ideas for a lathe stand

S

skeetlee

Active member
Well Shiraz has finally released the new South Bend heavy 10 remake and I have one. I now need to make a base for this little lathe.
I need some ideas. I have several sketches in my mind, im just not sure what path to take.
The lathe is only around 650 pounds so I am a little worried about a wobble if a barrel has much runout. I need the base to be ridged enough to absorb the wobble.
I am leaning towards concrete pillars for each end with angle iron tied or poured in between for a chip pan shelf. I am open however. Maybe someone here has already tackled such a job?
Oh, the only other consideration I can think of, is the fact that I would like to have a flush system, so the chip pan needs carful consideration. Show me some pics or share your thoughts.

If anyone is curious about the new lathe, you can see it on Grizzlys web site. I think it will be a winner. Lee
 
In the old south bend info there is plans for a concrete bench for the 9 and heavy 10. Check the wswells web site, there might be a file.
 
Get a welding shop to build one. Tell em to overbuild it and use triangles on the end legs for stability and to keep it from twisting the bed.
 
Weldments by themselves are bad to accelerate vibration. In the 1970's, with the introduction of numerical control, some machine tool builders tried weldments instead of castings. Bad idea.

Build a hollow box stand and fill it with concrete. South Bend lathes were basically table lathes. Where extreme precision was required these lathes were mounted on concrete filled steel boxes.
 
the cabinets that you can buy for these lathes cost 1200 bucks. a yard of redi mix cost 110$. We are getting ready to add on the shop, so I can not build the concrete base just yet. The building may not get constructed until april 2015. I cant let my new little lathe sit that long. LOL!! dad said something about a 3 post or 3 legged base, but I am not sold on that idea. I asked him how we would get the twist out of the tail stock end and he didn't have an answer. hopefully by morning he will have a better idea. We have a 20' section of 4 inch tubing so I am guessing that is what we will be using. Maybe I can fill the legs with sack create?
I am a good welder and I will construct the base myself. Along with my pops anyway. I do however want different ideas for the concrete base. Once the new building is up and I have a permanent spot for this machine, I will build one.
I am a bit surprised as I see a lot of photos of different smiths and home gun builders and I haven't ever seen a SB heavy 10 on a concrete base. I would think this is a must after seeing the actual size of these machines. I cant see where even the old SB heavy 10 cabinets wouldn't wobble. maybe they are made better than I think?? Lee
 
I say you are over thinking. You say its temporary anyway so just make a base from your tubing and pour a top like a shooting table and let it rip. I would think many a fine chamber has been cut on a standard 4 leg heavy 10.
 
Sb lathe cast iron bases

JerrySharrett said:
I've never seen a Heavy 10 with a cast iron base other than the base option that had spindly, thin walled cast iron legs. This setup os certainly not the picture of stability.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbend/page4.html
Click to expand...


Although you may have never seen one........and having no experience working with them..... Isn`t it kinda hard to come to a subjective educated opinion.....????...And be correct....????
I`ve worked with them and they are a well designed, sturdy,and vibration absorbing base.
bill larson
 
B.Larson said:
Although you may have never seen one........and having no experience working with them..... Isn`t it kinda hard to come to a subjective educated opinion.....????...And be correct....????
I`ve worked with them and they are a well designed, sturdy,and vibration absorbing base.
bill larson
Click to expand...

Please explain. You are not making a lot of sense.
 
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I'd go with the factory stand. It looks pretty stout at 300 lbs. By the time you add tooling in the drawers, you pick up a few hundred pounds. Plus its easy to level up the bed with the feet.

Looks like a pretty nice machine! What I don't understand...how come they didn't got with at least a 1.5" spindle bore?
 
DSM said:
I'd go with the factory stand. It looks pretty stout at 300 lbs. By the time you add tooling in the drawers, you pick up a few hundred pounds. Plus its easy to level up the bed with the feet.

Looks like a pretty nice machine! What I don't understand...how come they didn't got with at least a 1.5" spindle bore?
Click to expand...

I have a pair of H10's,one with a fabricated stand and one made of cast iron. They are both made by SB. If there is any difference I cant tell. If these new machines are like the old ones Plaza Machinery up in Bethel, Vermont is worth contacting.
 
martin zuck said:
I have a pair of H10's,one with a fabricated stand and one made of cast iron. They are both made by SB. If there is any difference I cant tell. If these new machines are like the old ones Plaza Machinery up in Bethel, Vermont is worth contacting.
Click to expand...

Martin, the H10 you have with the cast iron stand, is it like the first one pictured on this link? South Bend had 3 generations of bases they offered with the original Heavy 10's. The one I have in my shop is of the rolled pipe design.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbend/page4.html

We had a few like that at Northeast State College as well as a few with the sheet metal base where I was on their Machine Tool Technology advisory board as well as being a member of the faculty for a few years. That 8 years, being in their shops 3 evenings each week, gave me plenty of time to evaluate their rigidity.

If the new Griz H10 is like the prototype photos sent to me by LeBlond when they were going to make a Heavy 10 in Taiwan either type base would work. But if this new H10 clone is like the Griz gunsmith lathes I would want a heavier base.

Notice the price difference in the Griz SB model $32K vs $3.2K, for the gunsmith labeled machine.
 
Grizzly SB Lathe

skeetlee said:
Well Shiraz has finally released the new South Bend heavy 10 remake and I have one. I now need to make a base for this little lathe.
I need some ideas. I have several sketches in my mind, im just not sure what path to take.
The lathe is only around 650 pounds so I am a little worried about a wobble if a barrel has much runout. I need the base to be ridged enough to absorb the wobble.
I am leaning towards concrete pillars for each end with angle iron tied or poured in between for a chip pan shelf. I am open however. Maybe someone here has already tackled such a job?
Oh, the only other consideration I can think of, is the fact that I would like to have a flush system, so the chip pan needs carful consideration. Show me some pics or share your thoughts.

If anyone is curious about the new lathe, you can see it on Grizzlys web site. I think it will be a winner. Lee
Click to expand...


Looks like a re-make of the SB10K which is the 9" Lathe with a riser block & not the Heavy 10L lathe having the 1 3/8" headstock bore.
 
JerrySharrett said:
Weldments by themselves are bad to accelerate vibration. In the 1970's, with the introduction of numerical control, some machine tool builders tried weldments instead of castings. Bad idea.

Build a hollow box stand and fill it with concrete. South Bend lathes were basically table lathes. Where extreme precision was required these lathes were mounted on concrete filled steel boxes.
Click to expand...

Jerry is spot on here. Weldments are not a value adding item to a machine tool. Stable connected mass is your friend to absorb harmonics. Cast iron is good. Concrete is even better. I have a Hardinge Super Precision CNC lathe that has a frame made of a granite polymer concrete type material. It is their highest precision lathe. Some modern mills are glued to a concrete slab or poured within one. I vote larger box weldment filled with crete.
 
Old shops i worked in had very heavy cast iron workbenches; I never saw one broken. A genius manager got rid of them; replaced with steel-frames, laminated wood tops, and 6 drawers. I sure wish someone would drop off one of the iron ones!
 
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