I want to raise my lathe 3-4 inches

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waverly

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I'm 6"2' and I find myself constantly stooped over when doing work on my lathe. I'm getting ready to build a new shop. Can I pour an extra 3-4 inch thick area where I'm going to put my lathe. Will that be enough to support it? It's a Matthews 13X40 GT so not a lot of weight. It's around 1350 lbs. on the stand. Just curious if that can work if reinforced properly.

I figured I'd get a solid answer here. All advice, tips, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks Waverly
 
not that heavy.
maybe just alum blocks at the feet ?
thicker slab is good if you are pouring a slab.

BUT AL is a concrete guy and can tell ya.

my leveling feet are over 3" long so only a 2" spacer
to get an extra 4" in height.
 
Waverly,

I am also 6'2" and got tired of stooping over one of my lathes, so I raised it by putting the leveling bolts on 4" aluminum rounds that are about 3-4 inches tall. The rounds sit on anti-vibration pads. This has worked out well for me. Just another option I thought I'd throw out there.

I don't know why a raised pad wouldn't work, and have entertained the idea myself. Jerry Sharrett knows a ton about setting up machines and such, so hopefully, he'll weigh in on this topic. If you do it, reaçh out to Alinwa....he's a concrete contractor and could probably give you some advice and guidance on the raised pad.

Justin
 
Just a thought: If you pour a raised slab, consider how big your feet are. You may want to recess the area where your feet will be while operating.
 
John S said:
Just a thought: If you pour a raised slab, consider how big your feet are. You may want to recess the area where your feet will be while operating.
Click to expand...

This.^

Or just pour the extra concrete where the headstock and tail Stock are.

Some 4 inch steel blocks would also do the trick. That would be my choice, but then, I have a lot of steel laying around.
 
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Raise by

waverly said:
i'm 6"2' and i find myself constantly stooped over when doing work on my lathe. I'm getting ready to build a new shop. Can i pour an extra 3-4 inch thick area where i'm going to put my lathe. Will that be enough to support it? It's a matthews 13x40 gt so not a lot of weight. It's around 1350 lbs. On the stand. Just curious if that can work if reinforced properly.

I figured i'd get a solid answer here. All advice, tips, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks waverly
Click to expand...
use two pieces of chanel iron bill b
 
I used 3x3x1/4” square tube. Added some bolts into the concrete and it gave me 4” extra height. If you use concrete anchors, you need 3 nuts and washers per bolt. One to tighten against face of concrete and the other 2 sandwich the tube. Makes leveling easy too. Lots of ways to do it, but I like this setup.
 

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Zebra13 said:
Waverly,

I am
I don't know why a raised pad wouldn't work, and have entertained the idea myself. Jerry Sharrett knows a ton about setting up machines and such, so hopefully, he'll weigh in on this topic. If you do it, reaçh out to Alinwa....he's a concrete contractor and could probably give you some advice and guidance on the raised pad.

Justin
Click to expand...

At a local lumber store (Lowes) I got some 4"x4" wooden blocks about 5" long. IIR Lowes charged me 25 cents per cut to saw them from a 4x4.. My SB Heavy 10 sits on them. I raised the lathe up with an automotive floor jack.


,
 
I asked this question several years ago. Don Neilson said to cut the concrete out in front of the lathe and to stand in the hole.
You see Inram, we all get our chains pulled.
 
use a chair ??? LOL

i got mine 2" up with special machine feet (for 4 my chose is concrete and if the floor is realy smooth a i beam can work also but i prefere 4-6 independent parts then so there is no chance of wobble from the imperfect floor)
 
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I moves my mill up

last year 4" and like it better and I'm 5'8". I made a box from wood. Mill was sitting on a piece of steel plate so I just made a box with a center piece the size of the plate and moved it up. Also fastened it to the wall. It's a small Grizzly on it's own cabinet. A lot easier to see what I'm doing.

Pete
 
got mine up apx 4"+ on steel H beams the beams are connected together via some welded angle iron all sitting on 6" reinforced concrete slab.

left room for feet but stepping that step on stop bar isn't going to happen in a flash. need to make an auxilirary one below it to make it more convenient. Likely the same for anyone else with that e brake/stop.
 
just as a reminder
most lathes are heavy
most lathes need to be level
and stay level
some of the suggestions appear to be subject to movement/flex/vibration.
think before you act
 
When I got my South Bend 9A, the previous owner had put a 4" blocks under the bed where it mounts to the bench.I left them there to see how it worked out.The hight is good for my 5'6" and the extra room makes chip cleaning easier.
 
I used pistons from a big Diesel engine for standoffs (metal scrap bin find). Faced the top, turned the base and put a hard rubber bench material under each so contact was solid around the perimeter of the base of each. Pretty darned stable and worked well IMO. I suppose a raised concrete t pad on each side would be ideal.
 
just another way to skin a deer

Homegrown feet for my SBL13. 2 inch thick, 4 inch round aluminum, cheap from ebay. 5/8 x18 bolts, and the lathe base threaded accordingly.
 

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Similar problem

I constructed forms for the front and rear using 2x4's so to gain 3 1/2" in height. These were on top of the poured floor and to keep them secured I hammer drilled some holes in the original floor to put short pieces of rebar in to form a tie. Poured the forms full of Sackrete. I use hold downs as well as jack screws to level with and have had no problems at all. Cement is dead and that is good. Red
 
there is a great video by Adam Booth (Abom79) on youtube showing the process he went through in raising his victor lathe.
lookup "machining lathe riser feet" there are two parts and then he shows how he levels the lathe.
He's a big guy and it seemed to work very well for him.
Mike
 
Thanks for all

I'd like to thank everyone for the info. I've decided to go with an H shaped pad for foot clearance. I've got a blank canvas at the moment, but I'm very close to getting a permit to start this project. Thanks Jackie for the size 13 foot clearance recommendation. I hadn't thought about that issue.

Butch, Thanks for your response and Mr. Neilson's but this is the Low Country and if you dig a hole it fills up with water before you can finish it. That certainly is great reverse engineering advice though.



I thank everyone for their responses,

Waverly
 
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