On Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 7:03:33 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
have not read the entire thing but it looks interesting

https://archive.org/details/lathebeddesign00hornrich

I didn't read it either. But I can't understand how you could write a thesis or lengthy paper on this subject. Remember lathe beds can also be two planks or wood joists on edge. Conover lathes use this design for the lathe bed. Anytime you can just stand two joists on edge close together and have them function perfectly fine, it can't be too complicated. About as involved as making sure the pulleys on the motor line up with the pulleys on the headstock. Not too complicated.