I'm looking for a heavy solid steel plate to use to mount a small lathe to.

Ive got a heavy surface block at home and wondered where one might look for similar items, or even sections of weigh bridge top or other machined plates?

Cheers

How small is small?

Why not just make a small wooden table to put it on?

A surface place/weighbridge bit is a bit OTT!!

I wanted something heavy and stiff which isnt prone to environmental change....

It's a small drummond.

Even my colchester student is not mounted on amything particularly heavy... just a cabinet made from what looks like 2mm steel sheet...

If you are determined to bolt it to something overly hefty... look for a steel road plate.. usually used to cover holes in roads..

A studry wooden bench would be more than enough! Get some 2x4" structural timber and make a suitably braced bench. If its done properly it wont move!

[Edited on 7/11/11 by tegwin]

Unless you are going to have the surface plate machined and ground flat then it could be possible to twist the bend of the lathe when bolting it down. Use the strength of the lathe instead and bolt it to a simple stand or your work bench

Have a word with your local pikeys

There is a technique for bolting a lathe to a base - start with a really solid platform, such as a really thick bit of marine ply.

Mount the lathe but only tighten the bolts loosely.
Put a 1" bar of round silver steel in a 4-jaw chuck (silver steel is ground round, and dimensions are closely controlled). Use a dial gauge to get it properly centred.
Set the dial gauge against the bar at the far end, and zero it.
Start to tighten the mounting bolts, while watching the dial gauge.

The aim is to get the bolts tight, with the dial gauge remaining at zero (quite tough to get 100% right!).

Finally, take a light sliding cut along the bar, then measure in 3 places along it - each measurement should be identical.