Lathe Placement

[Burt Alcantara]

I've seen a number of articles saying that a lathe should not be placed against a wall but rather at a 45 degree angle. I find that the majority of shavings fall straight down with the largest minority straight back, around me. Very few fall forward.

These shavings get all over my bench and shelving. What seems to be the best arrangement, for me, is against the wall. My lathe is mounted on legs so getting behind it for cleaning would be no problem.

What are the disadvantages of wall facing lathe. Richard Raffan shows pictures of his lathe against a windowed wall.

What do you guys do?

Thanks,
Burt

[Dario Octaviano]

If you want to go to the other side of the lathe while hollowing, then that may be a problem...for those who doesn't, I see no reason why you shouldn't do it wall facing...as long as you leave enough space for the swing capacity of your lathe.

As you mentioned, it makes for easy clean up and that is a big advantage. It also saves space.

[Jeff Wright]

This thread has some info on lathe placement against the wall:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=53297