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
11 comments so far
lightweightladylefty
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3358 posts in 4134 days
#1 posted 12-26-2015 01:42 AM
Julian,
I love to see such brilliant solutions!
L/W
-- Jesus is the ONLY reason for ANY season.
BurlyBob
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6272 posts in 2687 days
#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 1367 days
#8 posted 12-28-2015 08:37 AM
Nicely done, looks much better than the mobile base too.
-- Don't be upset by the results you didn't get with the work you didn't do.
Choke
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135 posts in 1303 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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527 posts in 3938 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
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