Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Lathe Tailstocks
Duane Hill
>A couple of years ago, a couple of friends helped me build a bowl lathe. It works pretty good. I would like to add a tail stock to it and make it a "short bed" leathe. Any ideas on where to get or make a #2 Mt ram? I'd also like to have about 6-9" of travel Thanks.
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Lyn J. Mangiameli
>When I wanted a decent tailstock back when I had a Nova 3K I contacted John Nichols who agreed to make up a custom one for me. The quality, function and ruggedness is excellent. I suspect John would be willing to either offer you some of the component parts, or make up a custom one for you.
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Pete Diver
>Are these tailstocks steel? I am looking for a tailstock for my Powermatic model 45, and have had no luck. How to contact this fellow? Thanks, Pete
Re: P'Matic 45 TS
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey
>Pete,
The TS for your lathe is listed in the 2003 P'matic parts list as part No. 3799001 with a price of $299.70. I daresay that Mr. Nichols (or any machinist) will, if anything, charge you way more than that to make a 1-off TS to fit your machine. You should be able to contact P'matic/Jet service and order your TS direct. When last I checked, the # was 800-274-6848 and ask for the Powermatic section.
Good luck
Mark
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
John Lucas
>Duane
Delta sells parts pretty inexpensive. I bought a quill feed with #2 morse taper that fit the Delta 46-700 when I needed to rebuild an old j-line lathe.
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Lyn J. Mangiameli
>My tailstock cost $400, a price I have never regretted relative to the performance I received. It is basically the same tailstock (only shorter) that he uses with his over $5000 lathes.
John's website is http://www.nicholslathe.com/
I visited it just a couple of days ago, and it came up fine. Tonight it seems there is some host error.
His email address is lathebldr@aol.com
or go here:
http://www.woodturner.org/products/resource_dir/resource_listing.cfm
for his phone number and address.
Re: and yes, it is steel
Lyn J. Mangiameli
>
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Phil Joines Krum, Texas
>If you are making the rest of the tailstock and only need the MT MSC, Enco and probably other machinst suppliers sell MT sleves with strait sides that could be welded to either solid or preferable hollow round stock.
Adaptation
Bob Hackett
>Most wood lathes have rather simple bed designs.My suggestion would be to adapt a tailstock from an old metal lathe.These tailstocks are far more heavy duty than anything you`re likely to find as a replacement for wood lathes and have many features you won`t find anywhere else(like a scale engraved on the ram so you know exactly how deep that drilled hole is).A wood adapter or riser block makes it easy to adjust for height and center(I`ve used oak).All in all it`s a quick,cheap and relatively easy way to add a tailstock.I`d go see what my local machine tool or junk dealer had to offer.You may be on the road to a drive-by gloat here(especially if you pay by the pound for it).
Mainely,Bob
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Brad Vietje
>Another option is the tailstock from the Vega 2400 bowl lathe. The 2400 has a 24" swing. It won't be as rugged as one made by Nichols, but should be real easy to bolt onto what you already have in place. It has a lot of travel, and is fairly rugged. If you are looking to rough out bowls between centers for best use of the wood, or reversing them later for finishing, it should work fine if it will fit your lathe.
Safe Spinning,
Brad Vietje
Thetford, VT
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Duane Hill
>Thanks Brad. That's knd of what I was thinking about. I contacted Vega by e-mail, am still waiting for a response.
Re: Lathe Tailstocks
Duane Hill
>Thanks for all the good information. Some good ideas here.