Tailstock swinger modified for a 3520B

[Jim Slovik]

This is the tailstock swinger that I modified from a posting by Dick Mahany for his Jet lathe.
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I purchased the steel from my supplier's scrap pile. The bearings came from McMaster Carr and the rest of the hardware from the local hardware store. It works pretty slick. I drilled holes in the mounting plate for a positive stop in both positions. I sure hope this comes through. I've been trying to post this for hours.
Jim

[John Keeton]

Jim, glad to see you got the pic issue resolved!! I don't have a PM, but a lot of folks are going to enjoy this I imagine.

[Jim Slovik]

Thanks John. I would have never got it posted without your insight. I hope to get the tailstock swinger sandblasted and powder coated by a friend of mine as his schedule permits. It sure is slick. I have to give a lot of credit to Dick Mahany for his initial design. That's what I love about this site, everybody shares their ideas.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jim that is some great looking work. Really looks like it will work great.

[Thomas Canfield]

Jim,

It looks like you did a very good job on the swinger and it should work well also. The unit is well thought out and alignment looks right on. I have noticed that now there are several commercial units out there to get the tailstock out of the but do not appear to do the job any better. I am still holding off and just moving mine down to end of the bed extension but will likely need to go commercial. Congratulations.

[jason lambert]

Nice job, impressive welding in thoes tight areas. Want to make me one ;)

[John M. Smith]

Waiting on delivery of my 3520b. Wondering why you would want to swing the tailstock out of the way.

[Jim Slovik]

If you can weld a little and have a way of cutting the metal yourself, it can be made at a reasonable cost. I actually thought that it was going to be much harder to make than what it was. I really didn't expect this one to be the finished product. I thought there would be several prototypes before I got it right. I looked at Dick Mahany's original very closely http://picasaweb.google.com/dmshopshots/Jet1642LatheHomeMadeTailstockSwinger#
before I modified it to the 3520. I encourage anyone with a welder and a metal cut-off saw to give it a try. If someone does want to try it, contact me and I'll help you all that I can.
Jim

[Dick Mahany]

Jim,

Very nice job! Looks like it turned out great and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. This place is great and I continually learn valuable lessons here. I really like the lock pin idea and maybe I'll add that to mine ! Thanks for posting.

Regards,

[Jim Slovik]

Dick,
I'm glad you responded to my posting. I wanted to thank you for sharing your original post. Without your original model mine would not exist. Thanks again,
Jim

[Mike Peace]

Waiting on delivery of my 3520b. Wondering why you would want to swing the tailstock out of the way.

Moving the tailstock out of the way provides you plenty of room to maneuver your gouge when hollowing a bowl. It also allows you to slide the headstock down so you can work off the end of the lathe, one of the PM's advantages over some lathes with a fixed headstock.