Where is the Force Transferred in a Lathe with an Unbalanced Load?

[AFineMess]

If I mount an unbalanced piece of wood on my lathe, it causes vibration. i.e. I'm spinning an offset mass at a high rate of speed. If I add weight to the base of the lathe (e.g. sand bags, concrete blocks, bolting it to the floor), I can stop the vibration. My question is, where is the force transferred? Am I causing the lathe components, bearings, ect to accept the force? Or is the force absorbed by the extra weight (or the floor)?

 

[phinds]

If I mount an unbalanced piece of wood on my lathe, it causes vibration. If I add weight to the base of the lathe (e.g. sand bags, concrete blocks, bolting it to the floor), I can stop the vibration. My question is, where is the force transferred? Am I causing the lathe components, bearings, ect to accept the force? Or is the force absorbed by the extra weight (or the floor)?

You are causing the lathe components to accept the force, but that's a GOOD thing because you are avoiding shaking them to pieces. It's much better for them to work vibration-free. The extra force is being applied in a much more uniform way than when the lathe is vibrating.

Check this out:

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/

 

[AFineMess]

So assuming that overall the lathe is initially designed to operate safely under specific loads, I wonder if by adding the weight one is moving out of the range specified design. Also, I wonder if the user is causing excessive wear on the components? I think I need a diagram of where the forces go.

 

[phinds]

So assuming that overall the lathe is initially designed to operate safely under specific loads, I wonder if by adding the weight one is moving out of the range specified design. Also, I wonder if the user is causing excessive wear on the components? I think I need a diagram of where the forces go.

I believe most lathes are designed to have stabilizing weight added to the base. Certainly it's something most every lathe owner does, unless he/she has a powerful lathe and only does modest turnings. Some of the bigger semi-professional lathes are so heavy they don't need it.