My left arm is bigger around than my right one is, now… 
I’m used to it. I have never used a power saw. You should have seen when I used to cut full sheets of plywood with a hand saw. We used to do that you know, back in the day.
Keeps ya young.
Well, bet it ain’t due to sawin’… :party:
you could pour a base from a concrete, should not be expensive, but it will be heavy, and stiff, I like wood, very good material for most things, (even lights, lol) , but for lathe, idk, I mean it will work, but it is not that good for vibrations, something you do not want with lathe, for small wood lathe wood base may work fine, but prbly not for larger metal lathe that need precision, just my 0.02
There’s a reason they call these bench lathe’s, it’s 400 pound machine. I’m likin’ the plan, go for it.
IMHO if you tried bolt it down to a steel table or frame that wasn’t machined flat, you could risk twisting the bed.
Maybe unlikely, but a consideration.
Another thought when OL bolts this baby down, it might be best to not to over tighten the bolts for the same reason.
+1 AND.... That's what shims are for.
Or vibration dampers. Purpose of the link is only to show what kind of gizmo I ment. There are obviously better options to safeguard the peace in the House of O-L. Bolting something down can be a very effective means of transporting sound all over the place. Anti-vibration damper - GDZ-()-1 - RG+ Schwingungstechnik GmbH - mechanical / for machines / industrial
updated one photo in the OP. 07/26/15
I will use the good suggestions about plywood or at least more boards, to bind the legs together. I will also be using adjustable feet. I will have the T nuts and feet coming next week. They will have rubber soles.
As suggested, make a box to make it stiff: cover the back and sides, down to a few inches from the floor, with 18mm (or whatever weird thickness unit you use over there) plywood, screwed and glued with lots of glue between all surfaces touching. Two layers of plywood on top.
It really wouldn’t hurt to sandwich a strip of 1/2” plywood between 2 2x4’s and make the legs 3 2x’s with the strip. The strip of plywood will make 2 2x4’s the same thickness as one is wide, and will add tremendous structural rigidity. We always did that between 2x6’s for window and door headers building a house. 
I also think I’d bolt the legs on with at least 1/4” carriage bolts, instead of screwing them on. Overkill is underrated.
djozz is right about the plywood sides, and I’d see if I could find a 2 story house being built and talk to the foreman about getting a big enough scrap of 1 1/8” SturdiFloor for the top of the bench. That stuff is incredible! (Expensive to buy a whole sheet)
TiteBond is the glue you want, get the one with the green label as it’s more water resistant for your humid garage.
We’ve glued 3/4” thick Oak boards together at the edge and let em sit clamped overnight, then placed the joint on the edge of a work table and tried to break the bond. The wood itself would always break, about an inch away from the joint. Super strength when properly clamped, so if you used 2 sheets of 5/8” plywood glued with this stuff and screwed down tight, it’d probably serve as well as the SturdiFloor.
If you can find a second hand solid core door they make excellent table tops
Dang! How could I have forgotten that? A solid core door is 1 3/4” thick, at the size of this bench that’s dang near the equivalent of steel!
A laminated beam too, but it’s difficult to find a contractor using those with some scrap pieces cut off. Sometimes happens, but rarely.
What size is the bench Justin? Might help some of us that are more local to secure something ideal for the application. (Steel Plate, Aluminum Plate, Granite…)
Edit: I might have a solid core door I can cut off, if so, I can cut it with a SkilSaw and bring that up along with some stuff I was about to mail. Wouldn’t hurt me to take a drive in my new VW….
Looking good Justin, solid core doors are particle board inside, not particularly resilient. 2 layers of plywood or cross lapped planks is good. I prefer ply for it’s uniformity and continuous nature. Stiffest when spans run in the direction of the outer layers(more of the layers run in this grain direction). Glue everything. If it were me I’d be sick of all the advice but I guess it’s the string attached to a donation. 
I hear ya Scott, and you’re right. Justin has a plan and it’s being implemented. Enough said.
Solid core slab doors make great work tops. It is best to either laminate them or cover with 1/4 inch masonite.
The point about a solid core door is that while it makes an admirable work surface it isn’t designed to carry any weight or hold up to these kinds of stresses especially after cutting a hole in it. Only the outer rim(maybe 1 1/4-1 1/2” is actually wood). Most have cores that resist fire, sound, and warping but are not very strong. Some are made of foam. I can’t think of a single one of the many I’ve cut into that I’d recommend.
I know what kind of door you’re talking about, and honestly, I agree with you about those particular doors. However, if it happens to be a commercial grade solid core door like we see installed in commercial offices around here, those are usually solid particle board on the inside with a 1/8” veneer of furniture-grade wood on the outside. I wouldn’t doubt you could support the lathe very effectively with those doors.
Yeah the door you are talking about Rufus is known as a hollow core door. They typically have foam, honeycomb cardboard, gypsum for fire resistance, etc… inside. Solid core doors are completely different. Heavy strong and stable.
Particle board swells if it gets wet and crumbles if stressed. It bows under weight and warps if paint dries unevenly on either side. The only way it works in a door is if the door is an interior door and hung vertically so it won’t sag under it’s own weight. Try and bolt something to it and it will keep crushing until the washers meet. Unlike a solid wood door you cannot cut one down to fit a smaller opening without removing the styles or rails that allow hinges and strike plates purchase and keep the core material from crumbling and falling out. No offense intended but it’s snot, plain and simple, good for filler only.
One more photo in the OP. The base is all finished.