Bench lathe -opinions sought

[Stuart Winsor]

Sounds like you have a few problems. Where are you in the UK, maybe some of us could lend a hand in some way?

I too ordered a load of accessories from Hugh but I ordered the ER32 "holder". This is the flange fitting version which means the spindle bore stays clear and available. I have the same on my minilathe.

Not come across AIM tools, I use RDG, Chronos, ArcEurotrade and now, of course, Amadeal. Forewarned is forearmed as they say.

Lifting heavy items onto benches was an issue I faced when upgrading my mill a couple of years ago. Engine hoists seem to be popular - beg, borrow or, erm, hire - but I wasn't convinced of their suitability under my circumstances. While pondering the issue, along with which mill to choose, I spotted an electric hoist on Chester's stand at the Midlands ME show. It looked, at first glance, like it would hang on a piece of 50x50 box section (it's actually designed to fit something like a scaffold pole) so I consulted a civil engineering friend of mine. I could use a maximum length of 1.7m of 50x50 to safely produce an overhead "crane". If I wanted to span the whole width of the garage I would need something like 75x75x5 box. It would also be quite involved as I would have to take down a large 12" wide shelf, which ran more or less the full length of the garage along the opposite wall, which held my wood stock. There was no way I felt the 4x2s supporting the roof would carry that weight so a prop was devoised to support the inner end. The final result can be seen here:

Hoist Photos by stuartwinsor | Photobucket

(Can't work out how to upload photo's here and, in any case, this album already exists)

Also see:

Workshop Photos by stuartwinsor | Photobucket

which shows the mill on its stand and the area where the new lathe will be.

Initially I thought of relocationg the hoist to the end where the lathe will be but, again, the big shelf is in the way and because of the window there is no brickwork to support that end of the beam. Instead I have bought some heavy duty castors from "Bazroll" on ebay and will move the bench to the lathe instead.

I will put up some pictures of the bench (still under construction) in due course.