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Myford Stand Alternative

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nrml:
Just build a rough and ready bench from the cheapest structural timber you can buy from the local builders yard. If it is reclaimed timber or scrounged for free - even better. A large bottle of wood glue, a few screws, a drill, a saw and a screwdriver later you will have a bench more rigid than anything but a heavy duty custom fabricated steel bench. No fancy woodworking skills required and very light on the pocket too. You can make it as basic and functional or as pretty as you please.

If vibration is an issue, you can reduce it by using L brackets to fix the table to both the wall behind it (if there is one) and the floor at all four legs.

I made my main work bench this way and is way better than any of the purchased workbenches or machine stands I have. Don't omit the wood glue. It makes a massive difference to the rigidity of the bench.

Will_D:
A bench for a lathe needs to be stable over time .

When mounting a Myford lathe on a bench or stand there is a serious bit of alignment needed given 4 points of contact at the lathe bed.

A wooden bench may well change shape over time due to temperature and humidity changes.

That is why some older lathes had a sort of anvil 4 point fixing.

beeshed:
Plywood is adequately stable over time if of reasonable quality, not just OSB. A construction style like kitchen cabinets but using ply instead of papiermache with a  couple of braces of ply on edge is pretty strong.
For an interesting metal bench have a look at the heavy racks in Costco for about £110 which are probably available in all their stores worldwide. These are rated at about 1 ton so pretty solid and give you a few shelves and putting the top shelf in gives you a frame for an overhead drive. Replace the wire mesh with two layers of 18mm ply.
In Oz Bunnings do the individual components for these shelves.

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