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265474 Claudio DeLorenzi <claudio@d...> 2018‑03‑16 Re: Concrete casting to mount an antique metal lathe...
This is for a tiny modeller's lathe, the center height is 3 1/2" (7" swing)
and it only weighs maybe 220 lbs  including the 'lectrical part.
You might laugh, but it sits on my old patient exam table (overbuilt,
welded steel cabinet construction made by Imperial Surgical in Toronto in
about 1950, back when we still made good stuff in Canada)   I bought this
exam table used for $50 when I was flat broke, married with children, and
just starting out life.
  When I upgraded my office stuff to new stuff, it was too good to throw
out, but not really good enough for a doctor to use,  so it went into my
workshop,  then it became the minilathe table.  Because everything in my
shop (except my work benches are mobile), this is also on industrial
casters.  I want to make the little thing a bit more solid and rigid
because I've decided to rebuild/rescrape it, and just testing whether to
get a new spindle while they are still available.
  So far we have:  Gary's recommendations to go to thicker and Scott saying
to use a dryish mix.
  Also, maybe cover it to let it dry slowly in my heated shop- is this
still recommended, to let concrete cure slowly?   Oh well, I should just
get on with it.  Worst case, a bad casting will be a small table by the
fire pit to put cold drinks on in the summer time.  To put the size into
perspective, this thing only needs a base of  1 foot by 3 feet or so- I
just want it to have torsional stabilty, to prevent any twist on the ways,
and the concrete "slabette" is just going to sit on some plywood on a steel
table (which is on wheels- not ideal for a metal lathe).
Claudio

Recent Bios FAQ