Jet 1642 lathe

[jeff oldham]

I have a 1642 lathe and its heavy ...I believe about 700 pounds..at the moment it's not mobile...and I don't know if there is a kit to make it mobile...or a way that I can do it.....I need a way not to lock the wheels but a way that that I can make it mobile and then let it down to the floor...

[John Keeton]

It is around 400 lbs. There should be several threads on the creek on lathe mobility that would show up in a Google advanced search.

[jeff oldham]

Honestly believe believe it's closer to about 700...but I might be wrong

[Dwight Rutherford]

I have one and the owners manual states 475 pounds shipping weight.

[jeff oldham]

Ok...I guess I was wrong

[Thomas Wilson80]

I have a laguna 2436 and use this to easily move it around the garage. I also use it as my tool caddy when turning.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lbs-capacity-hydraulic-table-cart-60438.html

Tom

[John K Jordan]

I have a 1642 lathe and its heavy ...I believe about 700 pounds..at the moment it's not mobile...and I don't know if there is a kit to make it mobile...or a way that I can do it.....I need a way not to lock the wheels but a way that that I can make it mobile and then let it down to the floor...

Jeff,

I personally don't know of a kit. If you are good at design and fabrication you can probably make something from scratch.

I've seen mobility solutions at several of clubs where I've visited done demos, most were shop built. These lathes had to be moved for every meeting. I think the best were type of jacks fastened to the legs which used a screw or lever to lower swivel casters, lifting the legs off the floor. One club uses a couple of furniture dollies but it takes two people. Another used a floor jack. One place had wheels on one end and used a long-handled wooden jack with casters to lift the other end off the ground. This worked well but needed more maneuvering space.

BTW, I have two of the Jet 1642s and a PM 3520b. The Powermatic is closer to the weight you mentioned but the Jets are a lot lighter. When I want to move them, which is not often, I've done it by scooting across the smooth concrete floor. If I needed to move often, I'd definitely build something. As someone mentioned, there have been threads here (and on other forums) you find with a search.

JKJ

[David Walser]

Jeff -- I'm going to second Tom's recommendation of Harbor Freight's lift table. It's how I move my PM 3520 when necessary. I've found so many other uses for it that I now consider it to be indispensable. One of the best things about it is that it raises to the height of my pickup's tailgate. That makes it far easier to unload heavy things out of the pickup. It's even served as a temporary outfeed table for my saw.

Another option, is to use a floor jack to lift one end up, slide a furniture dolly under that end, and then repeat the process at the other end. It works. Not as well as the lift table, but you might already have a floor jack and a furniture dolly or two.

HTH

[Dick Mahany]

I posted a thread years ago here that I can't locate. I built a basic retractable caster assembly for my Jet 1642 and it has worked for many years without problems. The handle is removable to avoid trip hazards. I documented the build including the cam profile in a PDF that I'd be glad to share. My lathe is a little over 500 lbs as it has a vacuum pump, tail stock tilt away and a 2 axis cast iron threading vise on it. The 3" polyurethane casters handle it just fine.

447385

447386

447387

BTW, the stripe is crooked, not the casters.

[Vern Little]

Here are some retractable casters i bought for a work bench I built. they work without a fault. bolt them to your legs. I got them from Amazon
SPACECARE Workbench Stepdown Caster, 600 Lbs Capacity Set of 4 Durable Heavy Duty Steel Wheels for Workbenches Tables and Equipments

[John K Jordan]

I posted a thread years ago here that I can't locate. I built a basic retractable caster assembly for my Jet 1642 ...

I can't find a build thread, just this from 2010 is the earliest I found, there are a few others later with a picture or so. This one has a hinged handle, early version?
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?129651-Jet-1642-needs-to-move-around-small-shop&p=1310513#post1310513

Looks easy enough to build and quite effective.

My question is what material is the block the cam presses and rotates against? Delrin or something? Steel? Did you use a bearing on the cam shaft or a simple hole through the oak block and support piece? Looks like those are some pretty stout hinges.

Oh, here's one from 2009 with a broken link to picasaweb
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?109702-3520B-Mobility&p=1108209#post1108209

JKJ

[Dick Mahany]

.....

Looks easy enough to build and quite effective.

My question is what material is the block the cam presses and rotates against? Delrin or something? Steel? Did you use a bearing on the cam shaft or a simple hole through the oak block and support piece? Looks like those are some pretty stout hinges.......
JKJ

The plastic is just some HDPE sheet that I had on hand. I don't think it is really needed, but it does help the cam glide more easily. I used a bronze bushing on the carriage bolt for the handle pivot and it works just fine.

The trickiest thing about using 4 independent swivel casters is that the mounting board has to be nearly perfectly parallel to the floor when engaged or else they will self steer. (Unfortunately I know this to be true ). The hinges are just heavy duty gate hinges found at my local Ace hardware store. My lathe typically spends a lot of time with the casters engaged during storage and they've held up fine for many years.