I recently bought this lovely watchmakers lathe (and various attachments!) from a kind and generous man named Ray. Thanks again, Ray!

Such a nice machine deserves a proper case.

Here’s the lathe – an 8mm Marshall, which I set up for left-handed use – various chucks, collets, gravers, and the foot pedal.

I started by sketching some way the box could open to offer proper clearance so the machine could be used in situ.

This geometry allows the main bed of the lathe to be open from above and the sides, as you’ll see.

I gave the watchmakers face plate and the three-jaw chuck their each little pocket. I’m chuffed with how these turned out! And some other attachments sit in the back.

Then I set the lathe in place by recessing the feet in holes.

Next I needed some way to not only hold the collets securely when the box is closed but also display them for easy access when it is open.

I solved this by having the collets live in a tray that can be moved between cleats on the box walls, as seen in the above video.

I secured the graving tools with elastic strapping.

And I even managed to fit the foot pedal!

Finally, it folds up nice and compactly (and looks dashing, in my opinion):

As with my other toolboxes, I think it takes good advantage of often-unused vertical space.

Check out my other boxes:

Clock Repair Hand Tools

Electrical

General Tools