question on Jet 1642

[merrill worthington]

I have been lurking around this site for a while and I enjoy seeing all the great things that everyone here make. I have a Jet 1642 and I am planning on making a shop stool here in the near future. The question that I have is on the Powermatic they have the Comparator the place to mount the original spindle to compare with the piece the you are turning. Has anyone got a way to do this with their Jet 1642?

[Greg Haugen]

Merrill,
I've made a "comparator" out of Loc-Line parts and a couple of basic spring clamps. One side clamps to the back of the bed and the other holds the spindle. You can reposition it where ever you'd like. I've got two. For small spindles I'll just use one of them and for larger spindles I'll use both. Alan Lacer shows on his "Son Of Skew" DVD at the end in the duplicating section. http://www.modularhose.com/ Is a good source for Loc Line parts. One side clamps to the back of the bed and the other holds the spindle. You can reposition it where ever you'd like.

[Ryan Baker]

Just clamp it to a roller stand or other similar device hanging around the shop. Or slap together a stand from some scrap lumber. If you set the turned spindle next to the blank and transfer all the points of interest with a pencil "story-pole style", you will be pretty darn close anyway.

[Richard Madison]

You could use the bracket on back of headstock (where the anti-UFO guard goes) to hold a center for one end, and make a clamp-on tailstock bracket for the other end.