Josef,
My Southbend 9" swing lathe came with a flat table commonly
seen in electronic labs and other places. Six feet long and three feet
wide. Square tubular steel frame and legs that support a Melamine
covered MDF top that's 1" thick. It was old as was the lathe and a
little wobbly. Tightening the bolts and adding some angle iron cross
braces on the ends stiffened up the table nicely. I went to Wal*Mart
and bought a 4'x2' (approx) galvanised steel pan with a rolled up edge
intended for use under a leaky car as a chip/drip tray for a few
bucks. I leveled (carpenters level) the table, drilled new holes in
the top for bolting down the lathe where I wanted it as well as
throught the chip tray. To make leveling the lathe easier I bought two
hot rolled steel plates about 9" square and 1/4" thick and drilled
those for the lathe mounting pattern and a bolt in each corner for
mounting the plates. I shim between the plate and the feet of the
lathe to level the lathe using a machinist level across and along the
ways. Works very well and is very sturdy. Any sturdy work bench design
of wood or steel construction should do for this size lathe. Good
luck.

Bill

On 10 May 2004 05:30:57 GMT, (Josef Burger)
wrote:

I'm looking to build a lathe stand for my 7" swing lathe. I'd like
to do a good job of it, but I've no experience building a stand
for precision machinery. It seems simple enough, but I'm concerned
about flatness and warping from welding which will affect the lathe
and its alignment. I'm most likely over-thinking this, but I've
previously worked with large items where sub .001 precision isn't
a factor.

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