Lathe placement?

[James K Peterson]

I'm working out of my garage and sharing the double garage with the LOML's car. So space is at a premium. I had my little lathe up against the wall and I was going to put my new Jet 1642 in the same spot, but should I try and work out a space more in the open for it? Here's the pics.

I'm so excited, but I still have to run the 240v drop, and I just had my surgery today so, I have to wait till tomorrow.

Thank you all again for the heads up on the sale. ToolNut is great
Now I have to get a good chuck and live center.

James

[Jeff Nicol]

James, I guess we need to see the total footprint of your available space. Then we need all the tools and other things that will take up sq. footage in the area. With your new lathe you will be able to turn off the end so that area will need to be open and the distance from the wall will need to accounted for also. I would make a drawing of your space and make scale cutouts of your tools, bench etc and place them in the shop to give you the optimal ease of use for each item. Good luck with the project and placement of your new lathe! Heal fast after your surgery and have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Jeff

[J. Greg Jones]

Just curious, but what do you find lacking in the live center that comes with the 1642? I haven't had a chance to use my new 1642 yet, but the stock live center looks to be a quality item, or am I overlooking something?

[Tony Kahn]

I have the 1642 42 and have discovered a couple things,
1- you will want the end clear as stated before so that you can slide the headstock down and turn off the end, VERY nice when hollowing bowls and vessels.

2- your plug should be located so that the cord will reach wherever you have the headstock located on the bed.

3- keep it out from the wall a bit or at least angle the tailstock end out a good way, i find my self standing behind the lathe on many occasions when hollowing wide vessels.

4- USE THE GAURD, it has saved my head more than once from large high speed projectile pieces.

And also, i have to say that i like the live center that came with it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

James - congrats on your new lathe!

I have the same lathe and find the live center has held up great for almost 3 years now! As far as positioning - make sure to leave some room between the lathe and the wall - if for nothing else then as a way to get in back of the lathe to clean things up. Pain in the wazoo when you have to move the lathe - especially when you have a ballast box with 7 bags of concrete!

[Mike Lipke]

Take the money you were going to spend on a live center and put it toward a Oneway Talon or Stronghold chuck. You won't need another live center. BTW, that cone comes off.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats on the new lathe. Hopefully you will get it setup soon.

[phil harold]

two car garage?
set the lathe up on your side
direct all the shavings to her side of the garage
this way she will get the same feeling of walking on a cloud when there is a foot of wood shavings on the floor

[Eugene Wigley]

Congrats on the lathe. I'm sure you will enjoy it. I can't help much with the placement as that will be determined by your personal work habbits and the other tools/equipment that needs to be in the work space while you are turning.
I agree with what others have said about the chuck. You will need a good chuck. You are going to love having the larger lathe. Have fun. Enjoy your memorial day weekend.

[Richard Madison]

James,
When wiring my shop I put six 220 outlets in the ceiling, being unsure where the lathe would end up but knowing it would not be against a wall. There are 220 wall outlets for other tools whose against-the-wall locations were planned. Most tools are oriented so that I can easily see anyone entering the shop and can immediately shut off the tool. If you have an open area where the lathe would have some space all around it, that would be my choice.

Edit: And save that cardboard. It is stout and useful. Made a mini paint and finishing booth and "containment" booth for abrasive cut-off saw with it, among other things. If you are vertically challenged (5'-9" tall or less) like me, might want to not install the screw-in feet. Guess that depends on whether your floor is smooth and level.

[Ryan Baker]

I agree with much of what has already been said. You definitely need access to the right end to work on bowls, etc. with the headstock moved down. You also need to be a good bit away from the wall (or at least with the tailstock end angled out) so that you have clearance for gouges and hollowing tools (I had to move mine out when I found I kept bumping into the wall with the handle of my tools). If your floor is flat enough, leaving the feet out would help, as the Jet (and most lathes these days it seems) is ridiculously high. But keep the feet if you need to, because getting it flat and level is more important (to keep it from walking and to keep it from twisting the bed). As Steve mentioned, cleaning behind it is a lot easier with some distance from the wall too.