Bolting lathe to bench...positioning

[cuemaker]

I made a slight error on my 1st hole in trying to bolt my lathe down. Re drilling not an issue, but it got me thinking.

In its current position, from the edge of the bench to the center of the chuck is just a hair over 15". To get close, I would lean over. I 1st thought it would make my back tired, but then I realized that I dont lean over very much. Plus it gives me more real estate on the front of the bench to put things on.

So what is normal/standard or even what do you guys have for a set up? I am almost 5'11 and the height from center of chuck to floor is 47" and the height of my bench is 33" which puts it across my hips and leaning into the bench to lean over is a nice support.

Leave it or bring it in closer the 4" I am off?

[darryl]

My spindle axis is 8-1/2 inches from the front of the bench, and is 44 inches from the floor. I'm 5 ft 8 tall. This puts the lower part of my arm, elbow to wrist, parallel to the floor with my hand on the crosslide handwheel. I just went and stood in front of the lathe, and yes I do still lean against the front of the bench with my right hip, and to the right of the carriage for the most part when it's nearer to the chuck.

The outermost end of the handwheel sticks out about 2 inches in front of the bench- same for the gear shift lever. I can't say I would want the lathe to be further back- I think then I'd have to lean over much more, and that would become tiring. If anything, I'd want to bring the lathe forward a bit more-

Right now the spindle axis is 17 inches from the wall and I have a couple of 7 inch deep shelves mounted there. The space from the rear of the lathe to the wall is paneled in so nothing behind the lathe bed can hit the floor. I used white corregated plastic sheet for that, and the shelves are also white. That helps to keep the light fairly uniform around the lathe, which is definitely an improvement. It's a catch area, and I can scrape the debris towards the tailstock end and straight into a bucket or whatever. No more losing parts behind the lathe, though if I don't clean often enough I'm sifting through debris to find my lost parts-

[SGW]

I have mine, a South Bend 10K, as close to the front of the bench as I can get it without having the cross slide handle project out too much(*). In practice, that has put the spindle centerline about 9" back from the front of the bench.

As for height, the usual guide is to have the lathe height such that your forearm is horizontal when your hand is on the carriage handwheel, possibly plus or minus a little for personal preference.

(*) Too much: Whatever you think it is. In my case, the handle projects beyond the front of the bench about 2 inches or so.

Edit: I hadn't read Daryl's post before I wrote mine. Interesting that our lathes are in almost exactly the same position relative to height and the front of the bench.

[Evan]

Leaning is very bad for your back. Put the lathe close to the front of the bench. It also prevents placing really heavy stuff there that can fall on your feet.

[The Artful Bodger]

Be careful with a lathe close to the bench edge. It would be really uncomfortable to get your clothing wound up in the feed screws.

[darryl]

The usual safety concerns apply of course. Your stand could become front-heavy and tip towards you. Anchor the stand to the wall if you can, or make the front feet sit out further. Do what you can to prevent tripping on these feet. Just common sense.

Accidents are caused by many things. If it's tiring standing in front of the lathe and working with it, that could be your undoing. If you can arrange the geometry to improve this, then why not do it- maybe raise or lower the lathe, bring it forward or push it backward, add an extended leg for stability, etc. Make sure you have good lighting, in part so you don't tend to bring your head in closer to see what's going on. There's lots you could and probably should do to improve safety and be happier at the lathe station.

A sign on a machine at work 'this machine doesn't have a brain- use your own'.