Lathe height from floor...

[Davek0974]

Hi all,

I think i've got my lathes set too high from the floor as it does not feel good after using them for long periods.

Is there a "standard" height to say the centre or toolpost of a lathe?

I am 6'-1" tall.

One is a Colchester student roundhead and the other is a Boxford VSL.

Any advice appreciated as always.

Dave

[DickDastardly40]

Dave,

I don't know of any standard centre height however if your lathes are on standard manufacturers cabinets, are they both the same height?

I'm an inch shorter than you and find most machine tools to be too low and I get a bad back from stooping.

You could try standing on some ply or duckboarding, gradually building it up to a comfortable height might help you establish how much to adjust the lathes before you move them about.

Al

[ptjw7uk]

I never have had a problem with the height of the lathe from the floor maybe because I do not use them for long enough periods of time. The one problem I did have was with the lathe base height to the top of the stand in that I couldnt clean under the lathe easily so I mad some raising blocks 2.5" so now I can sweep under the lathe bed to keep it clean(most times)

Peter

[small.planes]

Ill try and find the ergonimics text book, but from memory if you stand in front of it with your arms by your sides and the elbows bent to 90 degrees (so your forearms stick out horizontal) hands out flat palms down, the lathe controls (topslide / crossslide handwheel) should be about a hand width below your palms. This is a general rule using body kinematics IIRC (its about 10 years since I studied this), and the correct height depends on the precision of the work and the weight of it, basically more precise and lighter closer to the 90 degrees.

Dave

[Davek0974]

Ill try and find the ergonimics text book, but from memory if you stand in front of it with your arms by your sides and the elbows bent to 90 degrees (so your forearms stick out horizontal) hands out flat palms down, the lathe controls (topslide / crossslide handwheel) should be about a hand width below your palms. This is a general rule using body kinematics IIRC (its about 10 years since I studied this), and the correct height depends on the precision of the work and the weight of it, basically more precise and lighter closer to the 90 degrees.

Dave

Excellent, so the elbow/hand is about level with the toolpost?

Mine are much too high then, i'll check it out and lower them a bit, will make getting the 4-jaw on a bit easier.

Thanks all for the replies
Dave

[small.planes]

sounds about right, but you are not setting the toolpost height, you are setting the controls height, which is after all the bit you use

I cant find the actual book online, but page 34 from here shows the kind of thing, this is related to workbenches, but the same principals apply

Dave

[airsmith282]

i have my lathe and my mill at 32 inchs from the floor i find is nice for the lathe but i have to sit in fornt of my mill which is ok i have adjusted rather well to it.

my theroy/thinking is if you cant see the peice properly you are working on and can not eaisly get behind the lathe in this case to clean out behind it then its set up to high.... iam 5'9 not that it matters much i dont think

[Your Old Dog]

This may or may not be of use in this thread but for typist it is recommended that your forearm be parallel with the floor to aide in preventing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Kodak recommended that all editing benches have the equipment spread out on shelves and such to keep your neck and shoulders moving so as to avoid neck stress. Condensing everything right in front of your face for long periods of time results in sore necks.

When seated at a workbench and you have to continually stoop over for small work, back pain can be eliminated or reduced significantly by keeping your thighs parallel with the floor by elevating your with a footrest not under the seat but in front of the seat. The legs are allowed to offer considerable relief to back muscles.

I am 6' and my lathe is stock SouthBend. My back gets tired if working long periods as it seems low but I don't want the chips any closer to my face.

I bought the factory cabinet for my Rung Foo mill and ended up setting it on 4 cement blocks as it was killing my back. Now I use it seated on a roll-around stool and it's not too bad.

[Doc Nickel]

I don't have a measurement handy, but I know my Logan, on it's factory cabinet, is a couple of inches too low for me. When I got my Sheldon, I had to patch up the legs of the shop-fabricated stand it came on, and I intentionally made the repairs to put the lathe controls about 2" to 3" higher than the Logan.

And that made a significant difference.

I'm almost your height- almost - and I could get you some exact measurement if you need 'em. But really, the controls are more or less just below elbow height- so your forearms are angled slightly downhill as you're holding the carriage wheel. A little lower for the feed knob, a touch higher for the cross feed, etc.

That "rule of thumb" should get you pretty close to a comfortable working height.

On a similar note, my Nichols horizontal mill is too low for me even up on 4x4 blocks. I'll probably be making a 6" to 8" spacer/stand/mini-cabinet to put under it. I'll be primarily using it on smaller parts (no engine blocks and the like ) so I'll want it positioned so I don't have to bend over to squint at the cutter.

Doc.

[gnm109]

I never have had a problem with the height of the lathe from the floor maybe because I do not use them for long enough periods of time. The one problem I did have was with the lathe base height to the top of the stand in that I couldnt clean under the lathe easily so I mad some raising blocks 2.5" so now I can sweep under the lathe bed to keep it clean(most times)

Peter

Yes, I had to do the same with my 13 X 40 Enco. I used 2" X 3" square tubing welded into rectangles on each end and secured with longer bolts. Now I have room to sweep out the chips when I clean up. It also helped with the height of the lathe since I did find it a bit low for comfort.