Shed floor

[Chris MurphyParticipant @chrismurphy94983]

Hi,

well I’ve finally got the ml7 over to one side of the shed.

the only problem is it’s wobbling about quire a bit.

I tried some shims underneath the chest of drawers, but still no good.

I mean to get a proper Myford stand for it sometime, including the drip tray and riser blocks. But even if I get these I suppose it will still wobble because of the wooden floor.

any suggestions.

thanks

chris m…..

[Chris MurphyParticipant @chrismurphy94983]

[lee websterParticipant @leewebster72680]

I don't think strengthening the floor will work, even with a piece of steel. If the lathe is where it's going to live, cut out a section of floor and cast a concrete block in situ, maybe higher than the floor to allow for settlement.

Or.

Move the shed out of the way and cast a concrete slab to put the shed back on. A lot of concrete and a lot of work. It would have to be option 1 for me.

Lee

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

If you have a concrete based beneath the floor that the shed sits on, cut some holes for the cabinet legs for angle iron to screw to and blob cement around the angle.

If it's just earth use 4 steel fence post spikes and drive them in.

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

what wobbles – the floor or the set of drawers?
To me the set of drawers look too slight to be rigid enough – the drawers will be fairly useless once they are laden with metal – if you have wood working tools make a braced frame from 2×2 or 2×4 timber – if the floor is firm but uneven use a sheet of 1/2″ ply under the frame or use industrial grade adjustable feet.

Either use shelves within the frame or invest in good drawer slides so you can load the drawers with tools – shelving to take ‘really useful’ plastic boxes will probably be cheaper.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

You MUST have solid support for your ML7. The machine itself is not the most rigid, so whatever it sits on must be rigid so that when you come to take the twist out of the bed, it stays out, and is not repeated by the bench floating about.

I never bolted the bench for my ML7 to a concrete plinth, but the support cannot be too rigid.

O K, you are not working in a Toolroom or Standards Room, but being in any way flexible detracts from accurate and consistent work. Which is, one day, what you will try to achieve.

But seeing your other threads, concentrate on solving one problem at a time! Get the machine sorted before worrying about what you bolt it to for ultimate accuracy. Fix the cover / pulley fouls, then deal with the bench.

Then start looking to "level" and then align the lathe.

Do one job at a time, otherwise you won't know what is affecting what.

Howard

[ZanParticipant @zan]

Hmmm no holding down bolts. FIT THEM!

Myford lathes with the motor hung on the back have the centre of balance only just inside the rear foot and it doesn’t take a lot of extra loading to tip them over.

yes. Fit a solid under floor under the wood of the shed, but be certain about the location. If you are getting a proper stand then it’s not worth strengthening the chest unless the lead time is more than a couple of months

as a temp measure fit and fix a scrap kitchen worktop under the lathe. That will give something fir the bolt anchor points The drawers prob have a thin flimsy top, but only you know that!

Edited By Zan on 05/06/2022 10:12:09

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

Chris,

I had my Myford rocking on a thick board floor in my old workshop. Cured by what's been said above – cut out section of floor and built a concrete slab.

Current workshop, put M on existing concrete floor. OK, but I found that I got back ache as it's too low. Temporary shift of lathe while I built two brick piers to boost its height. Piers arranged front to back of lathe stand, under the bolting down "feet but not actually bolted down – it doesn't move and hasn't for years.

John

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

If you must use the chest of drawers,

1/ Bolt the lathe down to the table top, do not over tighten as you WILL twist the bed of the ML7.

2/ Screw the chest of drawers to the wall of the shed.

3/ Do everything else others have suggested in due course – but have a bit of fun with the lathe in the meantime.

When I was first married, my Southbend lathe came with me to a small semi with internal garage. The lathe was supported on a couple of 4 x 2 cantilevered bearers high enough for the front of the Alegro to be driven underneath. I carried out several pieces of charged for jobs for a machine tool company. I don't know if I will be castigated for supporting a lathe like that, of for owning an Alegro !

Bob

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I will castigate you neither for the choice of car nor the ingenious machine-bench!

Regarding 1/ and 2/…..

Include Zan's advice and add the thick worktop material the full length of the chest, so the lathe is on a much more rigid board and its weight is transferred from the flimsy top to the vertical sides and legs.

'

For the rest – yes, concrete piers under the shed floor. When I installed a Warco drill/mill and a small lathe (a Sphere I think from memory) in a wooden shed I used brick plinths cemented to a concrete slab I'd laid before erecting the shed. I also put rigid plastic plates on top of the bricks as damp-proofing and for some resilience. I did need use a modicum of steel packing above those, for level.

Steel fence-posts driven into the ground, if that is just earth, may corrode away in a few years. Timber will have a shorter life still. If you want a longer-term version you could sink pieces of large-diameter plastic drain-pipes vertically into the ground and fill them with concrete, with a suitably-placed piece of stainless-steel studding projecting from each to give anchor-points for the bench. You may be able to obtain off-cuts of pipe from a local builder.

[John RutzenParticipant @johnrutzen76569]

Hi, you need a steel stand and when you bolt it down have a DTI in the toolpost and a test bar in the chuck so you can see if you are applying any twist to it. I made my first lathe stand many years ago using angle iron from old bedsteads welded into a U section but you could get the steel cheaply enough if you go to a steel stockholder who sells black mild steel for building construction. The tray can be anything but the stand should be steel all the way to a concrete floor. Wood really isn't suitable for lathe stands because it will move.

[Chris MurphyParticipant @chrismurphy94983]

Hi,

thanks for all the reply’s.

I have ordered a steel myford stand with drip tray and ordered two rising blocks.

hopefully this will give me a much more solid base for the lathe.

do you think this would be ok on a shed floor or it still needs to be on concrete.

thanks

chris m….

[Peter SansomParticipant @petersansom44767]

Do not rely on wooden floors, they move. I just jacked the back of our house as the, it is is on concrete stumps, the floor in its worst point had dropped 25mm. It depends on the soil and the moisture in it, clays can be very bad.

Previous house we had to adjust the locks twice a year, Some of the stumps rose in wet weather and dropped in dry, up to 20mm, +10 -10, over the yearly cycle.

Solid concrete base, bolt stand to base, then "Level" lahe on the stand. As stated previously the lathe is heavy overt the motor and potentially unstable able to tip back in the wrong circumstances.

Never trust wood floors to be stable and not move.

Peter

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Chris Murphy on 06/06/2022 11:53:38:

Hi,

thanks for all the reply’s.

I have ordered a steel myford stand with drip tray and ordered two rising blocks.

hopefully this will give me a much more solid base for the lathe.

do you think this would be ok on a shed floor or it still needs to be on concrete.

thanks

chris m….

What's the nature of the floor?

I guess from the concern it's a suspended wooden floor – thin boards across joists. Such are almost always bendy enough to upset a lathe, perhaps literally! Lathe's are dangerously top heavy, easily toppled, and often bolted down to stop them crushing the owner. Soft footings front or back are risky. More likely though, bending will reduce the accuracy and finish of work done on the lathe.

Ordinary concrete floors are plenty good enough, but for best results a wooden shed floor will need attention. A common trick is to support the joists under the lathe with brick pillars. If the floor isn't too bendy, laying a thick board across it under the lathe might stiffen it up adequately.

The underlying problem is lathes are precision instruments working down to about 0.001" and they respond to tiny movements humans are blissfully unaware of! (Until they own a lathe!) Long experience has shown the easiest way to avoid lots of annoying problems is to support machine tools rigidly. Do the best you can!

Dave

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