I’m a hobby machinist and can’t comment on a lathe, however, as a general contractor for nicer than average additions, second story additions, full basement replacements, and full strip to the stud remodels we did a lot of concrete of all kinds and can offer a few ideas for the space the lathe is going in.
If the lathe is going in a section of your garage, a purpose built outbuilding, or other space within your home, the concrete pad a heavy lathe, milling machine or surface grinder sits on will be less problematic down the road if it’s beefed up over normal residential practices.
Residential concrete slabs are normally 4” thick, with little rebar reinforcement, over a minimal layer of compacted road base gravel, or just resting on whatever dirt was there naturally. With natural settling, slight voids often show up under the slab, but that’s still enough to park a car on, or build a room over without any issues.
When a heavy object is placed in one spot for an extended period of time, the slab responds much like a paper plate at a bbq and it‘s not uncommon for edges to sink, cracks to develop, or the whole slab to move unevenly. That can cause the lathe to need releveling throughout the year until you get tired of it and have the slab reinforced.
A thickened slab retrofit entails cutting a rectangle out of the existing slab at least a few feet wider than where the lathe is going, digging out any inappropriate backfill down at least a foot and a half or so, adding compacted roadbase gravel, and pouring a new much thicker slab reinforced with rebar. Concrete is relatively cheap so I would suggest an 8” -10” slab, but there are expansive soil types that expand and contract with the seasons that benefit from thicker slabs and other moisture mitigation strategies. If an entire large area were replaced I‘ve worked with some engineers that would say a reinforced 6” slab will support 3,000 lbs per square foot, while another would spec out 12” for vibration damping.
If it’s going in a new outbuilding, radiant heat in the floor is ok, just keep it well outside the footprint of the machine.
Smoke from cutting oil and fumes from solvents are super easy to vent, but depending on your climate, conditioning the makeup air becomes the limiting factor, so the closer an exhaust duct is to the source, the better off you are.
Sounds like you’ll have a nice setup.
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