Well,
I picked up my lathe from a friend and it is a 4 ft old delta (sorry I
didn't write down any serial numbers. It is basically the lathe and a
motor with a belt that goes between four pulleys on each to control the
speed.

Now.... My friend had it set up so that the lathe and the motor sat
next to each other on a giant piece of plywood. I could just build some
legs and a brace for that piece of ply wood.

Pros: -The distance between the motor and the lathe is already there
so I don't have to worry about the spacing (belt tension is a concern).

- It would probably be easier.

Cons: Vibration.
-Overall quality
- An enormous footprint in a very small garage
- The danger of having a motor on the side.


Obviously I would rather build mine own stand. I realize it needs to
be heavy and stable. ( I am thinking 6 legs with rubber screw
adjustments for leveling. However, I am worried about a few things.


1. How do I know how far below I need to mount the motor. How can a
measure the correct tension for the belt?

2. How can a set up a guard so parts of my body aren't ripped off in
the belt? (I was thinking about building a hollow wooden column with a
door that opens for belt changes. Also a protective guard on the top
side)


3. What is a good overall design. Compared to the lathe, how much
wider/ longer should the stand be?

A free lathe is sweet but I don't want to make it worthless with a
crappy stand.

Thanks in advance


Robert Ward