On 30 Dec 2004 07:04:18 -0800, wrote:

Correct lathe height, according to what I've read or heard, is elbow
height for the particular operator. 3/4 MDF sounds insufficient to hold
up a lathe withour vibration, even if it cantilevers the base legs by
only a few inches. You could go with "2" by construction lumber (1
5/8"), tho. I made a whole stand of 2x12 and 2x6 with 3/4 ply sides,
works well and very stable.

3/4" MDF is what I made my stand out of, and the vibration is almost
non-existant, even without bolting my midi lathe down. The only
caveat here is that the MDF is a full cabinet, and not just one sheet
laid over a stand. The cabinet is all MDF, with no construction
lumber involved- the top, bottom and shelf are set into dadoes on the
sides, and the back is set into dadoes in the sides and bottom. Works
nice, and only required a single 8' x 4' sheet (handy for us folks on
a budget!)
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