• Metal Lathe Set-up

    Part of my shop is set up for machining: welders, a welding table, fabrication tools, a small mill, and a JET 9X20 midi lathe. I am by no means a machinist, BUT I do like to void warranties and I a partial to making/altering my own tools and parts when I can. I have actually moved the lathe around in my shop three times in three years: moving it to access other projects. I needed to make some door bushings for my Jeep and after pricing them out online ($$$) I said ‘screw this, I am turning them myself!’ At the same time a friend asked if he could use my metal lathe to make some pens. Serendipity. I then went on a little accessory buying spree and picked up some tooling, a quick-change tool post bit holders, and other accessories.

    During the process of getting lathe up, running, and tricked out, it became quickly apparent that I was seriously lacking in organization department: There were quick-change tools all over the place, I lost my live center for 2 hours, I kept misplacing my chuck key, and when I started the lathe with my chuck key IN THE CHUCK!!!! I knew that I had to address the mess.

    That last thing is a sackable offense in every machine shop I have ever been in! I ordered a 48”x20” metal ARKO storage bin panel for tool and material organization (I have like 300 of the blue bins – YEAH for dumpster diving!!), and then built a 32” long quick-change tool and tailstock tooling shelf:


    I sourced some remnant 2”x2”x1/8” wall angle iron and stole some 3/4” and 1” pipe from 2 wood working pipe clamps in the shop. I then did a little cutting, some bending, a little atrocious welding, drilled 18+ holes, cleaned, primed, painted (got in trouble for painting in the basement…), and made the Q-C tools holders out of some 1-3/4” aluminum stock left over from my tool board organization build.

    Lastly, with my friend Jake’s help, we set the lathe on a set of 5/16” nylon-bottomed leveling feet and made sure everything was perfectly level and that there was no twist in the bed. The feet made a positive difference in how quiet the machine ran.

    Read More