Ideas for making lathe mobile.......

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Sep 5, 2020
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ellsworth maine
I am a new member currently at summer cottage on large freshwater lake near Bar Harbor Maine (great place to quarantine). I return to Englewood, FL next month (90 miles south of Tampa) and will probably buy Rikon 70-220VS and some carbide cutting tools and start pen turning. I have been moving lots of tools Fl to Maine to FL for 10 years. I built a 4'x4' x 12 inch box (no top and no bottom) for Honda odyssey and fill it up w tools......cover w plywood....suitcases and boxes added atop plywood....golf clubs go on car roof...golden doodle gets half of back seat and off we go.

I will join a woodturning club in Sarasota FL

Someone made a great suggestion to build a lathe bench inside a HF wagon w large tires to make it mobile. I like this idea and it is a good solution for me in Maine. I envision a closed bench w doors. When I want to turn outside near the lake.......pick up one end of wagon and slide a 4x4 under it raising wheels off the ground......repeat on other end.....and now the bench is stable. Open doors and add weight......perhaps three 5 gallon buckets of sand......any other ideas for adding weight incrementally in 25 to 50 lb increments???

Are there drawbacks to having a lathe bench w closed doors? Is it desirable to be able to get feet of turner closer to lathe?

Perhaps I leave my lathe out doors for several days and cover it w barb-que canvas???

I am leaning towards Rikon partly because of weight. I can cope with 100 pound Rikon easier than 130 pound Jet.

What carbide tools should I buy and where should I buy them?

Santa will bring bowl turning tools (HSS), Wolverine jig, low speed grinder, fancy chuck and who knows what else.

I look forward to becoming an active participant in this forum
 
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Curly

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If you have the big soft tire already doors don't matter. Your toes are under it. As for weight I would get a little electric pump and pump the buckets full of water. Dump them when you are done. Water is 10 lb a gallon so your three buckets are 150 lb when filled. Now I'll qualify that by saying that's an Imperial gallon and not those little ones you have. ;)
 

ed4copies

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Fill 4" PVC, about 3 feet long with concrete--put a handle in the middle, you now have a handled concrete sausage. Will weigh about 20 pounds.
Make a few, leave them next to the lake, somewhat hidden. No one knows what they are or sees a need to steal them, use them when you turn.

Curly is correct-- your feet can be under the cabinet, the cart rides about 8" off the ground as I recall it.
 

walshjp17

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Weddington, NC
Boy, I would love to turn on the shore of a lake. What a magnificent view that must be. Oh, and when you join the Sarasota Woodturners, say hello to Moe Gingerich for me and the rest of the Waxhaw Woodturners.
 

sbwertz

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May 11, 2010
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Phoenix, AZ
I used to have a rig like this that rolled my lathe out on the driveway. I used bigger wheels and it was wider. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/wheelbarrow-planer-stand/
Both my jointer and bandsaws are on stands like that. My handles are pipes that slide into brackets bolted to the stand so they can come off and be out of the way when the tool is in use. It is especially handy at the blind center because we have to move the bandsaw during rainy season because we have a roof leak over where it normally sits. You can see where the pipes slide through the
holders on the top of the stand. The pipes have caps on one end, and slide in from the front, and lift and roll from the back. The wheels would be too small for what you want to do, however.

The jointer uses the same type of pipes. I have to roll it out onto the driveway to use it to get enough room for long boards. (Same with the thickness planer, which is on a 4 wheel HF base....it's not very heavy.)
bandsaw.jpg
 
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howsitwork

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OK

this is thinking well outside the box but , if , as you said on another thread , Santa maybe generous - Why not ask for a second hand golf buggy and build the lathe onto the rear platform. No transport issues at all and easy tool carrying as well?
 
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