PM 3520b bed extension questions
Hi Creekers, I guess this is directed mainly to the 3520 owners.
I'm about to pull the trigger on a full sized lathe soon but had a question
about the 3520b that may sway my decision...
I like the Robust and Stubby lathes for their swing capacity but was thinking maybe i could add the optional 50" bed extension to the lower position on the 3520's outboard and fabricate a riser block somehow for the tailstock assembly. This way i could support larger pieces initially with
a tailstock before going to holding with only a faceplate or chuck on the headstock end.
I'd need to cut off some of the leg that comes with the extension so it could be mounted at that lower height or just fabricate a new shorter leg from scratch.
My question is alignment of the tailstock to the headstock,,
Adding a 50" extension, fitting a leg at the tailstock end of it and then
modifying the tailstock with a riser block to be tall enough to work would
add a lot or room for perfect alignment errors.
I'm sure if i moved the Headstock to the end of the ways and then
slid up the Tailstock, getting the alignment would be easy,,,but
if the extension bed was slightly off(which it easily could be) when i
slid the tailstock further to the right on the extension bed,,,how
would/could i acurately test it for alignment???
This setup could be had for less than $4k which is considerably less
than Robust's biggie and the Stubby and would have larger swing to boot.
Think it's doable? Anyone done this yet?
