Lathe Stand Build 01 - Intro and Lumber

Starting a new project today.... It's a shop project!!! Ok so I got a lathe and quickly realized that it will need a good place to live in my shop. There are some requirements that it will need to have:
1) Must be Heavy and Sturdy for the lathe.
2) Must have storage for the tools and accessories.
3) Must be easy to clean.
4) Must be easy to move.

Ok with that in mind here is what I have come up with:

This first image shows the basic stand, main carcass will be made using a combination of 4x4's and 2x4's with a double layer of plywood for the top, the edging for the top will be Cherry wood. The joinery will be traditional Mortise and Tenon and the top will be screwed on to the base from the bottom.
Heavy and Sturdy CHECK!
Easy to Clean CHECK!

Then I will make a cabinet much like the ones in my workbench made with plywood sides and drawers and all the exposed edges will have Cherry edging.
Plenty of storage CHECK!

The cabinet will fit in the open area of the stand to become a all in one Lathe Unit.

Heavy and Sturdy CHECK!
Plenty of Storage CHECK!
Easy to Clean CHECK!
Easy to Move...Hmm.

Well I will probably be using the same casters I have on my workbench, the great part about them is that they lift the cabinet up when it needs to be moved, but the move out of the way so that the cabinet will rest on its feet and stay sturdy, the only downside is the casters cost almost as much as the rest of the stand put together but still not to bad.

Easy to Move CHECK!









Ok now for a shopping list:

STAND
2 - 4"x4"x8' Lumber = $17
2 - 2"x4"x8' Lumber = $6
2 - 40"x16"x3/4" Baltic Birch Plywood = $25 (I had half a sheet already but here you can spend a lot or save a lot depending on the quality of plywood you use.)
1 - 4"x3/4"x8' Cherry board = $15 (Again save a lot if you use cheaper wood)

CABINET
1 - 4'x4'x1/2" Plywood = $25 (Again here you can save money depending on the quality of plywood.)

CASTERS
1 - Pack of 4 workbench casters = $65 (These I will be buying next time they go on sale)

I started by cutting down the lumber to lengths.

LEGS, using 4x4's I cut them to 30" long using the miter saw.

STRETCHERS, using the miter saw again I cut from the 2x4's and 4x4's
Long ones are 32" (they will be 30" long and have 1" tenons on each size).
Short ones are 7.5" (they will be 5.5" long and have 1" tenons on each size)

TOP, using the plywood I cut 2 pieces to 40"x16" and glued them together, once dry I will be putting the cherry edging all around this top.

Here is a pic of all the rough milled lumber sitting onto of my workbench which basically shows what this stand will look like. Except no vises, to dog holes, no space between top and cabinet for holdfasts, basically much easier and simpler...

Ok so will all the boards rough milled and ready for joinery, this is a good place to end this post.
Stay tuned for the next phase of the build.

Tool Chest Build 08 - Finish and Hardware

Ok so I know it's been a while since the last post but there is a reason, well 2 reasons actually... 1) I bought a lathe and have been having a blast turning stuff... and 2) I had to let the finish dry before I could add the hardware and take the final pics.

Ok where did I leave off... oh yeah I had finished building everything and pre finished the lid. After all that I sanded and sanded and sanded... making sure everything was fitting perfectly and looked the way I wanted it to.

After a good sanding I cleaned up the wood dust with mineral spirits and let that dry then I started the finish... what finish should I use? First I thought a shinny lacquer, but then I started thinking about what this case is for... a tool chest... well then it should have a much simpler finish so I decided to go with an Boiled Linseed Oil base and then a Shellac coat over that and that is the reason it took so long. I put a coat of BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil) and let that dry for 3 days, then I put a second coat of BLO and I was planning on letting that dry for at least a week... well 1 week turned into 2 weeks and 2 weeks into a little more, but after I got back to it, the BLO was nice and dry and I added a couple of coats of Shellac which dries really quickly so that was awesome.

BLO finish looks amazing, if you like a natural non gloss wood finish, which I do.

This project took up my assembly table for 2 weeks and I really wanted to be able to use the table so top priority became finishing this project... I had a great time making this tool chest but  I am glad it is finally done.

I hope you all enjoyed this process as much as I did, Oh wow I almost forgot to talk about the hardware... Its really simple actually, I used 2 Non-Mortise hinges and 2 drawer pulls on each drawer, all in a antique bronze color.

Here is the finished piece in all its glory...

Can't wait to start a new project... Not sure what is coming next but I have a feeling its going to be a set of tools, tools you say? Well I did just buy a lathe and I think I want to make a set of Carbide tools... well actually I will buy the little carbide cutters but I will make the tools.