the bearing races on the pillow blocks every now and again.
Fortunately the pillow blocks have this option as some do not.