Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience? - Turning - Woodworking

Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 4:24 AM #1

Rob W.
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Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

Rob W.

>If Jet/WMH delivers stock to Tool Crib as scheduled, I should have a new Jet-mini here by the end of this week, or early next... I'm looking forward to having another fun toy, especially a smaller lathe to teach my 6 year old son how to turn (...he's been itching to pick up a gouge for months since I got the new Jet 1642 back in July!). I would like to build (or buy) a portable stand (not unlike stands/supports for miter saws) for the Jet Mini-lathe (that I will modify with the DC variable speed motor from Vega) so that I can easily transport the lathe to meetings and teaching sessions away from my shop. Hopefully this setup will fit in the back of my Explorer. Not wanting to re-invent the wheel, I'd like to ask the turning cognoscenti if anyone has built a collapsible lathe stand for a mini-lathe that gives good support, yet has wheels/rollers and folds to make transport easy. I am thinking about buying an inexpensive mitersaw stand, but I'd like to know if anyone has already gone down this road and can offer some ideas. Perhaps clubs have portable stands for their group's lathes? Does anyone have some experience with this, or can offer some advice? Thanks! Rob Wallace in Iowa

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 5:15 AM #2

Greg
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83 posts

Registered: 1/2/04

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience

Greg

>Rob,

I've used a Black and Decker "Workmate", and it's worked fine. It works well as long as you're not turning anything heavy or significantly out of balance.

- - -

I am always on the hunt for ephemera. It can be pictures, legal document, diplomas, manuals, personal letters and anything else that shows up. I try not to keep any of my finds. I read them, enjoy them, and then look for a permanent home. I have donated to museums, schools, fraternal organizations and even to the Weyerheauser Company. My finds are distributed here in the Pacific Northwest, but also California, Iowa, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Connecticut. Helpful hint: Just about every county in the country has a museum of some sort. They are usually thrilled to receive items that reflect their history and culture. I recently had in my possession a personal letter from February,1946, that had been addressed from one APO (army post office) to another. Stamped on the face was "Return to Sender, Undeliverable Address". I had found it at an estate sale, presumably at the home of the person who originally sent the letter. I have no idea why the letter was kept all these years, but it had never been opened. I opened it and read it at home. It was written by an American woman who worked as a civilian for the U.S. government in post-war Offenhut, Germany. She had sent it to another American woman who was doing a similar job in Shanhghai, China. The letter was newsy and informative about the hardships of living in a bombed out country. No doubt the conditions in Shanghai were no better. I had no great expectations of success, but I googled the name of the intended recipient. The woman's first name is uncommon, and I came upon a woman of that name who had gotten married in California in 1947, the year after the letter was sent. Further, the letter had stated that the two women had worked together for the O.N.I. (Office of Naval Intelligence?) in San Francisco during the war, so California made sense. So I had the woman's current name, or at least it was current 64 years ago. More digging revealed that there is a couple living in the same California town as where the marriage took place. He is 97 and she is 91. (It's amazing what the internet can divulge.) I got the phone number and called. The husband answered. I introduced myself and told him I was looking for a woman and mentioned her maiden name. He said yes, that was his wife's maiden name. Then I said the woman I was looking for had worked in Shanghai after the war. He said, yes, his wife had worked in China. WOW, I had hit paydirt. We didn't talk for long, but he was enthused about receiving the letter, and I mailed it the next day. He promised to write back after the letter arrived. It has been just over a week, so I am eagerly waiting for his return letter. Hopefully it will take less than 65 years to get here. Greg

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 5:38 AM #3

Edward
Guest

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience *LINK*

Edward

>I have used this miter saw stand made by Delta to support several different mini lathes. I took off the roller out-riggers and screwed a piece of MDF to the top to sit the lathe on. The whole rig folds up and rolls around on the big wheels, very easily.

Edward

http://www.deltamachinery.com/index.asp?e=139&p=4876

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 1:25 PM #4

Fred L. - North Carolina
Guest

Motor - where ?

Fred L. - North Carolina

>I am mounting my Vega motor UNDER the lathe. The motor is easily reversible. Universal motors, unlike the brushless magnetic ones, turn in one direction only. I reversed mine to be able to mount it under the lathe, in a cabinet that I am working on. This makes the whole setup about 12" shorter. The cabinet will also provide some storage, and add to the weight.

The Vega motor is open frame and needs an enclosure. It should also have a fan.

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 3:38 PM #5

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL
Guest

Re: Motor - where ?

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Rob,

Fred is right, adding the VS Vega motor complicates the situation. If you intend to use the motors as I mounted it in the orginal posting, and want to make it portable, you should mount the lathe and motor an a piece of good 3/4" plywood, and then you can mount that on the stand.

Mark

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 6:36 PM #6

Rob W.
Guest

Re: Motor - where ?

Rob W.

>Mark: Thanks for the follow-up! I have already cut oak veneer plywood for the box that will be beneath the Jet Mini-Lathe, and plan on mounting it under the lathe bed as you and Fred suggest. (I was actuallly going to e-mail Fred about what his source was for the new belt required for the added distance between spindle & shaft, and ordering specs for the belts.) I am following the two suggested electronic mods to the circuit board (I'm a ham operator of 25+ years so this is a no-brainer), am adding a direction reversal switch, and taking the conversion even further; I will add a power control relay and pushbutton stop-start. All of this will be contained in a box under the lathe (along with a small cooling "muffin" fan blowing through added heatsink fins already attached with thermal transfer compound to the aluminum back side of the circuit board heatsink). The bottom of the box will have extended flanges on each end so that I can quickly bolt it on and off the portable table (whatever I actually decide to do). This will be a sweet little portable lathe that I hope to be able to take to meetings and give turning classes in "remote" locations (i.e. away from my shop). I want to thank you for posting such an excellent review of your conversion and modification of the Jet mini-lathe motor to DC Variable speed! The present low price of the Jet mini and the availablity of the Vega motor was inspiring enough for me to drop the cash needed to do this project. I suspect many others are also thankful for your efforts. Best regards, Rob Wallace

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 6:57 PM #7

Fred L. - North Carolina
Guest

Re: Motor - where ?

Fred L. - North Carolina

>It is a good idea to get the motor first.

After I received the motor, I bought a new motor pulley from Jet, and a 40" belt from Aarubco Rubber. Their belt prices are very low, the 40" belt was less than $8.

The motor is open frame and needs to be cooled. That is why I decided to mount it under the lathe. Mounting it where the original motor is would not leave room for a shroud and fan.

FredL

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 7:00 PM #8

Fred L. - North Carolina
Guest

Re: Motor - where ?

Fred L. - North Carolina

>Feel free to email me anytime.

73s

FredL

Re: Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

1/19/04, 9:18 PM #9

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL
Guest

Re: Motor - where ?

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Rob,

Thanks for the compliments. It sounds like you have all the technical expertise required to make it a first rate operation.

Feel free to email, but Woodturning in the Subject like so you don't get deleted as a spam.

Mark

Portable Stand for Mini-Lathe - Any experience?

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