Attaching to a Jet 16 42 evs

[Ben Richardson]

I have a Jet 16 42 EVS lathe and I would like to attach a tool rake to the back side of the lathe. The legs have a set of holes on one side of each end but because of the way the legs are mounted you get access to hole on one leg only. What are the dangers in drilling a hole or two on the other leg to match. This would get me a place to attach a rack. Has anyone done this? Other suggestions are also welcome.
TIA!
Ben

[Richard Madison]

Ben,
Should be no problem drilling some holes in the back of leg, in similar locations to existing holes on front of leg. Do not have pictures of current racks attached to lathe legs, but can take some.

[Jess Wetherhold]

Hi Ben. This is the backside to me and I used the holes that existed.96985

[Richard Madison]

Here ya go, Ben. From the "crude but effective" school of design. It's past time to redo these and make them "nicer", but I would rather use that time for woodturning.

Edit: The socket for shop vac hose eliminates the need to bend over (back trouble) to turn the vac on and off. String at end of tailstock rack is one of the shop cat's toys. She also enjoys playing with the rubber bands used for clamping stave glue-ups.

[Gary Herrmann]

String at end of tailstock rack is one of the shop cat's toys. She also enjoys playing with the rubber bands used for clamping stave glue-ups.

Funny. I have some string tired around a small cutoff dangling from the side of my workbench for the same reason. I added the cutoff because then I can make the string swing as I walk by. Entertains her for quite awhile. Well, in cat time, anyway.

[Ben Richardson]

[quote=Richard Madison;928134]Here ya go, Ben. From the "crude but effective" school of design. It's past time to redo these and make them "nicer", but I would rather use that time for woodturning.
quote]

They look fine to me. I was thinking of something that was attached to both legs at that the back and bridged from side to side. That would give me lots of space for stuff. I don't have much room at either end of the lathe.

Could you post a couple of more Pict's showing how the tail stock one is mounted?

I am not very creative but I can copy a good idea:)

[Richard Madison]

Ben,
The head and tail end legs are identical, so the two holes on front of the head leg are also on the back of the tail leg, and I have one small rack mounted there. Also there are four drilled and tapped holes in the end of the bed to attach a bed extension, and my "tail rack" with the string is bolted to those. Have never noticed if the head end of the bed has the same four holes, but if so your problem is solved without drilling any holes. Bolt a 2x4 to each end of the bed and run your rack between them across the back. I like to be able to reach the tools without reaching across the bed, but I only need a few tools so my racks work well for me.

[Ben Richardson]

Thanks for you input! I had not thought about reaching across the lathe. I guess I will try you tail stock rack. Thanks again
Ben

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ben, I've been following this thread as I also have a 1642 and was curious what everyone came up with. My tool rack is located a few steps away from the lathe and I just grab a couple of tools for the job at hand and lay them in the wire basket under the lathe.

To me, the placement of a tool rack would really depend on what kind of turning you do. Having a tool rack on the headstock side of the lathe makes sense but, for me, a rack on the tailstock side would get in the way every time I turn a bowl or hollow form and that is 99% of the time. Just something to consider - if you haven't already.

[Richard Madison]

Good point Steve. I never slide the headstock down that way, so the "tail rack" works ok for me. BTW the inverted, cut off plastic bottles keep airborn detritus off the Jacobs chuck and threaded tailstock adapter. You can see another rack under the bed where the tool basket would be. It holds stuff like sanding boards, tool rest, tray of sandpaper strips, and tools in use when switching among same. The weight tray near the bottom of the legs holds about 300 lbs. of ceramic floor tile left over from a previous life. Imperfect, but it's what I had.