Comments on: I’m thinking about moving south, to the basement http://www.machinistblog.com/im-thinking-about-moving-south-to-the-basement/ Plans, projects and how-to's for home machinists Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:24:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Mikey http://www.machinistblog.com/im-thinking-about-moving-south-to-the-basement/comment-page-1/#comment-885 Mikey Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:50:38 +0000 http://www.machinistblog.com/?p=2440#comment-885 Hi Rob. I enjoyed your article. I have been meaning to build a bench to house my lathe and mill and had the same idea you had - build a frame to house some tool cabinets with wheels removed. I bought two ball-bearing tool cabinets (the lower roll around base) from Sears and have them sitting in my garage waiting for me to get off my butt. I plan to use 2X2 square steel tubing and weld it up to support the cabinets and put a laminated top on it to ease cleanup. I also plan to use leveling casters on it so I can move it, then lower it so its solid in use. Should be fairly cheap to build and will certainly be sturdy enough. A steel frame is necessary as it will carry a bunch of machine tools and accessories. There will be a support leg in the center with a leveling caster on it to prevent sag. Part of my plan is to make it long enough to use the lathe on one end and the mill on the other. Each will have its own tool chest to hold the accessories that go with it. A lamp that can be moved on a track to light the machine in use, a built in bookshelf for ready reference stuff, and a steel strip let into the table top to allow the use of a magnetic indicator holder are on the list. Oh, on the end I plan to put a 1'X2' piece of 1/2"thick steel plate and mount a small machine vise on it. My little anvil can also sit here, with a rack for my files below it. Now all I need is the time to make it! Mikey Hi Rob. I enjoyed your article. I have been meaning to build a bench to house my lathe and mill and had the same idea you had – build a frame to house some tool cabinets with wheels removed. I bought two ball-bearing tool cabinets (the lower roll around base) from Sears and have them sitting in my garage waiting for me to get off my butt. I plan to use 2X2 square steel tubing and weld it up to support the cabinets and put a laminated top on it to ease cleanup. I also plan to use leveling casters on it so I can move it, then lower it so its solid in use. Should be fairly cheap to build and will certainly be sturdy enough. A steel frame is necessary as it will carry a bunch of machine tools and accessories. There will be a support leg in the center with a leveling caster on it to prevent sag.

Part of my plan is to make it long enough to use the lathe on one end and the mill on the other. Each will have its own tool chest to hold the accessories that go with it. A lamp that can be moved on a track to light the machine in use, a built in bookshelf for ready reference stuff, and a steel strip let into the table top to allow the use of a magnetic indicator holder are on the list.

Oh, on the end I plan to put a 1′X2′ piece of 1/2″thick steel plate and mount a small machine vise on it. My little anvil can also sit here, with a rack for my files below it.

Now all I need is the time to make it!

Mikey

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