Lathe Cart upgrade...

[Big Dave]

Hi,

Over the last couple years I've been doing a bit more turning than expected. As a result, I've bought several more tools - that whole "slippery slope" thing... Anyway, the time finally arrived where I was getting frustrated by not having a neat way to keep them handy for use, or to safely store them. So, this is what I came up with...







It can hold a dozen tools of varying sizes and can be used as shown above near a large flat surface, or on my miter bench - which is where I do the majority of my turning.





The support legs on the back have an extendable base that can be adjusted for either location.

When I'm all done, the back support is released and swung over the front of the rack to secure the tools in place. The whole rack can then be easily mounted on the back of the cart.





The rack rests on two pegs at the bottom of the cart and is held there by two pegs on the rack sliding behind two hooks mounted higher up.




I also added a hook to keep the DC hose under a bit more control...



I still need to add storage for the tool rests, and I'm thinkin' I might build a similar rack for the smaller turning tools, as well...

Thanks for lookin'! As always, questions and critiques are welcomed...

Dave

[theeviltwinn]

Very well done.

Twinn

[Arlin Eastman]

You did a really good job there and having it mount or able to take it away it good touch.

Arlin

[Bob Atchison]

Wow!

[BaileyNo5]

Pretty impressive design there, Big Dave!

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

Well thought out and executed.

Although, from the looks of that shop, you must have made it elsewhere. Not a speck of dust!! Have you no pride, man?!??!?!

[Dennis Puskar]

Very nice cart and clean shop.

[jerickson]

Wow! Nice work.

[dlgWoodWork]

Nice setup. I like the tool rack.

I have a question about the stand. When you turn bigger stuff, is there much vibration?

I've been thinking about a similar setup for my 12" Rikon lathe. But now when I do some bigger, out of round stuff, my lathe shakes pretty good. And that is with the 2x4 bench its currently on being screwed to the wall.

How do you handle turning big stuff on the upper limit of what the lathe can handle? Is the cart sturdy enough?

[Big Dave]

Thanks, everyone!

I have to admit to a few head-scratching moments trying to get it to work the way I wanted it to...

As for the cart, I haven't had any issues with vibration - but that may be due more to the fact that I turn bigger stuff on my full-size lathe. I don't turn a lot of large blanks, so my experience is somewhat limited...

The cart itself is very stable. I had concerns about this as I was building it, but I have never had any issues. I will add, though, that there is a bit of weight there. Between the top (recycled bowling alley lane...), four drawers full of accessories & tools, and the weight of the lathe itself, it's pushing a couple hundred pounds - or better...


To help minimize the shaking I would recommend trimming as much as possible off your blanks before mounting and the using the lowest speed possible when starting out...

Thanks again, everyone!
Dave

- As for the clean shop, I've got a broom, dust pan, Shop-Vac, cyclone DC and two air cleaners. They all get used.