I recently purchased a Powermatic 3520B lathe from Craigslist. The lathe weighs 630 lbs and I wanted a mobile base but did not want to pay the $350 or more for one that is sold for this lathe. The commercially available base also sticks out about 10” on the outside of the legs. With a little head scratching I came up with this idea. I already had 3 of the wheels from on older machine. I ordered the 4th wheel from Rockler with my 20% coupon and purchase the remainder of the material. 1 1/2” square tube from a steel supplier and threaded rod and nuts from HomeDepot. The entire project cost me less than $45. These wheels raise the lathe about a 1/2” and only sticks out about 4” when the lathe is down.
-- Julian
12 comments so far
lightweightladylefty
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3597 posts in 4687 days
#1 posted 12-26-2015 01:42 AM
Julian,
I love to see such brilliant solutions!
L/W
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BurlyBob
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#2 posted 12-26-2015 03:34 AM
That is a really slick solution to your issue. Good thinking on that one.
tyvekboy
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#3 posted 12-26-2015 03:55 AM
That is a great lathe mobile base solution. Simple and effective!
630 pounds is a lot to lift with those workbench casters. You might have to do like I do with my workbench and help them out with an assist with a hydraulic jack till you can get the wheels down and locked. Do only one side at a time so the lathe doesn’t tip over.
-- Tyvekboy -- Marietta, GA ………….. one can never be too organized
Dutchy
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#4 posted 12-26-2015 08:16 AM
Very handy! What’s the reason to didn’t put them on the inside?
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WoodNSawdust
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#5 posted 12-26-2015 12:43 PM
Good idea. If these are the workbench castors that Rockler sells I thought that the total weight was limited to 400 pounds, so do you have any problems with them
-- "I love it when a plan comes together" John "Hannibal" Smith
JoeinGa
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#6 posted 12-26-2015 01:18 PM
Thinking outside the box. Nice job !
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Julian
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#7 posted 12-27-2015 03:13 AM
Dutchy; the wheels are on the outside because it would be difficult to activate the lever on the inside.
WoodNSawdust: these are not the workbench wheels.
-- Julian
VAnative
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38 posts in 1919 days
#8 posted 12-28-2015 08:37 AM
Nicely done, looks much better than the mobile base too.
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Choke
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161 posts in 1855 days
#9 posted 01-06-2016 01:19 AM
Nice Solution Glad my lathe gets to stay PUT.
-- Winning the Hearts and Minds one measurement at a time
Peterwv
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#10 posted 12-07-2016 02:40 PM
Please provide information about the wheels that you used so I can order them.
John Stegall
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546 posts in 4491 days
#11 posted 01-31-2019 04:30 PM
Thanks for posting this. I didn’t own one of these until this summer and my first choice of using trailer jacks didn’t work to my satisfaction. I fitted wood to the inside of the tubing (overkill I’m sure) but it stiffened my Harbor Freight aluminum clamps so I did it here too. I like the way it works and it takes up less room than the jacks.
-- jstegall
Washam
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21 posts in 593 days
#12 posted 02-11-2020 11:07 AM
Have just gotten a new (to me) 3520 and ran across your brilliant and affordable idea. Has this lift continued to be serviceable and do you have any additional construction info you could pass along? John
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