I'm mounting my Nova on the Teknatool legs tomorrow, and
after doing some measuring I'm surprised how low the lathe will be unless
I insert some riser blocks 5-6" thick. I was figuring on using a stack of
MDF squares. Anyone have a better suggestion?

-- Andy Barss

Andy Barss
Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona
Douglass 208, 626-3284

I just asked basically the same question, got some great replies.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ra...4ax.com&rnum=3

or do a google groups search on "raising lathe" you'll get lots of
hits.

I haven't done it yet, I'm not going to have much free time in the
shop until after xmas, but basically, I'll use one board on each side
(left and right) with poly runners under.

-Dan V.


On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 02:08:52 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Barss
wrote:


I'm mounting my Nova on the Teknatool legs tomorrow, and
after doing some measuring I'm surprised how low the lathe will be unless
I insert some riser blocks 5-6" thick. I was figuring on using a stack of
MDF squares. Anyone have a better suggestion?

-- Andy Barss

Andy Barss
Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona
Douglass 208, 626-3284

Dan Valleskey valleskey at comcast dot net wrote:

: I just asked basically the same question, got some great replies.

: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ra...4ax.com&rnum=3

: or do a google groups search on "raising lathe" you'll get lots of
: hits.

Thanks for the link.

A related question: would it be better to

(a) raise the whole lathe with bloocks under the legs, or
(b) keep the legs as they are, and raise the lathe?


My inutuition is that (b) might be better, as it doesn't raise the center
of gravity wuite so much.


-- Andy Barss

Andrew Barss wrote in message...

I needed additional 12" for my Grizzly lathe. I'm 6'6" tall. I took a
6" x 6"-8 foot pressure treated and cut it into 4 pieces.Two foot
pieces are stacked on each end.I used a 2" x 6" to create an "H"
frame. Mortise joint cut into middle of 6 x 6's before bolting them
together. Ten inch (6 total) carriage bolts hold the stacks together.
This gives foot room in front of lathe, is VERY heavy for stability, 2
x 6 is off the floor for clean-up. [-]======[-]. A floor mat works
between legs of "H". I had to use one layer of scrap 3/4" plywood
under 6 x 6 to get final height.

Bill in WNC mountains

You aren't going to change the center of gravity much, with either
method, unless you have a lot of weight on the shelf under the lathe.
Even than, I wouldn't worry about that too much. If you do it right,
it won't tip.

Whatever you do, leave room for your toes. Someone suggested a box
like structure to set the lathe on. Won't work for my size 12s.

Someone posted that they had raised their lathe by using spacers and
long bolts on top of the legs. I'm sure that would work fine, if IF:

you could make spacers with very little flex or give. Not sure I'd
want to use wood, well, maybe white oak, or something really tough.
Go for rigidity. Also, on my lathe anyway, I'd have to buy eight very
long bolts. If I raise it at the bottom of the legs, I'm looking at
four bolts. Or maybe I can counter sink a spot for the legs, as was
sugested, and skip the bolts altogether.

I'm probably spending too much time worrying about how to raise it,
when I get back to turning, I'll just raise it, somehow, and get on
with making saw dust. Let's not make it over complicated.


-Dan V.



On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 20:07:42 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Barss
wrote:

Dan Valleskey valleskey at comcast dot net wrote:

: I just asked basically the same question, got some great replies.

: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ra...4ax.com&rnum=3

: or do a google groups search on "raising lathe" you'll get lots of
: hits.

Thanks for the link.

A related question: would it be better to

(a) raise the whole lathe with bloocks under the legs, or
(b) keep the legs as they are, and raise the lathe?


My inutuition is that (b) might be better, as it doesn't raise the center
of gravity wuite so much.


-- Andy Barss