How heavy is a Heavy 10?

I almost quatted a kidney trying to shove the lathe a few inches. I think I will weld up a rolling platform with caster wheels to move the lathe when necessary. I was wondering what the approximate weight is so I can source the properly rated wheels to handle the weight. I think adding four leveling screws on the corners will alleviate the wheels when the machine is stationary. I haven't yet figured out a way to build retractable wheels or else I could go that route.

Depends on the model but figure total weight 900 to 1,000. Probably not a good idea to make it moble. A lathe must be kept level for best results.

Heavy 10 Wiggle Jiggle

Hi,

Lathes are top heavy. Be real careful, easy to tip them over, once they get going, its over super quick. They go over at about the same speed those big black snakes you have in North Carolina take to strike. And while that snake might not hurt you all that much, a Heavy 10 can kill, or more likely, maim. Not to mention that it pretty much messes the machine up right proper.

One trick that works pretty well for making 1000 lb. class machines occasionally mobile, is to bolt the head and foot stocks to something like 4" steel rectangular tube, heavy wall, make them long enough to eliminate the top heavy condition, then build some removeable cross pieces that let you roll a pallet jack under it for when you want to move it around. You can mount good leveler feet at the corners of the 4x4's. You only need one pallet jack for as many machines as you'd care to set up this way, and your whole shop becomes mobile.

Some machines you can just make or get 4" tall leveler mounts, and slide the pallet jack right under, but you need a suitably strong and long / wide underside for the pallet forks, most configurations of 10L's don't have that.

I like the Royal style leveler mounts, best place I've found to buy them is Reid Supply : Mounts

Regreting my Heavy 10 Casters

Jim-
I had a similar issue so I added casters to facilitate moving around the shop - I described the project in the http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...our-south-bend-147978/index3.html#post1132593 thread.

Others here are correct regarding operation while on casters. Problems w/ vibration and 'shimmy' if you've got something not quite balanced right in a 4 jaw or face plate.

To make my lathe more stable and allow proper leveling I'm adding adjustable feet to each corner. The current plan is to weld a piece of bar stock to the outside edge of the rectangle tube and drill/tap for the leveling feet.

I've got some 4" X 6" X 5" aluminum that I'll glue hard rubber to for use as very thick 'shims' under the feet. This will minimize the length of the threaded rod, hopefully increasing rigidity.

If I were to do it over again I'd try and come up with a design for detachable casters or generic mobile base that I can use to move the lathe as well as other heavy items around. Moving my lathe should be a rare occurrence, no reason to have $40+ worth of casters 'hanging' under it that only get used every 2 years when I rearrange the shop.

After getting the lathe parked and leveled I'll unbolt the casters from the mounting rails and work on a more generic 'moving heavy things' solution.

Casters are a fantastic add-on while stripping paint, cleaning, reassembly etc.
I've learned that, for me, they're more trouble than they're worth on a 'live' machine.

Good luck,
-paul

My 1968 10L with 4 1/2 ft. bed & cabinet stand weighs about 1100 - 1300 lbs. I think older models with the cast iron pedestal & legs would probably weigh less.
Have to agree with fastback on mobility. Generally speaking, not a good idea.
If anyone has a good system I'm all ears, wish mine was mobile.

Two-wheel Jim, you don't shove lathes or machines a few inches.

You do it the easy way, using a pinch bar. Put the head of the bar under
the machine, and lever it up with the long end of the handle. I've shifted
an entire FP2 deckle a few feet that way, an inch at a time.

Your heavy ten will be a snap to move that way, if you are only trying
to spot it into place, or temporarily move it out and then back again.

Thanks for the advise guys. I think that once I get the back of the lathe painted it will be moved into it's resting spot. I was able to use a car jack and a few pieces of 3/4" CRS to roll it into an open spot where I'll be able to get access all around for painting. For the last few days all I can think about is that old lathe. I never thought it would have such an effect on me. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for intricate machinery. Before the lathe it was an old but heavy graphotype machine I restored to make dog tags. It resided at the Navy reserve center in my old office for over a year before I took it home. I eventually sold it to fund other projects and to free up some floor space. Folks still ask me to make them a set of dog tags and I have to sadly deny their requests.
If I get lucky, I'll be moving in a Bridgeport mill into my shop to compliment the lathe. Now I'll have to get rid of a few other items to make room.

I have a 1965 SB 10L with 4ft. bed and cabinet base.
I moved it into my basement about a year ago with some
help from my daughter's boyfriend.
I'm not sure of the total weight of the machine but let me
tell you that socalled "Sheet Metal Cabinet Base" is a heavy
sucker. The chip tray alone weighed 90 lbs on our bathroom scale.
I stripped everything off the base that would come off. CHip tray,
all motor mounts etc. and all panels. It still took two of us to
stand it upright and put it on an appliance dolly. Pretty sure
it's around 300 lbs bare. It made moving the actual Lathe bed
without headstock look like a piece of cake.

Larry S
Fort Wayne, IN

I scanned this out of the 1966 catalog. It gives boxed and crated weights. The crated weights sound about right to me. Gary

+1 on the sheet metal base for those machines.

I had an easier time moving the older cast iron motor base for a 10L,
than that thing.

I have 2 lathes on casters; one is a heavy 10 with a 3 1/2' bed equipped like a toolroom lathe, and the other is a 12 x 36 Clausing with a 4' bed. Both of these lathes are mounted on the manufacturers metal cabinets, and weigh a minimum of 1,000 lbs each. I have a workshop that doubles as a garage for two cars, so I need to be able to move these lathes around on my smooth, level concrete floor in order to make the best use of them. I have a electric winch hoist that is fastened to ceiling joists (specially strengthened) if I have to load them on a 2-wheel trailer. The casters that I purchased are rated for 400 lbs each, and they are mounted 6" outside the sides of the cabinet, so they are not in danger of tipping. These lathes have a one, and a one and one half horse motor, respectively on each machine. I don't experience any detrimental effect from not having them mounted directly to the floor; in fact, I think the casters serve to absorb vibration.

Bruce Nelson said:

I have 2 lathes on casters; one is a heavy 10 with a 3 1/2' bed equipped like a toolroom lathe, and the other is a 12 x 36 Clausing with a 4' bed. Both of these lathes are mounted on the manufacturers metal cabinets, and weigh a minimum of 1,000 lbs each. I have a workshop that doubles as a garage for two cars, so I need to be able to move these lathes around on my smooth, level concrete floor in order to make the best use of them. I have a electric winch hoist that is fastened to ceiling joists (specially strengthened) if I have to load them on a 2-wheel trailer. The casters that I purchased are rated for 400 lbs each, and they are mounted 6" outside the sides of the cabinet, so they are not in danger of tipping. These lathes have a one, and a one and one half horse motor, respectively on each machine. I don't experience any detrimental effect from not having them mounted directly to the floor; in fact, I think the casters serve to absorb vibration.

Click to expand...

I think what he means to say is that repositioning the lathe can and will have a detrimental effect. If the floor is even a little bit uneven you can induce a twist in the bed of the lathe creating a taper when you cut a part. Ideally your lathe should be leveled in place and not moved.

See this thread: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/south-bend-lathes/bed-leveling-128922/

I have a 1943 heavy 10 cast iron pedestal and legs.

I needed to move it about 20 feet, by myself, I used a pinch bar a couple of 12" long 2x4's to get it up a little. Then I put 3 or 4 3/8" wood dowels under the pedestal and sat it down on the dowels. Then just picked up the tailstock end by the legs, (that was not heavy at all) and smooth as silk rolled it where I wanted. (you can also spin and turn the lathe while its on the dowels too)
As one of the wood dowels would roll out from under the pedestal I would pick it up and put it back on the other side, and the pedestal would roll right back on to the replaced dowel. The more dowels you use the easier it is to do.
I move my 600lbs gun safe the same way, after the safe is on the dowels I can move it by pushing it with three fingers on one hand. The only pain I get is bending over to use the pinch bar and picking up the dowels.

The real challange I got was when I got the lathe in place I wanted to put it up on 8x16 cinder blocks (which raised it 8"). I seen this on the web somewhere, I'm 6'1 and I was tired of bending over the lathe to see what was going on during operation of the machine. .
I just went the thickness of a 2x4 at a time, using the pinch bar again ( which took a while) but you find out doing this how top heavy these lathes really are. Then leveled it back out on top of the cinder blocks, its solid and up at a perfect height for ME.

Hi Everyone!

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Just a function of time & money

It can be done well (enough), however unless you move your lathe around alot it's likely not worth it.

Mine needs to move a lot... Adds about 350+lbs to the total weight. Made on a surface plate so it's flat (reasonably so) on the wheels for non-critical stuff. It's bolted to the skate board so no worries about twist or it falling over.

It does have to be leveled each time, but lots easier than dragging it across the garage AND having to level

Heavy & flat

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easiest way to move these lathes...rol-a-lifts...easy peasy

And you thought it necessary to resurrect a 12 year old thread to tell us this?

13 year old post, how do I know? I look at the post date, easy peasy.