What crooked holes?

[Josh Bowman]

As you all know I recently got a new Jet 1642 lathe. Well as I was learning bowl turning I noted the belt door hinge was crooked. As a proud new owner I decided to correct it. Then I found the holes were drilled not level. I decided to live with it.........but emailed Jet for them to see the oops in their quality control. They contacted me and were determined to make it right............................
So they sent me a 24" bed extension and another tool rest to see if that would make the holes look straight. You know I really don't notice that crooked hinge any more. Take a look at the last picture and see if you can see any crooked holes.:D
BTW could I take the extra tool rest and cut it down? Any suggestions?

[Matt Ranum]

What belt door hinge?
:D

[Matt Hutchinson]

Crooked hole? Nah, I think your head was tilted. :D

[Andy Hoyt]

Hinges? We doan need no steenkin hinges

Why cut the tool rest down?

[Nathan Hawkes]

I just don't understand your post at all; I don't see any crooked hinges....:D

Nice gloat! As far as your tool rest, I think it should be easy enough to cut it down to make yourself a short rest to complement your other (long) one. I'm a powermatic 3520 owner, but since they are cousins, they should be the same relatively soft cast iron. Admittedly, I've not tried to saw through cast iron, but as easy as it is to file with a mill bastard file, it should be no problem with a fresh hacksaw blade.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Josh - congrats on getting your belt cover door problem resolved but I have to ask why you would want to cut down your tool rest?

[David E Keller]

I wish my door hinge was crooked... That works out pretty nicely.

I'd probably purchase a short rest rather than cut that one down, but if you try it, let us know.

[John Keeton]

Good score, Josh!! That extension straightened those holes right up!! Can't even tell they were ever crooked!:D;)

I take it both rests are the same size? The cast iron should cut easily - a Sawzall would work well, or an angle grinder. Then dress it up with a file, or grinding wheel.

[Josh Bowman]

Josh - congrats on getting your belt cover door problem resolved but I have to ask why you would want to cut down your tool rest?
Steve,
This is a duplicate rest. 2 other lathes I've used had some kind of shorter rests. It just seemed like the right thing, since they gave me another:confused:. I'd like to find some info on putting a stanless rod on the top edge so the tools will slide better. A mentor had one of these on his Powermatic.

[Josh Bowman]

Good score, Josh!! That extension straightened those holes right up!! Can't even tell they were ever crooked!:D;)

I take it both rests are the same size? The cast iron should cut easily - a Sawzall would work well, or an angle grinder. Then dress it up with a file, or grinding wheel.
John,
It is the exact same size. I'm thinking about 6" wide should be nice. All comments/opions welcome.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Josh.... that makes more sense! For some reason when you said shorter - I was thinking height! Cutting your duplicate rest down to 6" or so would come in handy!

[Fred Perreault]

Josh,
I made a couple Robust look alike tool rests last winter. I took a chain saw file and rode it back and forth for some time to create a small depression along the top of the rest's base. Then I took the 5/16ths" drill rod and used JB Weld to epoxy it to the top of the tool rest. I have seen some posts that drill rod may not be hard enough (it is not hardened), but in 6-8 months I have not had any issues with scratching, digging or gouging into the drill rod, and the epoxy seems well suited to the task. I have not found any stainless rod locally.

[Andy Hoyt]

.... Cutting your duplicate rest down to 6" or so would come in handy! Yup, Except that one day will come along when he's doing a run of long centerwork and wishes that he had two long toolrests he could put into play so that the one doesn't have to be moved frequently. And if they're identical in cross section - all the better, so hand and tool re-location isn't a consideration.

[Steve Schlumpf]

The other side of that issue is that I have the 14" rest that comes with the lathe - ever try turning a finial with a 14" rest???

[David DeCristoforo]

See, this is where you get to see how different we can be. That would drive me nuts forever. I don't care how many freebees the seller gave me, I would still be bothered by the obvious lack of care and quality such sloppy assembly represents. Actually, I'm surprised that the seller chose to buy you off in this manner. Now if they had offered to send you a properly assembled machine and thrown in the extras for your trouble, that would impress me.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

See, this is where you get to see how different we can be. That would drive me nuts forever. I don't care how many freebees the seller gave me, I would still be bothered by the obvious lack of care and quality such sloppy assembly represents. Actually, I'm surprised that the seller chose to buy you off in this manner. Now if they had offered to send you a properly assembled machine and thrown in the extras for your trouble, that would impress me.

Same here, the first thing I probably would have done is to drill another hole so the door would fit properly, but I guess an extra rest and bed extension is a nice payment for doing the work, just keep on turning :)

[Josh Bowman]

Same here, the first thing I probably would have done is to drill another hole so the door would fit properly, but I guess an extra rest and bed extension is a nice payment for doing the work, just keep on turning :)
That's the aggrivating part. The hole is not off that much, so you'd have to fill it with something so the bit would work. For a $230 bed extenion and $40 tool rest, I think leaving the door with only one screw will do the trick.

[Josh Bowman]

See, this is where you get to see how different we can be. That would drive me nuts forever. I don't care how many freebees the seller gave me, I would still be bothered by the obvious lack of care and quality such sloppy assembly represents. Actually, I'm surprised that the seller chose to buy you off in this manner. Now if they had offered to send you a properly assembled machine and thrown in the extras for your trouble, that would impress me.
David,
I believe if I had pushed it enough, they would have exchanged the lathe. The service folks were very nice and were told to make me happy. So during the silence of "well what could we do". He broke that silence by mentioning the freight costs and wondered if I needed any tool accessiories. I thought the extenion was a $80 thing, but later fround out that wasn't correct. However they agreed and overnighted it.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

That's the aggrivating part. The hole is not off that much, so you'd have to fill it with something so the bit would work. For a $230 bed extenion and $40 tool rest, I think leaving the door with only one screw will do the trick.

You could drill hole # 3 and just have the off hole filed out so you can have a screw/bolt in for show, just an ID

[Jon Lanier]

That's great! And you can always replace your hinge with the off brand hinge.... Duct Tape. Comes in many colors.

[Thom Sturgill]

Ah come on! those are SLOTTED holes. just loosen the bolts, straighten it out and re-tighten. Good gloat on the extension. Definitely cut down the extra rest. One of the demonstrators I saw (sorry can't remember who) said he never used a rest much more than 4" as they contribute to vibration. While he may have been a bit extreme I would agree that one should use as short a rest as practical and try to stay near the center. To see what he was talking about, tighten down your rest and put a finger on one end, then tap the other and feel the vibration. That transfers to the tool ans causes chatter.

[Tim Rinehart]

Steve,
I'd like to find some info on putting a stanless rod on the top edge so the tools will slide better. A mentor had one of these on his Powermatic.

Josh,
Save yourself the hassle and just contact Jeff Nicol about some of these rests. You'll be glad you didn't waste your own time for the great job Jeff does on his rests. I think the rod on top is harder material than ss though, perhaps O1 drill rod.

Good job on getting the goodies...nice to see again that the Wilton folks stood by the products they sell to make it right, even for small issue.

[Richard Madison]

As suggested, cut the tool rest to 6". I rarely use the long one but still need it sometimes. Also suggested, a carefully cut piece of black duct tape over the hinge should square up the appearance.