comfortable lathe height

Re: comfortable lathe height

David Walser

The general rule is that the center-height of the lathe should be at about your elbows. However, there are lots of variabilities to consider. One of the most important of these is eyesight. Many find turning at the lathe for extended periods uncomfortable because they have to bend over to see what they're turning. That can be worse than having to lift your elbows.

Another factor to consider is the type of turning you're doing. Spindle turning (chair legs) benefits from one type of stance at the lathe while faceplate turning (bowls and platters) benefits from another. The two stances are similar, but turning beads (which is common in spindle turning) requires you to lift and lower your tool handle quite a bit -- a movement that's not quite as common in faceplate turning. So, someone doing mostly spindle turning might want the center-height of the lathe slightly lower (at elbow height) than someone who turns mostly bowls.

HTH

Re: comfortable lathe height

Jack Guzman from Maine

I thought it may be something like that. I'm going to try out platforms of various sizes and see what works best for me. As it is now,the center is quite a bit above my elbow height. thanks---Jack

Re: comfortable lathe height

Jim Barbour

David has given you what may be the definitive response. There are a couple of other things to consider as you actually follow his recommendations. I found myself in a similar situation several years back; my lathe was slightly over an inch too high. Since I had made a stand with cabinets and weight in the bottom, cutting it down was going to be a real pain. I simply screwed a piece of 3/4 subfloor to the floor and covered it with a shop mat from Sears, which I also tacked down using roofing underlayment nails (the ones with the big plastic washers). Rather than bring the lathe down, I lifted me up.

On a second note, I have found that if I clear the swarf from the floor on a regular basis, my back appreciates it. First, the buildup raises us so we are too high relative to the lathe, and second, we end up standing on an uneven surface, which also is hard on the back.

I just kick it away from where I am standing and when it gets high enough that it is an effort to climb over, I clean up. This seems to get more important as the years pass. ... sigh ...

comfort & safety

Geoff Whaling

Setting up a lathe and your work space for the correct lathe spindle height for the majority of turning tasks you undertake is quite important for a number of reasons.

Apart from the general short term discomfort experienced it can create longer term back strain and eye strain issues, however there are short term hazards as well.

As mentioned an uncomfortable stance, raised elbows, or a stooped stance make it more difficult to complete some tasks and actually raises the risk / probability of catches etc. The catch may lead to a more serious issue such as a project blank lost off the lathe, striking the turner.

We aren't getting any younger, so house keeping, maintaining a clear unobstructed floor & work space and eliminating trip hazards around machinery should be a no brainer but we all tend to lapse a little in that department. (Slips, Trips & Falls are the most significant cause of injury to "older" persons.)

I have a couple of lathes which are set to different lathe heights, the VL150 is used mostly for smaller spindle work so is set above my elbow height, but the Woodfast MC908 (VL200 size) is set at or just below elbow height. I often raise the VL150 (which is mounted on an adjustable Jet mini lathe stand) slightly heigher by placing it up on 1.5" high by 6" square blocks if I am doing a run of pens etc, otherwise I go to the effort of raising the stand if I am doing long runs. That small lift makes a huge difference in reducing eye strain.

Swarf

Jack Guzman from Maine

It sounds like a Klingon name. I keep a corn broom right near my lathe as well as a large dust pan. I sweep it in a pile as it builds up and when I finish my session I transfer the pile to a lawn and leaf bag. I bring the full bags to my neighbor for her pygmy goats. They love the stuff. It's amazing how many shavings are generated by four chair legs.---Jack

Re: Swarf

Jim Barbour

It is a good word. Usually we only use it in reference to the curls from drilling, as in "back the drill out regularly to clear the swarf". But it is actually any chips, dust, or shavings from a machining operation. And it is fun to say occasionally - it just rolls around in the mouth quite well.

Re: Swarf

Jack Guzman from Maine

Well,I like it. I'm going to start using that to describe my lathe refuse.---Jack

Re: comfortable lathe height

Joe Fleming

Jack,

I'm going to offer different advice. An orthopedic surgeon/woodturner said that the height of the lathe should be consistent with what your majority turning is. I tend to do mostly facework. His advice was to have the lathe about 4" above the elbow for use when turning bowls, hollowing, etc.

Spindle tools usually have short handles for a reason. They are used with little reach across the toolrest and they are meant to be articulated in front of you during spindle operations (reference Stuart Batty). Long handle tools are not ideal for spindle work. Because of the posture of spindle work, a lather closer to 1" above the elbow was my friend's recommendation.

My lathe is between 4" and 5" (I haven't checked it in a while). I know that when the chips build up, it feels too low. I also know that I find it a bit too tall for spindle work, but I don't do much of that. Joe

Re: Swarf

Joe Fleming

I keep a large aluminum shovel handy for scooping shavings. Even less bending than with a dust pan. Joe

Re: Swarf

Jerry Maske

SWARF! Now that really is a neat word. Shavings? I assume that's all shavings, like from under my table saw?

Recently had an exciting day with the Table Saw Swarf. Cleaned it up and hauled it out to the dumpster. Went away only to have my bride come screaming "The Dumpster's on Fire!" It was, and it took a call to the local fire company to get it under control.

I looked things over and found that the collection port under the blade had several pieces of thin wood caught in it. One of them was rubbing against the blade and heating up the Swarf, which fell to the floor. It didn't ignite until I put it in the dumpster. Then it was quite a show. The dumpster lid melted TOTALLY and all the outside paint bubbled off. Dangerous, for sure. So, one more thing to add to your list of precautions. Make sure the Swarf Removing Process is, well, Processing properly.

Me too!

Tony - Memphis

I'm 5'4" too. I'm not sure what height myh Jet mini is, but when I am holding my tools, my forearms are fairly level. Seems to work well for me. I don't stand there for hours (not a "real" turner), but I haven't noticed it being an issue. I can't recall how I got to that height. I think I measured the height of my forearms to the floor when they are parallel. Yeah, not many things work well for me, so its nice to be able to "build your own." My wife is 4'11", so I tend to build things a little less than standard height or at least on the low end. If I can remember, I'll measure the height of mine just for reference.

On a side note, I added a work light above the lathe recently -wow! What a difference. My wife is ten years ahead of me and she laughs when I have these revelations! (like needing more light).

Tony

Re: Swarf

Jim Barbour

Occasionally the academic in me comes out. In the interest of using the word correctly, here is a formal definition of swarf:

swarf (swɔːf; swɑːf)

n

1. (General Engineering) material removed by cutting or grinding tools in the machining of metals, stone, etc

2. (Chemistry) radioactive metal waste from a nuclear power station

3. (Metallurgy) radioactive metal waste from a nuclear power station

4. (Astronautics) small fragments of disintegrating spacecraft, orbiting the earth

of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse svarf metallic dust]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Re: comfortable lathe height

john lucas

Everybody turns differently. The way I found the height for my lathe was to feel relaxed. I do tend to turn with my tool handles lower than most people with the handle on my hip as much as possible. My lathe is about an inch above elbow height (I'm 5'6"). Too low and it makes my back hurt. To high and I crunch up my shoulders and either my neck hurts or my shoulders start to hurt. I found an inch above my elbows lets me relax my shoulders and neck but is high enough that I'm not leaning over. It's also high enough that my glasses focus properly so I don't have to lean my head over.

Lights, lights, lights

John K Jordan

>>>On a side note, I added a work light above the lathe recently -wow! What a difference.

Yikes, I can't work without a bunch of light! On the subject of lights, I far prefer several smaller light sources than longer fixtures that generally provide a more diffuse light. The individual lights positioned at different points allow me to see and judge very subtle curvature and surface issues. A broad, diffuse light is great but tends to hide things like very shallow ridges, scratches and sometimes even mild tearout.

I have bright overhead T5 fluorescent fixtures for general lighting but usually keep them off when turning. Each lathe has 4-6 smaller lights that all come on with a single switch. Sometimes I position an adjustable light behind the piece for glancing light.

I use a mix of CFLs and LEDs. I used to add incandescents but they put off too much heat.

All these lights are above and mostly behind the work. One of these days I'll make that wearable belt/belly light for the front. :-)

JKJ

Re: comfortable lathe height

Braden

Like others, I find various tasks and tools to merit different heights. A strong indicator for me of a height issue is the position of my shoulders. I will naturally shrug them higher to adjust and will become uncomfortable.

I would also add, that spindle height is one of the factors, but tool rest height and the approach angle a particular chisel needs also play in.

I tend to turn with my chisel handles much lower than others I see. This means my tool rest is lower. I bet taller turners would not be comfortable at all with this method unless their lathe was much taller than mine.

I also see most skew work on youtube done with the skew cutting the wood almost at the top of its rotation. I am more comfortable cutting 45 to 90 degrees lower in the rotation because of the mentioned heights. Sometimes seeing those videos makes my shoulders uncomfortable as a subconscious response due to all the time that I delayed adjusting the toolrest to the job at hand.

I suspect that a "proper" spindle height for a particular turner is somewhere in the middle of the adjustable range given by the toolrest in relation to the turners height and preference.

Mixing swarf - caution

Geoff Whaling

It is amazing how long it takes an ember to establish a fire.

Thats another reason not to use a common dust extraction system to collect swarf from wood working machines and metalic dust making machines (i.e. "spark" grinders). There have been a number of industrial fires over the years caused by workers "adapting" DE systems designed for wood dusts for hot work, grinding, cutting of metals etc.

Then there is the old oil rag spontraneous combustion hazard. I've personally smelled a hint of a fire on one occasion on a mid week visit to a club house. On further investigation there was a rag used to apply DO or BLO in a wheelie bin full of dust from the Felder RL180 DE. When the rag was pulled from the bin it did not burst into flame, however the rate of slow combustion started to increase rapidly when it was exposed to plenty of oxygen - the old fire pyramid - fuel, heat, oxygen!

tool presentation & anthropometry

Geoff Whaling

John & Braden make good points about tool rest / tool position and your grip / presentation of the tool. If you prefer to anchor the butt of a bowl gouge handle on your hip you will require the lathe spindle height to be quite a bit lower than some one who doesn't.

Stand height or more correctly the lack of adjustment of height on a lathe stand is a significant design defficiency particularly on the many clone lathes that are popular now.

Anthropometry - the scientific study of the measurements and proportions of the human body. Humans are getting bigger, taller, heavier and there are very distinct regional even local biases.

As another said he has problems being in the near 5' high range while I'm 6'2' and fellows like Phil Irons must be near 6'6" tall. Thats a heck of a range to cater for on a fixed lathe stand height. Just cheap designs that ignore sound ergonomic design principles.

good responses

Jack Guzman from Maine

This was a good thread with alot of good responses. I will do some testing with platforms to get the height I need overall and adjust my stand to fit. Thanks for all the input.---Jack

I took a pill to cure my anthropometry

Re: Mixing swarf - caution

George Balock

Also be cautious of the wood species award you give your neighbor for her goats. Some are toxic. Walnut can be a bad actor along with yew and lilac.

Re: good responses

John Brown

I have found it is best to build the stand several inches lower than you think needed. It is very easy to adjust the height using shims of various thickness. It makes it easier to clean under the lathe and more clearance to lay tools.