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Thread: Lathe Dilemma - Buy another, modify or?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    1,950
    Good lord. Lots of money buying and selling lathes just to lower yours.

    Are the the legs steel or cast iron? If steel, have a welding shop do cutting and rewelding to shorten. if cast iron, have welding fab shop make replacements from heavy steel.

    Is your shop location a permanent home with no expected changes or desires to get out of turning? If so, you could cut the concrete just to the size of the two legs and lower the lathe. Would need to lower and pour new concrete but may be cheaper option still.

    Another idea is to make concrete forms to replace your legs. Pour two posts to your liking and imbed threaded rod into it. Cap with a steel plate if needed.

    I would try try all options before the hassle of selling and buy again. Possible money loss and lots of hassle dealing with all the moving unless you just want a new lathe for some reason.

    Good luck.
    Last edited by Greg Parrish; 07-24-2017 at 2:33 PM.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Parrish View Post
    Possible money loss and lots of hassle dealing with all the moving unless you just want a new lathe for some reason.
    Or money is simply not an issue!

    JKJ

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Kerrville, TX
    Posts
    70
    Our club does our best to help widows or club members who can no longer turn sell their lathes and other tools. A well maintained lathe normally brings about 60% of retail.

  4. #19
    I think John best describes the situation, at least in my case. Having what I want at my stage in life is more important to me than saving a few bucks. All of the suggestions have been great but a raised platform, lowered floor, concrete supports, etc. all limit my ability to move the lathe. Oneway makes a great mobile setup, which I used to move the lathe to its current location. If I want to change my shop layout or make small adjustments it's fairly easy to do. Modifying the existing legs takes up time that might be better spent elsewhere despite a strong desire to give it a go. It also means the lathe will be out of commission for a while. I just received a quote from my dealer on the Oneway adjustable legs. The cost is approx. $850 shipped, which I think is reasonable. I don't think selling my lathe and buying another one will result in an out of pocket expense anywhere close to that. The next step is to check in with Oneway to make sure the new legs will be a straightforward swap.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    1,950
    Understood and makes sense. Hope the leg swap does it.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Forestville, CA
    Posts
    107
    Read my reply to JKJ in the thread:
    What is Proper Tool Rest Clamp Height Relative to Spindle?

    As long as you can lower your tool rest enough and are willing to put some thought into tool rest height (and soon enough it will become automatic), just use it as is.

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