Turning Outboard on a PM 90

[William C Rogers]

Frist, I am just starting to learn to turn bowls. I have made some basic small lidded boxes, small bowls. I only do for myself, friends and family, no money. I have two midi lathes (Jet vs and Delta). I also have a Pm 90. I still have a ways to go learning to turn bowls. The PM 90 I have is the one with the slower speed (2,000 max rpm). It does have the the gap bed, but that to would only be used for platters. I would like to turn bowls 16-18" in the future. Is it feasible to turn outboard. I am thinking of using a 5 gal bucket filled with concrete with adjustable pipe for mounting the tool rest as a outboard tool rest. Should I also add weight in the cabinet for stability? Any suggestions welcome. I am also starting to research to raise the head and tail as a PM 91. This would take much more work than turning outboard. As a side note I broke my left shoulder Two weeks ago, so right now all I can do is dream and plan.

Bill

[Dave Mcintire]

Bill, i used to have a pm90. The outboard end of the spindle was threaded 1" 7 threads per inch left hand as I recall. This is a wierd thread combination but I did have faceplate to fit so unless you already have a faceplate they are around but probably hard to find. The problem is that the 1 inch spindle was a little small considering that the only reason to turnoutboard is to turn large and presumably heavy work. The result is a lot of bent spindles. Thats my 2 cents.

[William C Rogers]

Bill, i used to have a pm90. The outboard end of the spindle was threaded 1" 7 threads per inch left hand as I recall. This is a wierd thread combination but I did have faceplate to fit so unless you already have a faceplate they are around but probably hard to find. The problem is that the 1 inch spindle was a little small considering that the only reason to turnoutboard is to turn large and presumably heavy work. The result is a lot of bent spindles. Thats my 2 cents.

I have the outboard face plate. I guess I would need to get the blank as round as possible to reduce out of balance. I don't want to bend the spindle. It will be a while before I get to this point.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I made an out board platform for my old Delta 450. I turned 24" blanks on it. Those old lathes can take quite a bit of abuse. You might beat up the bearing but I doubt if you'll bend the spindle. The length of that spindle will assist in its stability. I used a jack shaft in the cabinet to slow it down , but would go with a speed control now days. Unbalanced pieces will cause the far end of the metal cabinet base to flex and wag like the tail of a dog. I sprayed the "V" belt with belt dressing to keep slippage to a minimum. Riser blocks will cost more than you paid for the lathe! They are really scarce. Some have made their own from hard maple. Then the banjo becomes an issue. This is how I got to a 3520!