Need Advice on a Lathe Mod

[Dale Bright]

I got tired of reaching around a spinng chunk of wood to turn off my Jet 1642 while hollowing from the end of the bed. I decided to extend the switch unit so I can move it around. I mounted the switches in a PVC conduit access box. I thought I would be able to CA glue some rare earth magnets to the back and that would allow me to mount the control most anywhere but the magnetic pull is much stronger the the glue I used.

Does anyone have any ideas for mounting this thing that would allow it to be easily moved around the lathe?

Thanks,

Dale

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dale - I made a remote switch for my lathe using a light switch, a plastic junction box and rare earth magnet. I just bolted the magnet in place on the back of the junction box and it hasn't pulled loose yet!

[Duff Bement]

Just get a cheaper magnet from the hardware store and do like Steve said and screw or bolt it to the box. Just an idea. Let us know what works. Good Luck.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Dale I have 4 on/off switches on my lathe, and use the red air-powered red bulb you see in the picture all the time, there's no electric wire to be crushed, cut or damaged.
it can also used on the floor to start and stop the lathe with my foot while I'm holding a tool in a hollow form for instance, till the lathe is stopped and than remove the tool safely.
It is always sitting under my hands to be able to just drop my hand to stop or start the lathe, much quicker than reaching for any of the other stop buttons.
However if you want to keep and use the one you have, why not glue some rare-earth magnets to it, so you can stick it to the lathe where ever you are.

[Dale Bright]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Leo, I did try to glue magnets but the CA glue did not hold. That is why I asked for help.

Dale

[Wally Dickerman]

Dale, I'm quite sure that epoxy would do a better job than CA glue. CA is brittle so that a side bump could break the joint.

A remote switch such as you've come up with is a must for safe HF hollowing. I do my hollowing on an outboard bed on my Oneway. The remote switch is mounted at the end of the bed when I'm hollowing. A bump with my hip turns the lathe off. I don't have to remove a hand from the tool and I don't even have look at the switch.

Wally

[Dale Bright]

Wally,

My next try was going to be with epoxy or JB Weld, which is an epoxy type compound. The CA glue is just too brittle.

Dale

[Doug W Swanson]

What if you glued the magnet to the inside of your box?

I'm not sure if the magnet would still hold but it's worth a shot.....

Doug

[GLENN THOMAS]

Do as Wally said and use epoxy. I made a switch a lot like yours and used epoxy. Never had a problem.

GT

[David Gilbert]

You could also buy a sheet of the magnetic material that has adhesive on the back. Our woodworking group's General lathe uses this system and it sticks very well.

Since I have the same Jet 1642 I will be very interested in how you solve this problem. I will be building something like this too.

Cheers,
David

[Don Geiger]

Dear Fellow Woodturners:

When I bought my Stubby about 10 years ago, the remote switch box had a round magnet pop riveted to the back. I knocked it off my lathe 3 or 4 times a day. It usually happened when I needed it the most.

I found the most amazing super-magnetic wood and attached a piece to the back of my switch box!!! It worked perfectly! Wait don’t order yet…

I’m just kidding! I had you going there for a minute though didn’t I?

What I actually did is: I found a very strong rectangular Boron magnet at a surplus house and routed out a cavity in a piece of wood and epoxyed it in the cavity, then took the switch box apart and installed screws from the inside of the switch box into the wood. The large flat area of the wood is ideal for attaching to the top or the side of my lathe bed. It’s not fallen off the lathe in about 9.9 years!

The “Magnetic Wood” is a really fun subject when I do demos. If you don’t tell them right away that you are funning with them, every once in a great while, one of the attendees will ask where they can get some of that magnetic wood!

Below are a couple of photos.


Don Geiger

[Ian Parish]

I got tired of reaching around a spinng chunk of wood to turn off my Jet 1642 while hollowing from the end of the bed. I decided to extend the switch unit so I can move it around. I mounted the switches in a PVC conduit access box. I thought I would be able to CA glue some rare earth magnets to the back and that would allow me to mount the control most anywhere but the magnetic pull is much stronger the the glue I used.

Does anyone have any ideas for mounting this thing that would allow it to be easily moved around the lathe?

Thanks,

Dale

For about 3-4 buck you can get a Welder ground Magnet from HF. It is a really strong magnet and has a bolt already built right into it. I have 4 of them holding floor vents on my Lathes for my DC setup. If you want to see a picture check out this thread in the HF workshop section. The magnets are in the floor vent on the back of my Lathes.
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=130664

Ian

[Nathan Hawkes]

There are some good suggestions here. One more I'd add would be to get a flat plug for your conduit junction box--a slip fit one, and glue the magnet to the inside of it with JB weld or other epoxy--CA is probably not the best thing here as it wont soak into the pvc and get a shock resistant bond. You could just tap it into the slip fit of the back of the junction box, so that you could remove it if necessary via channel lock pliers. I've been thinking about doing something similar to my 3520's switch--I just want to make sure that it stays chip free inside!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Dale how about epoxy, i think that would be a better glue for it, but you could also get/make a metal cup that you screw to the switch, and the magnet goes in there, it will stay without glue, here's a picture (Lee Valley)

[Mike Lipke]

how about a machine bolt hook (2 nuts and washers) on your remote, and a few machine eye bolts at strategic places on the lathe or wall? Just hang it where you want it.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Lee Valley sells Rare earth magnets that have a hole for a countersunk screw, the 1¼" magnet will hold 50 pounds, they are not that expensive, I bought some and used them in some towel drying rod/rack that can be placed on things like stoves or fridge etc, they really hold well.

Here's a link

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=60007&cat=1,42363,42348&ap=1

[Jamie Straw]

Dale, how about using a magnet that has an on/off switch -- like the ones they use on the newfangled featherboards? You could extend the backer plate to accomodate one of these magnets. Click here (http://www.mag-tools.com/products/Magswitch-20mm-MagJig.html)for an example (20mm). They also have a 30mm switch. Other vendors carry these, don't know what the price range is. I have a Magswitch featherboard, and the on/off feature is really nice to have!

http://www.mag-tools.com/product_images/p/4717e7a62396320mmmag_jig_beayty__40444_thumb.jpg

[Wayne Bower]

Dale, I too would be interested in seeing what wire you used and how you did it. I sent you a pm.

[Dave Mueller]

Wayne,
I just finished the base and motor controller for my VL300 longbed benchtop and I used a Cat5 network cable for the connection between the AC drive and the switchbox. There are 8 wires (4 twisted pair) inside a shield. I think the shield is important because there is a lot of EMF noise generated by the AC controller. The wire is pretty thin, but since there is virtually no current through the switches, it works just fine. It makes it a little easier if you tin the ends. This is the second lathe I have used this wire on and have had no problems. I'll post pictures of the whole setup as soon as I have time.
Dave

[Wayne Bower]

Dave, thanks for the info. I am looking into doing this on my Jet 1642 evs 1.5 hp. I don't like reaching around the spinning work either.