Greetings, Fellow Doers of Things ~
When I grow up, I think I’d like to be a Tool and Die Maker. Between that and Millwright-ing, it seems to be what I’m most preoccupied with in my laughably-limited spare time !
Now I’m probably technically a hobbyist on this front, but I *have* gotten paid a few dozen times for turning and drilling and cutting and even welding steel things over the years. But I’m pretty sure the most I’ve ever paid for tooling on any specific job was a couple hundred bucks - which represents the high-upper limit of my usual budget. I’ve mostly just made do with things I inherited from my (great)-grandpa.
The centerpiece of this humble collection is a partially-functional 1950s <anonymous American> 12” Metal Lathe; in not too bad of shape if you look past the lack of a main leadscrew. So, no threading, no powerfeed, basic things like that most people take for granted. That said, it’d been sitting in the shed for the last couple years, and I finally got a free weekend recently to get it put back together.
Now, what I really like to do with it, is process random scrap junk - usually pretty rusty - into dimensionally-useful parts, that maintain some of their original “charm”. I use a *lot* of rebar. I like making things like handwheels, pan racks, furnishings, mounting brackets, tool handles etc etc that are *obviously* rebar, but shined-up and clear-coated. So for these purposes I’m not terribly impacted by the missing leadscrew, and I don’t feel too bad about getting things dirty. They clean up nicely.
But my lathe doesn’t have a proper bench. It’s sitting on the back porch, on one of those big wooden cable spools, bolted onto a couple inches of beech plywood, with cinderblocks and jackstands supporting the ends. And so while this is functionally better than *no* lathe, I’m deeply annoyed with the flimsy sloppiness of it all.
I’m convinced the next few hundred bucks I should spend, is on a good solid foundation for this marvelous and filthy mess of American iron. And so I’d like to divulge my plan, bouncing it off this illustrious panel of experts, with what must be many thousands of years of combined experience. Without further ado:
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The Bench.
I’m planning to buy a four-foot long tube of rectangular steel, 4” x 10” with 1/4” wall thickness. This will be sandblasted, inside and out, and the appropriate holes drilled (and perhaps tapped) for mounting bolts. Then, the tube will be fully stuffed with what I figure to be nearly nine gallons of epoxy granite. This will be capped off at the ends for at least long enough to set up, and the whole thing set standing tall upon a vibrating table so as to liberate as many air bubbles as I can shake out. (I may or may not keep the ends capped with steel plate - haven’t decided this detail yet).
For *risers, I plan to use the eight-or-so cement blocks I’ve got laying around - the kind with a single rebar hole through the middle - mortaring them like bricks, and pouring sufficient concrete to fully encase them in a cylindrical (or perhaps conical, or even possibly pyramidal) mold, with steel plate on top suitable to bolt the aforementioned rectangular steel tube benchtop. Preferably, these plates will be firmly fastened to the length of rebar through the bricks, whether by welding or threads (or both).
I’m estimating total costs to run roughly $500 or so, give or take a few. Much of the material I already have, which is at least somewhat informing my strategy to keep costs lower. I also need to be physically capable of disassembing the whole thing and moving it, if necessary - so each component cannot weigh *so* much that I’d need more than an engine puller and sturdy hand truck to shuffle it about.
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Now, I can’t see any reason why this wouldn’t work fantastically for my purposes, and I don’t really see a more worthy direction to go with my funds. I’m stoked to see what this beast is capable of with a real bench underneath it.
And so the reason I’m here of course is to ask, am I missing something ?
Of course I’ve *thought* about just buying a workbench for it; but in my neck of the woods, something suitable costs nearly if-not-more than what I’m proposing. And honestly, I don’t see how the mass and stiffness I’m putting together won’t just end up being superior to the stock offerings. Furthermore, I feel this to be something with inherent *research* value. I know *I’d* watch that YouTube video !
Thanks everyone for your attention; I look forward to any sincere replies I can get !
