LWKDPSAHMLS - say what?

[Beamer]

When I joined the woodworking club in town, I was pleased to discover that just about every weekend there is some kind of gathering at a member's shop. Each gathering is devoted to a specific subject like Novice, Scrollsaw, Furniture, etc.

After a couple years, I ended up taking over the Turning group which meets on the 4th Saturday of every month at someone's shop. Those of us with portable lathes heft them to that shop for the day to either use or let someone else use to turn during that gathering. We tackle subjects sometimes, other times it's just a turning free-for-all. We'll have anywhere from 1 to 6 lathes at a given shop.

One thing that bugged me at the very beginning was finding a place to put my lathe that suited the height of the user - either myself or a fellow member. I struggled with the idea for awhile. I didn't like the Jet stand because it was so dang heavy and wouldn't fit in the trunk of my car without half an hour of (dis)assembly each time. And it was heavy. Plus, the feet on it stick out and usually catch someone's foot ...

So I set about designing my own. I call it my:

LWKDPSAHMLS

Yes ... pronounce it Lawkudpisahhhmllllus. Or .. not.

Light Weight
Knock Down
Portable
Sturdy
Adjustable Height
Mini Lathe Stand

I thought about tossing in "Concisely Named" in there somewhere, too, but didn't want to go overboard

The whole thing breaks down into 7 pieces that I can carry in one trip. Fits nicely in my trunk. The adjustable height is very handy. It's also quite sturdy when turning - it isn't gonna handle turning a super heavy green bowl blank that's severely off center, but it'll handle small projects suitable for a mini lathe.

Here's a few shots of it's main pieces and then fully assembled with my standard bank of drawers that I keep with the lathe all the time.

First, knocked down:



These are the principal pieces that make up the base. They're held together with wedges that I made. Truth be told, the wedges just keep the pieces together, it's plenty sturdy before the wedges go in, too.

There's one more piece that handles the adjustable height portion. This piece has a series of holes every inch that accept a couple aluminum pegs that I turned on my metal lathe. These have a notch in 'em, that settles into a washer with a groove cut in it so that it can't vibrate out during use.

Here's a detail shot of that system:



And then I took another shot of the whole thing from the front, with the drawer bank on top. The Lathe itself sits on top of these drawers. The holes in the top part are every inch and the drawer bank is 3 1/2" tall. This allows me to adjust the lathe's spindle height in 1/2" increments by taking out the bank of drawers or not.

Here's the frontal:



And since I'm such a ham, I had to take a video showing how easy it is to assemble:




Thanks for lookin!


Edit: Oh yeah, as always - more pics here: gallery.sawdusters.org/v/Beamer/randomtools/latheStand/

[Doug B]

Now that is really handy Beamer! I really like the knock down capability of the stand. That really is superb!

Um...somehow I always thought of you as having more hair... ;D

<edit in> And a bigger hammer! ;D

[Ruffnek]

Apr 14, 2010 0:00:28 GMT -6 Doug B said:

Um...somehow I always thought of you as having more hair... ;D

<edit in> And a bigger hammer! ;D

Yeah, I was surprised to see Beams is balding but I can truthfully say that I NEVER, EVER thought about the size of his hammer!

That's a cool lathe stand, Jason and well thought out. I'm impressed with it...not so much the name, though.

You shoulda had a naming contest here. ;D

[sawduster]

Not at all how I had pictured the Beamer, either. Very cool. Make an excellent stand for folks to take to shows and such and maybe turn a few custom pieces on site, or simply add to the interest of a booth.

[rdabpenman]

Great idea!
Well done.

Les

[Beamer]

Gee ... thanks fellas!

For the record, my hairline ain't changed in 10 years ... been like this since my 20s. My uncle was fully bald by the time he was 30 - so i guess i've got half a set of decent hair genes.

I made this stand about a year ago and it's REALLY handy in use. As much as my lathe travels, it's very nice to know it'll be the right height for me no matter where I take it.

[deepsplinter]

Too cool, Jason!! Nice work.

...and there's nothing bad about getting a little thin on top, either.

[TDHofstetter]

I've gotta' say... that's some wicked clever. Only thing I can suggest as an add-on feature would be rotatable washers to lock the height-adjustable section so the whole thing'd become one fixed object. No really good reason for it, unless you happen to turn during an earthquake... just a purposeless "feature".

[dicklaxt]

I will be the Devil's Advocate on this one,,,,,,,,,,,,,,how come you put the lower left peg(as seen from the camera)in from the back to the front when all others,I think were installed from out to in.

I don't know squat about the Mini Lathes but do they not get/tend to jump around with use or out of balance blanks,if so ,do the pegs tend to work them selves loose?

Lastly how stable is the completed assembly,turning small objects gets more critical once you are approaching the final cuts and stationay stands would seem to be a must.

You know that is clever as Tim statedmgreat job and well thought out.

dcik

[Beamer]

Apr 16, 2010 4:45:56 GMT -6 dicklaxt said:

I will be the Devil's Advocate on this one,,,,,,,,,,,,,,how come you put the lower left peg(as seen from the camera)in from the back to the front when all others,I think were installed from out to in.

Because i was workin' live and it was easier to reach it

I don't know squat about the Mini Lathes but do they not get/tend to jump around with use or out of balance blanks,if so ,do the pegs tend to work them selves loose?

Not even a little. First, the mini lathe isn't really able to handle a very big blank to begin with. Second, I never turn bowls on it. I always just turn pens or tops or boxes - rarely more than 4" diameter stuff. No vibrations at all, really.

But if there were, the pegs I made have a groove in 'em that seats in the washer's groove requiring quite a big violent vibration to even begin to knock 'em out - the whole thing would have to travel upwards an inch before the peg could come loose even a little bit.

Lastly how stable is the completed assembly,turning small objects gets more critical once you are approaching the final cuts and stationay stands would seem to be a must.

100% solid. Completely. The A-frame legs have more rake to the back so pressing into a piece even is very well supported. It's got a 20x30 foot print (or there abouts, i forget exactly) and is more than stable enough. It ain't even a concern at all.

The wedges could all fall out and the whole thing would STILL stay upright for a good bit. You wouldn't wanna turn anything like that, but even if they all vibrated out, you would have plenty of time to stop the lathe, find each wedge and tap 'em back in, no problem.

I would argue, though, that if you're turning properly you don't have to worry about vibration from the actual act of cutting wood. The blank may oscillate off center and cause vibration, but if you're workin' on a round piece that's well balanced, your tool shouldn't make much noise or vibration at all.

In fact, if you're getting them cute little corkscrew curlies, the experience is quite soothing and relaxing. I tell my students they shouldn't have any white-knuckles when holding the tool - you don't need to strong arm the cut most of the time.

You know that is clever as Tim statedmgreat job and well thought out.

Thanks!

[dicklaxt]

You did good and all the right answers.....proud to know you ;D

dick

[imahic]

Looks cool, Jason. That could be handy for several things in addtion to a place to put your lathe.

Friend of mine who is bald just tells folks it's a solar panel for a sex machine....lol

[gomer]

Apr 17, 2010 9:49:15 GMT -6 imahic said:

Looks cool, Jason. That could be handy for several things in addtion to a place to put your lathe.

Friend of mine who is bald just tells folks it's a solar panel for a sex machine....lol

I'll have to remember that one! (Someday)/ ;D

Great design Beamer.