Ballast question.

Re: Ballast question.

Gary in Zirconia,NC

>That depends on what lathe you have and what you're going to turn.

Re: Ballast question.

Kevin Mac Luskie

>Well, that's going to be influenced by the capacity of your lathe, and by how fully you plan to exercise that capacity. Also if you have a bandsaw to round out your blanks first, things might not be as off balance as if you are starting with a hexagonally cut-with-a-chainsaw blank.

That said. I have a 16" capacity lathe and I have a shelf with 360lbs of concrete, and about 2/3 a bag in each hollow leg. That's been sufficient most of the time. But I've only turned about 11" diameter so far. I know when I get to something bigger, I'm going to want a little more.

I'm curious how many people bolt their lathes to the concrete slab?

-Kevin

Re: Ballast question.

JamieDonaldson

>JL- I encourage you to consider the use of river or landscape gravel rather than sand. Sand has a way of escaping into motors, bearings,etc. and the results are not good. Gravel accomplishes the same goals of stabilizing as does sand without the problems of containment.

Re: Ballast question.

john Lucas

>I agree with Jamie 100 percent. I thought about sand but decided that sooner or later it would leak out. I also thought it would be a pain to remove if I ever had to move the lathe. (I just did so glad I made the right choice). I used Pea gravel. you can get it in 50 lb bags from your local box store. I added 300 lbs to my Powermatic. John

Re: Ballast question.

jared

>remove 1 for email

Hello: I am assuming you are talkng about a PM 3520. I just got one and was pondering the ballast question the other day. Is the 300 pounds enough to make a difference? I did some blanks that were 15 inches in dia and not particularly true and I had to keep the speed down more than Ithought I should to keep it running smooth. I am going to use some cast iron weights off the front of a tractor. they are about 100 pounds each and dont take up much room. Thanks in advance Jared

Re: Ballast question.

JL

>Sorry, I probably should have stated the lathe first. It is (or will be when I go to pick it up this week) a Jet 1642 EVS. I was going to adapt Dominic Greco's ballast box that he has in the articles section. I was thinking about sand, because I can easily bag sand. Gravel is a bit tougher, but I can bag it also. (When you work for a company that makes flexible film for packaging, you learn how to bag everything.)

Re: Ballast question.

Robert Cox

>Sonoco?

Re: Ballast question.

john Lucas

>Jared

Ideally I would like to have a little more weight and a bigger footprint, but realistically I'm just going to turn the speed down. An out of balance piece is more likely to come out of the chuck or off the faceplate especially at high speed. I value my health so I'll just keep the speed down.

Re: Ballast question.

JL work

>Printpack.

Re: Ballast question.

Mike Schwing from Md.

>I have a 3520, and added 300 pounds of sand in a box underneath. It honestly totally and completely changed the stability of my lathe. I had a bit of rocking/movement before the box was built but my lathe hasn't moved even 1/8" from the lines I drew around the feet on its initial placement. I'm also convinced that the sand vs. gravel or rocks or steel, has additional dampening qualities that the others do not.

As for having to turn the speed down - you won't find a blank that doesn't have a best starting speed, even with 300 pounds of ballast. I've yet to find a blank that I couldn't turn slow/fast enough to work with my 3520, including 200 pound bowl blanks.

While one cannot argue the point that sand is more likely to escape and cause a mess than gravel, it will travel downwards, and not float around in the air to cause your lathe motor problems. I'm also convinced that the constant exposure to sawdust generated by turning causes more wear on the lathe than a small chance exposure of sand.

The sand in my box is contained in heavy bags, 50 pounds each, inside another bag, and a plastic liner for the box. Aside from a catastrophic failure of the ballast box, I can't how sand is going to escape.

Re: Ballast question.

JamieDonaldson

>The wild card in this thread is SPEED-excess, that is. I find that too many turners have a greed/need for too many RPMs for most work, and many bad things happen too fast because they have the speed cranked up too high, whether roughing, sanding, or finishing.