Riser Blocks (long)
Phil Joines Krum,Tx
>I was asked for some details on how the risers were add to LOML's lathe. Here are some pics. Apologies to Ray, the description I sent you were for a set made for another lathe. Here's the correct one.
Actually if you have a table saw it's pretty easy. Basically, I removed the headstock, it's held on by 4 bolts, and used it's mounting surface on the bed to make a rubbing. That's the pattern. I calculated the pieces needed to make the "box" out of 6/4 stock. I resawed the side pieces to match the thickness of the existing headstock. The pieces are used with the grain running up. Cut all the pieces to width. I decided on the height increase we wanted, in our case it use 6". Don't forget that the swing will be increased twice the height of the riser. I cut the two side pieces to length on the table saw. The front and back pieces are cut to this length plus the height of the tennon that goes into the bed. They are cut square on one end. I measured the width of the tennons on the front and back pieces and set the blade height to leave this amount. I moved the fence to give the height of the tennon. With the pieces standing on edge and using a miter gauge I cut the bottom side of the front and back. Checking with a square they are glued up. Since it's good enough for Norm a brad nailed was used to keep the pieces from shifting :>). After the box dried the female mortise was cut and the bolt holes drilled. The riser was bolted in place using nylock nuts and a link belt was made up in the new length. Threaded rod can be used if long enough bolts are hard to find.
The tailstock riser was made at the same time so the cuts could be made without changing the saw settings. It�s a solid block built up from the same wood as the other. The mortise that aligns the tailstock to the bed doesn't need to be more than 1/4" long. The mortise for the tailstock was hand cut.
A new tailstock lock bolt was welded up using a 3/8" bolt and a plate made from 1/4" thick plate. The hole for the locking cam needs to be a close fit. A hole was drilled through the tailstock riser to keep the lock bolt from getting out of alignment.
I rounded over the outside corners to match the contours of the lathe but it isn't necessary.
As it turned out the tailstock was a bit off. A piece of brass shim stock added under one side with the ends turned up and held be two brass nails corrected it.
Delta used to stock these. It's too bad they dropped them.
