Outboard turning rest

[Alex Zeller]

Since I have another month or so (or maybe longer) wait before Grizzly ships my G0766 I've been looking at things I may want to do. One thing has come up is doing outboard turning. My plan was to just make a tool rest for it. In a previous thread a link to this rest was posted and thought something like this it would be easy to make (welding and cutting steel is no problem).

However I could get a Craftex extension from Canada for probably what it would cost me in steel to make something. While it's for the G0733 it looks like it'll fit without any modifications. They say it'll give a 30" swing on the G0733 so I think that'll be a 34" swing on the G0766. Is there any advantage of one style vs the other? Here's a pic of the extension on a G0800 just in case I wasn't clear.

g0800_det5-2113feb9d4d2ade4c105da77c364d0fb.jpg

[Ricc Havens]

I made the outboard rest you picture. (well, I had a friend weld it up). It did not cost a lot in steel so I'm assuming you can do it cheaper than buying the Craftex extension. Our local steel supplier has a cutoff rack that I was able to find most of the pieces without having to buy their 10ft minimum per size/piece needed. Another turner I know went to a scrap yard and found what he needed to make one.

Ricc

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I’ve turned on one similar to the ‘home brew’ rest shown. It was the Vicmark version - its incredibly stable with a heavy solid steel column supported directly to the floor. It is easily attached to nearly any lathe with legs patterned after the Powermatic/Jet/Griz/Laguna etc. The swing is only limited by the distance to the floor and the length of the arms supporting the rest column. Robust uses a similar design.
Many people use extension beds for outboard turning without problems. Extension beds that are unsupported have their swing limited to the distance to the spindle - generally not a problem unless you wish to go even larger. I know this has the potential to ignite a reaction, but I’ve always been suspicious of extension beds that are unsupported on the outboard ends. Cast iron flexes (even the massive castings that are typical), heavy off center unbalanced blanks vibrate. It can all be magnified by the unsupported arm of the extension bedwhile the extension beds look massive, you’re limited to the area of contact between the lathe bed and the strength of the bolts holding it on. I’ve never heard reportsof one failng, but I’d opt for adding some kind of a leg or support on the outboard end just because...besides, it looks like a knee catastrophy waiting to happen.

[Mike Goetzke]

Alex, was wondering how you can purchase the bed extension so cheap. The extensions alone are in the $400+ range for most lathes.

[Brice Rogers]

When I first bought my G0766, I was considering making an outboard tool rest for it so that I could turn REALLY big things. I enjoy making tools and have the equipment to do so. But I'm rethinking that.

I recently picked up a slab of magnolia that would allow me to turn a 24" plus platter - - a little bit bigger than my lathe in-board capacity. But then I started to think of the utility of such a huge platter. It would end up being a piece of art rather than a functional platter. For me, anything over about 18" diameter isn't going to be used around my house. I ended up settling on an ~ 18" platter plus a couple of smaller plates.

Another thought that I had was in regards to the headstock casting and bearings in the G0766. They are probably adequate for turning up to the stated capacity of the lathe, but I'm wondering if I chucked up a 100# plus unbalanced log if I would be pushing the envelope a bit. The headstock casting is not particularly thick and the internal ribs are also not all that big. I'm not implying that it is wimpy, but am just wondering about the point where something is likely to fail. In this case, perhaps a Powermatic, G0800 or OneWay lathe is better equipped for the severe service....

BTW Alex, thanks for posting the picture of the outboard tool rest. Looks like a nice design that would be fairly easy to make. Also, I like the way that the forces are largely going directly into the floor rather than cantilevered off of the leg. In my desire to make another tool for my G0766 (like I said, I like making tools), I am currently thinking of making a swing-away arm for the tailstock.

[John K Jordan]

I made the outboard rest you picture. (well, I had a friend weld it up). It did not cost a lot in steel so I'm assuming you can do it cheaper than buying the Craftex extension. Our local steel supplier has a cutoff rack that I was able to find most of the pieces without having to buy their 10ft minimum per size/piece needed. Another turner I know went to a scrap yard and found what he needed to make one.

Ricc

Another place to look for steel offcuts is a local fabricator. One near here has bins full of short pieces (a few inches up to a bunch of feet) and let me dig through and make a big pile of what I wanted on the floor. Then the boss would come look at it and say $5 or $8 or whatever. Square tubing, round, rods, plate steel - I built a lot of things. For almost nothing they will cut pieces of sheet steel to size on their big shear, harder to do at home with 1/4" plate! I eventually ran into a big machine shop downsizing and bought 4 tons of steel stock at less than scrap prices so I have a shed full now.

The big steel suppliers here sell most steel in 20' lengths but some is longer. They will always make one cut for free if you need it. I take an 18' trailer and haul the pieces uncut.

Anyone in East TN might do well to try Nobel Metals in Oak Ridge. They buy metals, sort, and sell them by the pound to individuals and ship off the bulk for recycling. I've made wonderful finds in mild steel, stainless, aluminum, brass, plastics, and even 1/2" titanium tubing (new, but they wanted just 1% of the new price). Not only metal stock but hardware - I buy bags of carbon and stainless steel bolts and nuts at nearly scrap prices.

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

I live in the north San Diego area and am lucky to have a couple of scrap yards nearby and even more a bit further away. They sell both scrap (at roughly $0.60 a pound - kept outside) and the new stuff (kept inside) at about double that amount. I typically buy hot roll steel (HRS) but occasionally aluminum or CRS (cold roll steel). Their copper and brass is very expensive. The scrap yard prices are probably about 20% of what I'd spend at Home Despot.

I made a 1" x 1" (solid) HRS "Monster hollower" look-alike for about $10 of materials. I like the substantial weight of it. Plus I've made perhaps a dozen 1/2" solid square or round tools. In fact, John, using info from you I made a 3/4" square Hunter Hercules look alike.

I'm charged a buck or two for each cut (hot abrasive saw) but on a few occasions I've hauled home some 20' sticks of steel. My trick for hauling it is to strap it under by truck. On the roof, I'd have to be careful not to scratch, gouge or dent the roof or fenders. I have about 1 to 2 feet sticking out in front and a foot behind me. Seems to work well for the 10 to 15 mile drive home and no scratches or dings.

I've also bought aluminum for metal casting from our local recycling place. People bring in aluminum alloy rims and they cast well.

[Alex Zeller]

The extension costs about $85 with tax American from Busy Bee. That one pictured on the G0800 is well over $500 plus shipping from Grizzly. The local steel place only sells stock length steel so I would probably either have to go a distance further or buy it from the local hardware store (very expensive and limited). I have no problem making it as the wife bought me on of those slow speed steel cutting saws that has what looks like a saw blade on it. If I did go the extension route I would add an adjustable support leg.

What got me looking at the extension was the one for the G0800 is because it can be mounted as a standard bed extension, on the right end but lower as I have pictured, or perpendicular on the left side (if you look at the picture to the left of the lathe model number is a triangle of bare steel) so the banjo doesn't have to be under the work when using the tailstock.

At some point in time I would like to make platters. One of the things I would like is a large one for putting stuff from the grill onto. What I was thinking was to have a raised ring with a groove just inside of it. so the meat could be put in the center and things like buns on the outside. The groove would be for the juices from the meat while the ring could serve to make sure the juices didn't get the bread (or what ever) soggy. This is where not having experience limits me. The swing may be 22" but I assume that the platter blank would need to be closer to 21 1/2" maximum in diameter. Once turned I think 21" would be the largest I could hope for. I haven't actually measured it out but I can see it being larger than 21".

Right now I use a 12" x 16" tray and when we have company over it fills with just meat to it's capacity. What I thought would be really nice is if I could make a stand for it (like a pizza stand) so the platter could be placed in the center of the table and each person could just Turn it to get what they would like. Most pizza stands I've seen are a simple wire stand but I would think that I could turn something nice that had some weight and a center pin to keep the platter centered. This wasn't something I was planning on doing any time soon but when you have ideas on what you would like to try and do but no lathe to do them on your mind starts to wander. Something like this but out of wood (of course).



Platters also seam like a natural thing to make. When I cut up bowl banks there's always a flat center section with the pith. It would be easy to take the bandsaw and cut the pith and ends off and then glue the remaining boards up to make a nice blank for a platter. To be honest I originally was just thinking of making bowls but now, mostly from seeing what others have posted, I've expanded what I would like to try to make. I have a very close friend who passed a year or so ago that I just found out his wife has his ashes in a simple urn. I would like to make something nicer for her. My wife started tatting (it's using string to make lace). One of the things that she wants to do is make Christmas ornaments. That seams like a nice place to mix my turning with her artwork. Most of what I've seen are simple ball shapes but other shapes like bells, eggs, etc would work well.

[David C. Roseman]

Alex, I have that Busy Bee extension on a G0733. I consider it very light duty, nothing like the extension in the pic of the new G0800 that you posted. Yes, it will bolt up in the same way to a G0766 (I have both lathes). But I would strongly discourage it.

[Alex Zeller]

Alex, I have that Busy Bee extension on a G0733. I consider it very light duty, nothing like the extension in the pic of the new G0800 that you posted. Yes, it will bolt up in the same way to a G0766 (I have both lathes). But I would strongly discourage it.

Thank you. For the price I was worried that it might be.

[david privett]

about the size that you could turn outboard I think I saw that grizzly says the 0766 can do sizes up to 27 inch's and I have turned

a little more than that. And at 8 inches deep. Huge party popcorn bowl.