Joshua Nicoll
Plastic
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2020
Hello folks, I'm looking to design and build a new steel workbench for my small shop, spurred on by a recent purchase of a cheap 8x16 mini lathe. I've decided to build the bench in 3 main areas, one of which on the far right will have the lathe firmly bolted down, and I planned to build that part only loosely connected as the middle part of the bench is for welding. Obviously for welding I want a bench thickness of at least 5mm (1/4") to prevent warping for as long as possible, and the frame doesn't have to be particularly sturdy, the most I'd be doing on it are short welds at no more than 260 amps (that sounds like a lot but really none of the welds last more than 2 minutes) and usually I'm under 100 amps.
However for the part that'll have the lathe mounted, should I get a much thicker top (maybe 8-10mm, under 1/2") and support under it, or should I only focus on the support structure and put a lot of extra trussing at various angles to ensure it can resist twisting loads or would both help? Oviously these tiny lathes need every little bit of support from what they're bolted to maintain square and ridigity, or is that overkill and a basic bench with 4 3mmx25mm (1/8" x 1") angle irons for legs with a square tubing top work as well or would getting 6mmx60mm (1/4" x2 1/4") square tubing and adding a lot of cross dimentional supports work better. I'd also have to avoid overwelding the frame as that might warp it, but that might be worth the trade off for rigidity as slight warping can be tolerated but I'd prefer as little as possible since shimming under the lathe to level it would defeat the purpose of maximun rigidity.
TLR I want to make a bench for welding with another one beside it, only bolted to the other to prevent warping, for mounting a 8x16 mini lathe, and wanted people opinions on how thick the steel should be.
Sorry for the metric but that's what I use predominently, but sometimes work in imperial.
However for the part that'll have the lathe mounted, should I get a much thicker top (maybe 8-10mm, under 1/2") and support under it, or should I only focus on the support structure and put a lot of extra trussing at various angles to ensure it can resist twisting loads or would both help? Oviously these tiny lathes need every little bit of support from what they're bolted to maintain square and ridigity, or is that overkill and a basic bench with 4 3mmx25mm (1/8" x 1") angle irons for legs with a square tubing top work as well or would getting 6mmx60mm (1/4" x2 1/4") square tubing and adding a lot of cross dimentional supports work better. I'd also have to avoid overwelding the frame as that might warp it, but that might be worth the trade off for rigidity as slight warping can be tolerated but I'd prefer as little as possible since shimming under the lathe to level it would defeat the purpose of maximun rigidity.
TLR I want to make a bench for welding with another one beside it, only bolted to the other to prevent warping, for mounting a 8x16 mini lathe, and wanted people opinions on how thick the steel should be.
Sorry for the metric but that's what I use predominently, but sometimes work in imperial.