Cleaning up my old lathe

[Mayhem]

With the lathe reassembled, I needed to redesign the motor mount as I wasn't happy with the current set up. The motor and the line shaft were set up so that the weight of the motor kept tension on the drive belt. However, this was unbalanced and use to rock, which in turn, caused the lathe to rock!

Anyone want a see-saw?
   

Note the counter-weights
   

Attached to the lathe
   

Note the extremely small footprint!
   

So I decided to mount the motor as close to the floor as possible and line shaft as low as possible without the belt fouling the back gears. I welded up some hinges using ½” plate and some think bar stock and built a frame around this.

Hinge components
   

The shape ensures that the frame cannot tip too far away from the mill
   

Welded onto 1/2" pads
   

Top pads were plug welded to ensure that the pivot was not fowled in any way
   

With these finished, I made up a base that would not only support the drive assembly but will eventually accommodate a splash back/chip pan, and a guard for the back gears.

Hinges tacked into place and the drive assembly frame tacked on to the hinges.
   

This puts it into perspective
   

I welded in some braces, which added rigidity and also enabled the motor rails to be fitted. I then finished welding the places that had only been tacked.

Time for a lick of paint