Make a Bed Extension for Jet 1642 Possible?

Mike Turner

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361
Location
Laurinburg NC
Has anyone ever made a bed extension for their lathe? I have a Jet 1642 and only need it to be longer once in a while when I set up to bore long flute blanks. I know it would need to be beefy enough to support my boring box and tailstock. I have been doing ok w/o an extension but it would be nice to have one.
 
Has anyone ever made a bed extension for their lathe? I have a Jet 1642 and only need it to be longer once in a while when I set up to bore long flute blanks. I know it would need to be beefy enough to support my boring box and tailstock. I have been doing ok w/o an extension but it would be nice to have one.

I'm not familiar with the 1642, but wonder if the extension for a mini (10-20?) or the midi (12-24?) would fit, or could be adapted.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Jet-708346-20-Inch-Extension-14-Inch/dp/B0009H58VA is the commercial variant.

Folks have however made a variety of lathe extensions, doesn't look exceedingly hard although may be a bit fussy to get it lined up just right. If you google for "homemade lathe bed extension" or "diy lathe bed extension" you will see all manner of contraptions of varying levels of quality and durability.

http://www.docgreenwoodturner.com/latheext.html looks alright (the 1642 and 3520 are similar enough that the idea translates easily) although I'd probably have gone heavier on the ways if I could have.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8616 looks reasonable for a short one, if you could add a little more cross support on the ends of the ways it might be better, especially if you made it any longer.
 
Has anyone ever made a bed extension for their lathe? I have a Jet 1642 and only need it to be longer once in a while when I set up to bore long flute blanks. I know it would need to be beefy enough to support my boring box and tailstock. I have been doing ok w/o an extension but it would be nice to have one.

I'm not sure how much extra length you need, but JT Turning Tools makes an attachment specifically for the 1642 that allows you to slide the tail stock off the bed and swing it down and out of your way: http://jtturningtools.com/tailstockmanager . It's the same length as the tailstock and stressed to hold the tailstock. You might contact them and see if it would also function as a short bed extender.
Steve
 
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