Jet 1642 / PM3520 Articulated Light Arm

[Philip Morris]

Well, all the great deals on Jet / Powermatic tools finally tempted me. I went ahead and purchased a Jet 1642. I know there are a lot of you here with either the 1642 or its big mustard brother, so I thought I would share something I made for mine.

Wanted to have an articulated arm to mount a light that would not interfere with the swing and that would not have to be moved if the headstock was moved. Jet was nice enough to include a nice mount that was just perfect. Just imagine an Elbo hollowing rig mounted in the wire guard bracket and you get the idea. Here are some pics.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/zpcm04/View1c.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/zpcm04/View2c.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/zpcm04/View3c.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/zpcm04/View4c.jpg

[Scott Conners]

Now that's a good idea! Is that one of the stay-put lites CSUSA sells on there? How bright is it? I'd like to get at least a 100W bulb into my goosneck light but it's only rated for 60W.

[Burt Alcantara]

Great idea! Always wondered what to do with that attacher thingy.

[Martin Shupe]

Did you buy that light or build it?

It looks like you might have built the articulated arms?

It looks like a great idea that I would like to copy.

Can you provide more details?

Thanks!

[Philip Morris]

It is the Maffatt light sold through Woodcraft, which looks just like the Stay-Put that CSUSA carries. Mine only has an 18" neck, which was part of the reason I began looking at making a mount. The CSUSA model carries has a 24" neck, which I would go with if I could do it over. The lamp can use a bulb up to 100 watts. It has a heat sink built into the lamp so it stays cool.

The arm is really simple. Just cut off the head of a 5" long 3/4" x 10tpi bolt and weld the bolt into the end of a 3" long piece of 1" square steel tubing (just be careful on the length of bolt you allow to stick out so that it does not hit the inverter box). If you don't have a welder, you could probably drill a few holes through the tubing and bolt to hold it in. I even considered using a big eyebolt, but the local big box store did not have any in 3/4". I drilled a 3/8" hole in the square tubing about 3/4" from the end to connect the next section.

I used two 16" pieces of square tubing for the articulated arm. I drilled the middle segment with a 3/8" hole (all the way through) about 1" from each end. On the outer segment, I drilled a 3/8" hole (through both sides) about 1" from the end that connects with the middle segment, then a 3/8" hole only through the top side on the outer end (to receive the lamp mounting stud) about 1/2" from the outer end (hole is closer to the end to allow tightening the nut on the lamp mounting stud).

I used 3/8" bolts, washers and ny-lock nuts to connect the segments. I also placed nylon washers between the pieces of tubing so they would move easier. I just tightened the nuts to the point the joints were tight, but still allowed the segments to move.


REGRETS
Had I planned it better, I could have positioned the non-threaded part of the 3/4" bolt under the spring pin fitting that comes with the wire guard. In that case, I would have drilled a hole in the bolt and used the pin to prevent the arm from rotating if the nut ever loosened. Instead I had the threaded part of the bolt under the fitting, so I just filed a flat on the bolt and ran another bolt (1/2" x 13tpi) up against it. I used blue thread locker on the 3/4" nut and the anti-rotation bolt.

The last thing I would do differently has to do with the way I welded the bolt in the tubing. Welding it all around the end left an uneven surface that required a lot of hand filing. If I did it again, I would drill holes through the tubing in both the X and Y directions at 1/2" from the end and at 1-1/2" from the end. I would then position the bolt in the tubing and weld through the holes. This would allow the end of the tubing to remain square.

Writing it out makes it look a lot more complicated than it is. The pictures really illustrate it better than I can describe.

Hope this helps, though.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Philip - great idea! Getting adequate light on my turning can be a problem at times and this looks like it would be worth the time to build! Appreciate it!

[Dick Mahany]

Philip,

Absolutely GREAT idea and execution! Thanks for posting. Now I have another project to look forward to. The Jet 1642 is an incredible lathe and I have really enjoyed mine. I have made a number of useful additions and mods to mine and have pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmshopshots

Thanks and best regards

[Philip Morris]

Man, Dick, you really have done some mods. They look great, too.

[Mike Peace]

I like the idea of an articulated arm but think I might apply it to a DC hood. Right now I use a hood for small stuff but have to use a different contraption when doing larger bowls. Its the small black hose holder shown in the picture. I have an articulated desk lamp mounted to my tailstock and my DC hood slides along a plywood rail. My light holder has a dowl that slides into the hole on my comparator arm. Unfortunately, I have to remove the rail when I move the headstock down.

I think using your articulating arm would be a better DC solution for me.

Thanks for the inspiration.

[Philip Morris]

Mike,
I agree that the articulated arm can have multiple applications.

I just think it was so nice of Jet/PM to provide such a sturdy, well-located mount for all of our accessories.:D

[Robert McGowen]

This is a must do for me. Thanks for the idea. Do you think the LOML will care if I head down to the big box store for some metal tubing on Mother's Day? :eek:

[Jim Evans]

The lights are also available from Wholesale tool

http://tool.wttool.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=moffatt&pw=moffett&rt=spelling&isort=score

[Frank Kobilsek]

Phil,

Your pictures are not clear to me. Everything in my shop is covered with dust and chips (Even my wife's car, it blows of at 75 MPH) and my eyes have adjusted to this condition of things. Next time you got things dirty take that shot again so I can see.

Good Idea. Somebody markets something like this and that model includes a 2 plug elctrical box. Handy for plugin in sanders and carvers. They had this unit on the 3520's at JC Campbell school.

Frank

[Philip Morris]

Frank,
Yes, there is something like this marketed by Oneway and CSUSA. It is a Gary Sanders light stand and retails for around $270. They even make a mounting plate for another $30 to attach it to the Jet 1642 / PM3520.

As you can see in my second picture, I already have power outlets close by, so that is not an issue. From what I recall, the narative of the Sanders unit says that drilling is required to mount on the Jet/PM, so I am assuming that it does not attach to the headstock (thus, it does not move with the headstock).

The fact that mine is out of scrap steel tubing and $10 of fasteners made it a no brainer.

[Thomas Loftus]

Just discovered this thread and I think the Moffatt lights are a great idea. Just ordered 2 from Wholesale Tool. (Order came to $91.18 for two 24 inch long lights (one for me and one for the wife), including shipping with "savenow10" 10% off code.)

Should make a huge difference for these old eyes!

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Very good idea!

[Jim Kountz]

What a fantabulous idea!! I may have to steal this one from you!!

[Philip Morris]

Thanks. I have been using this setup for about 6 months and it still works great. There is very little vibration at the light and it can always be positioned just where I want it. Even in hindsight, there is nothing I would change about the setup.

Merry Christmas,
Philip

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great idea Philip.

[Jim Slovik]

I copied Philip's plan and made the articulated light for my PM3520. It's very easy to fabricate and a real pleasure to use. I tried to incorporate Philp's "regrets" into my light. His insight into a better way to weld the bolt to the end tube is spot on. Drill through the tube and into the bolt on both the x and y axis, then basically fill the holes with the weld. This keeps the end square and has a very "clean" appearance. I tried to drill a hole in the bolt and use the stock spring loaded pin to keep the light straight but what I found was.....it had better be perfect or when you tighten the nut on the large bolt, you'll put too much pressure on the spring loaded pin and possibly bend it. I realized that my hole wasn't perfectly placed and reverted back to Philip's plan of using a bolt and grinding a flat spot on the main bolt. It worked perfectly. I say a silent "thank you" to Philip each time I us ethe light. Without his posting I'm sure that I would have created some complicated means of doing the same thing. Thank you Philip for sharing your idea.
Jim