Lathe bed height

[Brad Adams]

After turning a bowl today I found my shoulder and back getting sore. It got me to thinking, I need to raise the height of the lathe. As of now the top of the bed is 35" off the floor. What height are some of your lathes? Is there a rule of thumb of how high the lathe should be according to your height?

Thanks

[John Keeton]

As I recall, the "rule" was the spindle height should be at elbow height +/-

[Leo Van Der Loo]

It is not so much the lathe bed hight as the spindle height (a 24" swing lathe will have the bed lower than a 10" swing lathe), I like my lathe spindle higher than my elbow by a couple of inches, more so because I hardly ever do any spindle turning where the elbow height standard was used for.
Add some blocking so that you can stand in a relaxed manner while holding your turning tool, that is probably a good indication of what works for you ;-))

[Rick Markham]

Mine is about 5" too tall for me, I feel it in my back and arms after extended periods... I need to build me a platform to stand on, I guess I am too short for my machine... oh well, I don't bump my head on much stuff so it is a trade off.

[Jon McElwain]

As I recall, the "rule" was the spindle height should be at elbow height +/-

+1 on what John said. Although, I have my smaller lathe a little higher so that I can see details better.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I'm pretty sure that I have the spindle height set at my elbow plus 2 inches. It may actually be a little higher than that but I find it comfortable when turning bowls and hollow forms. Only spindle turning I do anymore is finials and having the spindle set higher doesn't hurt when turning small items!

[Wally Dickerman]

As others have said, it's the spindle height that you're concerned with. Depends on what you turn. If it's spindle turning, then elbow height is about right. If it's bowls and hollowforms, then it should be higher. I want my spindle height to be so that when I'm hollowing a HF I can stand comfortably straight and turn for as long as I want without feeling any discomfort. In my case it's 46 inches. A friend and long time turner has his at 50 inches, but then he's several inches taller than I am.

Wally

[Thom Sturgill]

Mine is about 5" too tall for me, I feel it in my back and arms after extended periods... I need to build me a platform to stand on, I guess I am too short for my machine... oh well, I don't bump my head on much stuff so it is a trade off.

Which is exactly why I do have a platform!

[phil harold]

54"
half way between elbow and shoulder

[Brad Adams]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. The spindle height is only 39" off the floor on my lathe. It came with a nice maple stand when I bought it in September, last year. It looks like my next project is raising the lathe up about 8"