Articulated controls

[Richard Jones]

I am putting together an articulated arm to mount the controls for my Jet 1642, based loosely on the article in the Fall 2003 AAW Journal. I thought I would just rough it up first with some 2x2's, just to see how to mount it, lengths, etc.

My question is: Who's done this and how did you do it? I'm thinking that some 1" tube steel would be adequate for it, but I'm not sure how to do the joints. Am thinking of nylon, just not sure how to configure the connections.

Thanks for any help. Pics to follow as soon as I do some Rigonomics...............

[Dwight Rutherford]

I also have a Jet 1642 and chose another option. Have you looked at this? http://www.weebly.com/uploads/3/6/4/1/3641005/remote_switch_for_powermatic_3520b.pdf

(The Powermatic controls are virually identicle to thr Jet 1642)

Dwight Rutherford

[Richard Jones]

Dwight, Got that, it's what I want to mount on the arm.

[Phil Rose]

I dud the same as Dwight. It has enough cable to run under the lathe. I typically keep it attached to the right end of the lathe using the same rare earth magnet setup as the link.

only issue I have is it is slightly higher than the lathe bed, and sometimes gets knocked off when I mount the bowl steady ... I'll try a different configuration of magnets soon so it can mount slightly lower. Other than that it is great to have the controls available at that end of the lathe ... Especially when hollowing!

[Dick Mahany]

I made several articulated arms for my Jet 1642. One is for lighting, the other is for a sanding hood collector. I used 1" sq steel thinwall tubing and they are plenty rigid. It is easy to vary the stiffness between the arm links with a nylon washer and threaded knob. Even though these mount to the backside of the lathe, it would be a simple matter to redesign a front mount for a remote switch.

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[Richard Jones]

Dick,
that looks great, thanks