I was able to make it to a good friends house today and work on some 3/8" steel plate to give my Heavy 10 cabinet a stronger top.
Using his Mill, we routed out an opening to match the original opening, and I had traced the new steel plate for locations of all cuts. After the Belt Opening, three 1/2" holes were bored to match the Undercarriage/Countershaft/Motor Assembly. The elongated holes match up for the Head Casting Foot. Simpler fix on the Tailstock Foot end with just a couple 7/16" holes matched to the original cabinet bores.
I did this because I saw a slight sag in the steel plate on the Headstock end. This cabinet steel is 1/8" thick, and the top is 1/8" thick. There is certainly a majority of this lathes 950 lbs stacked vertically over this left side, and I think a bit more beef is an improvement. Lotta weight to be hanging on the original steel. Now, we are talking 5/8" combined thickness and it should hold nicely.
BTW, the Top Pan edges do hang below 3/8" of an inch, so it will cover unless one gets below the cabinet and looks up.
Using his Mill, we routed out an opening to match the original opening, and I had traced the new steel plate for locations of all cuts. After the Belt Opening, three 1/2" holes were bored to match the Undercarriage/Countershaft/Motor Assembly. The elongated holes match up for the Head Casting Foot. Simpler fix on the Tailstock Foot end with just a couple 7/16" holes matched to the original cabinet bores.
I did this because I saw a slight sag in the steel plate on the Headstock end. This cabinet steel is 1/8" thick, and the top is 1/8" thick. There is certainly a majority of this lathes 950 lbs stacked vertically over this left side, and I think a bit more beef is an improvement. Lotta weight to be hanging on the original steel. Now, we are talking 5/8" combined thickness and it should hold nicely.
BTW, the Top Pan edges do hang below 3/8" of an inch, so it will cover unless one gets below the cabinet and looks up.
