Small lathes live and die by the bench upon which they are mounted. My little lathe has been struggling for the past year or so on a wobbly table and it’s really making me uncomfortable. The table is rated for 700lb, but my 350lb lathe is clearly too much for it. Because of this I decided to make a proper welded bench for my lathe. I spent the better part of a month on it and I’m extremely proud. The top surface is flat to within at least 10 thousandths of an inch and that’s more than enough to be able to mount the lathe and level it properly. Now that the lathe is mounted on a sturdy table the experience using it is 100% better. No wobbles and no worrying about 350lb of cast iron crashing down onto my feet. Also, the table has wheels to move it around, and levelling feet to keep it stable.
