About the Factory Stand

In all honesty the metal stand that accompanied this lathe is just barely adequate for the job. I've never been satisfied with it and through a combinatin of sloth and having way too many other more pressing things to do I've not gotten around to making a better one. In retrospect that is a mistake that I would counsel others not to repeat. Make a new and better stand for yourself at the time you first get the lathe.

Specifically, what I find deficient in the factory stand is:

• insufficient sturdiness - Its sheet metal fabrication makes for a too-light stand that does not adequately resist flexing and vibration. I've firmed up my stand by screwing 1/2" plywood panels into the open spaces between the legs on the sides and rear. It helped well enough, but the only significant result is that it permitted me to procrastinate on the task of making an entirely new stand as I should have done.
  
  
• insufficient mass - My added rack-resistance notwithstanding, when turning heavy, out-of-round objects the lathe and stand will want to walk all over the shop. That is a very bad thing. Consequently I put a honking big log section on the bottom shelf for ballast (see photo).
  
  
• flimsy bed mount surface - The 1/2-inch MDF top bends under the weight of the lathe. This invites racking and twisting of the cast iron bed, which at best puts your headstock and tailstock out of precise alignment, and at worst invites cracking of the cast iron bed itself.
  
  
• low height - I stand exactly 6 feet tall and find the lathe is too low for me. Hunching over the lathe, even slightly, is uncomfortable and tiresome. While I can't fault the stand for my stature, the height of the lathe is not something that is readily adjusted either. I could have built a low platform but would rather have spent the time and money on a proper stand. Ergo, nothing happened.

There, I think I've convinced myself that I should make the time to replace the darn thing. Perhaps when the weather warms up...