show your lathe cabinets

[Kevin Groenke]

I've been contemplating on-board storage for our Jet 1642 for months. It's time to stop thinking and start building, but first I thought I should see what others have come up with.

I'm thinking of something along the lines of the cabinet featured in the Sept08 issue of American Woodworker (rests on the integral 2x4 "cleats" tapered to match the legs, easy access for frequently used tools and enclosed storage for chucks and less frequently used stuff, maybe space for sandbags beneath).

I was surprised that there weren't several threads on the topic, what gives?
-kg

[Jim Underwood]

Kevin,
It's usually considered quite bad form to mention the "F" word on a turning forum.

We make stuff that's round, not... dare I say it?.... Sssshhhh! I'll whisper: .... flat.




That being said, I hung a few cabinets and shelving this evening myself. Once in a while it's necessary to break out the table saw and jointer just so we can make stuff for our spinny habit.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim,

You can say the "F" word FLAT because the cabinet is to promote better spinning!

Kevin,

I'll post a photo of my turning cabinet right below this sentence.










Yup don't have one but am seriously considering it. I just am getting my shop into working order and started turning again recently. I'm considering something on rollers so I can move it when I need too.

I can't wait to see some input from other turners!

[Bill Bolen]

Don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve never been asked. This is my jet 1442 with the tool cabinet I made to hold all the lathe related tooling. Plus the area under the lower most drawer is a shelf holding 4to 6 seventy pound bags of play sand. The 3 widest drawers hold all my chisels and bit holders. The other drawers are for chucks, measuring equipment, centers, sandpaper ect. Ect. I used white melamine from the borg for all the parts. Easy clean up. I left some space between the lathe and the tool chest to hold chisels in-use and enable access for mounting things like spindle steadies and such. This seems to work well for me and I have seen many others posted here from time to time…Bill…

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Thanks Bill. That looks like a idea worth stealing.

[Richard Madison]

Kevin,
First reaction to your title was that nobody keeps their lathe in a cabinet. But I could be wrong about that too.

Bill's cabinet looks great and am sure it works very well for him, but the top two or three drawers would get in the way of my knees at times. Might want to check your usual body positions when turning, maybe sometimes right against the bed, and design accordingly. Different strokes for different folks.

[Bob Opsitos]

These are old pictures, it's overflowing with tools now. That's the only bad thing is the storage is not expandableand I have pretty much filled it up. I must need to upgrade my lathe to something larger to increase my storage.

Bob

[Paul Douglass]

One thing wrong with cabinets below the lathe and you see it in that last picture. They are full of chips because you forget to close the drawers. I was going to put my lathe on a cabinet I have, but after turning a while with a tool box under the lathe, I soon decided it would not work for me. I always forgot to close the tool box. So, my lathe is mounted on the legs that came with it and my cabinet is just to the side in easy reach,

[tim mathis]

Hi Kevin,

here is one that i made and it works out good for me.

the top box is open for large items and it has a removable tray. the front is maple. the top of the box has laminate on it and is 14" at the front and slants to 9" at the back so what my cyclone does not get ( when i forget to turn it on ) will fall onto the floor ( sometimes).
the bottom box is 15 seperate maple dovetailed boxes.
the lathe is bolted to the stand. the stand and the boxes and contence add about 200 # of weight.
tool rests are stored by the sides of the boxes.
when i turn i use a mobile table with tool holder to hold the tools in use and sharpener, buffer, ect .
tim in ohio.

[Rob Platt]

I'm almost finished building the lathe cabinet from AW. I added an extra row of tool holders, and now wish I had thought about adding a third row - can you have enough?

I also angled the top at 90 degrees to the front. This way it slopes down toward the back, and I can access under the bed if I ever need. Hoping this will clean off easier as well.

(This is my first post, so hope i'm attaching these pics ok...)

[Bill Bolen]

Welcome Rob! Looks like you have alredy made a fine contribution to the site! I saw those plans in the mag. and really liked what I saw. You did a fine job on yours. Enjoy...Bill..
Oh as a ps...these under lathe cabinets provide a fine place to lean into the lathe. Give a lot of support to an old body...

[Kevin Groenke]

Thanks for all the ideas folks, I guess turners can make stuff that isn't round.

I ended up making a couple of cabinets along the lines of the AmWW cabinet. One of the cabinets has a multiple tubes for tools, the way the tubes fit into the box results in them being rows of different lengths which should tend to organize them somewhat naturally. The second cabinet is a set of graduated drawers. All the drawers but the bottom one simply slide on hardwood runners in dados on the sides of the drawers, so it's really simple to pull out a drawer if you want it's contents on the lathe bed, a bench, wherever (those drawers can be opened from either side of the cabinet). The bottom drawer will has a few chucks in it, so it's on full extension slides. The drawers are 1/2" baltic birch with drawer-lock routed corners. The drawers will likely get a Krenovian pull (Grenadillo to match the runners) dovetailed into the top of the drawer front/back.

The cabinets simply rest on 2x stock which sits in the sockets cast into the legs. The cabinets do not fill the entire length between the legs, so we can make a knee hole if we find that the cabinets interfere when turning. There's just cleats attached to the bottom of the cabinets which fit between the stringers, so the cabinets can also simply be lifted out if necessary.

-kg

[Steve Busey]

Nice job, Kevin! What's at the bottom of your tool tubes? Just wondering if a piece of foam vs a wood bottom might preserve tool sharpness.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Nice job, Kevin! What's at the bottom of your tool tubes? Just wondering if a piece of foam vs a wood bottom might preserve tool sharpness.

I was wondering that too. I'm not posting my stand b/c it is embarassing. I used 1.5" pvc pipe for my tools, and a 3" screw at the bottom to stop the handle; the tool pokes out the bottom. Thing is, they all fill up with shavings eventually; big curlies like to clog the hole with little curlies on top.

[jason lambert]

Tim what type of mobial base is that on your powermatic.