For all of you new 3520 owners
Mike Schwing from Md.
>And anyone else who has considered a spindle extension. I hope this may help you some.
This is in response to two emails from different WC'rs that arrived in my mailbox this morning. It is regarding the spindle extension that has sometimes appeared on this site with pictures of work in progress....
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Sure! I have the 3" spindle extension from bestwoodtools.com . I leave it on full time, now that I have a drive center that works on my chuck.
It has three drawbacks - 1. It has no morse taper, so if you use a drive spur/taper you're out of luck, 2. It does not have a hole drilled for a vac chuck, but this is easy to do on your own with a tailstock drill chuck adapter, and 3. The threads aren't hardened (so you can't use set screws very effectively with your chucks.
Still, with those drawbacks, of which #3 only continues to exist for me, it is so much more functional than not having it that I'd buy it all over again. Here's a link..
http://www.store.yahoo.com/bestwoodtools/3spinex.html
OH - it'll get locked onto your spindle if you don't use a nylon washer in between it and the spindle. I think it is because the threads go deeper than the tap. I had to use a torch to get mine off when it got stuck, but it won't get stuck with a nylon washer. You can get Powermatic to send you a few for a phone call.
Folks have occasionally questioned whether it produces any measurable runout - I have never detected any difference at all, or whether it puts add'l load on the bearings. Technically I suppose it does but it hasn't bothered the big boy yet.
Hope this helps.
Mike
