shopsmith on a table/bench

farley · Post by **farley** » Sun May 06, 2012 11:53 am

thinking of building a bench with caster to put my ss on. I need more height for lathe work.

It looks like all I would have to do is remove the legs and the ss should act the same.

anybody see anything negitive about this.

I use this ss for lathe and drill press work.

TIA

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun May 06, 2012 11:59 am

farley wrote:thinking of building a bench with caster to put my ss on. I need more height for lathe work.

It looks like all I would have to do is remove the legs and the ss should act the same.

anybody see anything negitive about this.

I use this ss for lathe and drill press work.

TIA

You mean like a 10E/ER? Yes ss sold end legs with braces and casters, but many ended up on cut down tables or home made roll around benches.

farley · Post by **farley** » Sun May 06, 2012 12:05 pm

just like the old 10er

but for a 510

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun May 06, 2012 12:17 pm

farley wrote:just like the old 10er

but for a 510

If I were to do that, I would make two adapter pieces(2x? stock) cut to fit inside the castings in the shape of the legs. The adapters would be mounted to the table surface, and the castings secured to the adapter edges with wood screws like the screws securing the castings to the legs.

farley · Post by **farley** » Sun May 06, 2012 12:46 pm

good idea, I would assume that is too keep things align.

going to buy these casters from Rockler

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... 20Products

as posted by another in a thread last year.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun May 06, 2012 12:56 pm

farley wrote:good idea, I would assume that is too keep things align.

going to buy these casters from Rockler

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=30842&filter=New%20Products

as posted by another in a thread last year.

Wannabe did not like them, but mbcabinetmaker made good use of them.

Trip hazard would be my greatest 'concern'.

farley · Post by **farley** » Sun May 06, 2012 1:33 pm

you could eliminate the trip hazard a lot by building the bench top a little oversize, reaching out over the casters

mgdesigns · Post by **mgdesigns** » Sun May 06, 2012 2:27 pm

If all you need is higher work center for the lathe function, cut some planks the right thickness and set the leg end on them when you do turnings. I did see where some one actually made sheet metal extensions for the tops of the side frames and raised the whole machine about 6". I tend to go for the easy route first, and if it works I am done.

roy_okc · Post by **roy_okc** » Sun May 06, 2012 2:37 pm

farley wrote:thinking of building a bench with caster to put my ss on. I need more height for lathe work.

It looks like all I would have to do is remove the legs and the ss should act the same.

anybody see anything negitive about this.

I use this ss for lathe and drill press work.

TIA

Farley,

I've been wanting to do something like this for my 500 to raise it somewhere around 6-10" above stock height. My main purpose for raising is for a more comfortable lathe height (I'm 6'1"); I don't use the table saw nor vertical drill press functions, so the increased height won't be too high.

I'll likely use an 80/20 aluminum extrusion frame. Not sure if I'll try to CNC a wood baseplate to fit the profile or simply use some L brackets into a baseplate.

I'll also build a cabinet into the base.

(This project might not happen if I decide to buy a dedicated mini or midi lathe. I might even put the lathe on the SS tables which would be about the right height as is.)

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Sun May 06, 2012 10:47 pm

[quote="roy_okc"]Farley,

I've been wanting to do something like this for my 500 to raise it somewhere around 6-10" above stock height. My main purpose for raising is for a more comfortable lathe height (I'm 6'1")]

One possibility would be to use a motorcycle scissor lift under the base...HF has one at a pretty decent price. That way you could raise or lower the whole setup to match the given operation.