Re: Cabinet to mount lathe
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I have three of them, two the wooden-topped ones, Yukon brand, that are 22" deep by 46" long. the other is a US General, 18" deep x 42" wide. They were advertised as 44", but the handle that bolts on is the difference in length. The US General branded one I have is obsolete, as they're now 22" deep, and none of their current production accessories will fit mine. I've been trying to find one I can afford that is 56" long, as the 42" cabinet is both too short and too narrow for my Atlas TH42 lathe, which is what I actually bought it for. :( My only real problem otherwise is that the wheels that come with them all are in pairs of 2 that swivel, and 2 that don't, which makes it hard to get them up against a wall, and with an unlevel floor, as in my shop, they'll never give you a level workspace. I'm planning on putting outrigger legs on them that I can adjust to level the tops. After I get swivel wheels on all four corners! ;)??
The US General boxes are rated for heavier loads in their drawers, but they have a 5/8" tall wall around the perimeter of the top, which is thin sheet metal. I've got some 1/2 slices of recycled baltic birch plywood that I've planned on putting on mine, but I built (cobbled together from various scraps and a cabinet that followed us home from Germany) with the Alas on it now. I'm currently considering using it for a pair of Unimat lathes, one in lathe mode, one set up as a milling machine.? Fortunately, my Heavy 10L came with one of the tube and box stands, as none of these things are rated for a 1000+ pound lathe. The Atlas is only about 267 pounds, but the counter shaft widens it's footprint to nearly 2 feet at the headstock end. If yours is a 9" bench lathe, it shouldn't be too heavy, I wouldn't think.?
I've also got one of the old GI metal desks. Mine has 3 drawers in the lift side, the usual pen/pencil draw in the middle, and a typewriter stand in the right side... 30"x60" top, IIRC, and nice and solid. Not a great deal of usable storage space, though. Trying to fit all this, and an bunch of other crap/junk/junque in the shop has been interesting. Having wheels on as much of it as possible is an absolute necessity right now. ;)
Bill in OKC
William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
Aphorisms to live by: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.? SEMPER GUMBY!
On Saturday, January 28, 2023 at 03:41:45 PM CST, Jim Erdman via groups.io <jiminwis@...> wrote:
I am finally getting to the point where I can mount my 9" South Bend lathe on something in the shop.? It is a horizontal drive workshop model probably from the late 1930s.? I would like to have it on some kind of a base with storage as my shop space is small.? Elsewhere I have come across people who have mounted theirs on a tool chest base from Harbor Freight or Home Depot or similar base cabinet.? I'm thinking that I would not use casters but mount the cabinet base to the floor and add an additional top to the cabinet.? Harbor Freight and Home Depot both have tool cabinets 22" to 24" or so deep or a little more while most similar cabinets are 18" deep.
Do any of you have experience with this kind of tool cabinet used as a base for a lathe?? I'd like to get one in the $500 to $600 range, otherwise instead of spending more I will just build a bench to put the lathe on, but the idea of a cabinet full of drawers appeals to me.
Thanks for suggestions!
Jim in Western Wisconsin
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Bill in OKC too