anyone ever used a riser block to increase swing capacity?

[Nathan Hawkes]

Hey folks. I'm a new turner but no stranger to machines and technical modifications, etc. I have a rockwell-delta 46-111 lathe that has a 14" over the gap and 11" over the bed travel. I know its not strong enough to not flex under really heavy loads, but it works fine for up to about 10" dia. x 5" deep bowls that I've turned so far.

I've already modified the lathe by putting in a "jackshaft" reducer pulley setup and some power twist link-belt, and swapped the tiny factory motor for a 1.5HP Leeson wired to 220v single phase. I like to tinker with things.

My next want is to increase the swing capacity a little bit so that I can make some larger platters/shallow bowls. I plan to use some air-dried black locust planed to about 1.25" to use as a riser block. I may even use 2x 1" blocks glued together. I don't want to go through having a machinist mill an iron block; I think the locust will be hard enough to support the headstock and the weight of the work. I'll glue a piece to fit in the keyway (I think thats the right word) to keep it in place, and just add some longer bolts. Anyone see a problem with this?? I have enough room in the tool rest support to be able to work on a piece 16" dia, but I don't think I want to do anything quite that large yet; its just impractical for me-I don't have any wood around that large. Any suggestions??

[Doug M Jones]

Nathan,
I couldn't find it on my search of SMC but I have seen pictures of a lathe with riser blocks like your proposing. As I remember, they added 2 - 3 inches to the swing. I think it was a 12" lathe extended to 15". Since getting sucked into the vortex, I have viewed thousands of web pages but I'll see if I can refind it.

Found this one but it is metal may give you some ideas. http://www.billswoodcreations.com/turn-lathe.html

Best of luck.

[Raymond Overman]

Nathan,

I had an older Delta that I put riser blocks under the headstock and tailstock. It worked pretty well. It wasn't as solid as my new Jet 1642 but I could turn a larger bowl on it with no problems.

I used corian as the material for the risers. You can get an idea of what it looked like from the pictures on this page in my blog:

Riser Example

It did take some tweaking to get the headstock and tailstock in alignment. I went to the big blue box for longer bolts and it was ready to turn.

Added: Here are some more pictures of the lathe when I was ready to sell it. It's gone now but the classified lives on... More Examples

[Dick Strauss]

Nathan,
Any cross-grained wood will compress enough to put you out of alignment. An interlocking-grain wood (so it doesn't split easily) like elm might give you a better chance of success. I'd use it with the end-grain vertical on the ways so that it wears better and doesn't expand or contract much.

Raymond,
Did you run into any special issues using corian for the riser block? Did you ever get a bad catch and have the corian crack or chip from something shifting? How did it wear? Did you glue the pieces with CA glue to make it that thick?

I don't have any experience but have long considered taking on this project for my Delta 1440 lathe. I've looked at a variety of materials including solid aluminum, Al rectangular stock, steel rect. stock, etc, and haven't decided which way to go yet.

Thanks in advance,
Dick

[Jim Becker]

Thought about it for the OneWay 1018 I had before buying the Stubby, but the cost and precision machining required to raise both the headstock and the tailstock were way beyond practical. I was in touch with one fellow who had done it, but nothing came of it.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Nathan,
Any cross-grained wood will compress enough to put you out of alignment. An interlocking-grain wood (so it doesn't split easily) like elm might give you a better chance of success. I'd use it with the end-grain vertical on the ways so that it wears better and doesn't expand or contract much.

Raymond,
Did you run into any special issues using corian for the riser block? Did you ever get a bad catch and have the corian crack or chip from something shifting? How did it wear? Did you glue the pieces with CA glue to make it that thick?

I don't have any experience but have long considered taking on this project for my Delta 1440 lathe. I've looked at a variety of materials including solid aluminum, Al rectangular stock, steel rect. stock, etc, and haven't decided which way to go yet.

Thanks in advance,
Dick

So the locust isn't a good choice? It sure isn't very easy for me to split, haha. Its a lot easier to split oak than locust for darn sure. What about walnut? I know its supposed to be pretty stable as for movement is concerned. I'm just trying to do it out of something I have in the shop that is already dry.

I have a thing about my wood; I've only been into woodworking for a few years, and pretty much everything (except for a couple pieces) I've made out of wood that I cut & milled myself. I don't have a lot of time to work on projects, so I don't have any problem providing enough wood for myself!!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Well, I went ahead and used locust anyway, as I know that I can redo it easily if it gets out of alignment. I tood some 8/4 stock & glued it together, after planing it to 1.5" exactly; the resulting riser blocks are 3.0" thick, glued with titebond III glue. I dadoed out grooves in both the headstock & tailstock pieces and fitted them with blocks that fit the channel snugly, but able to be moved without a sledgehammer.I lengthened all the bolts to make it through the riser, and added a piece of plywood on top bolted to the original rockwell stand to stiffen up the table a bit. The results are great. It doesn't vibrate any more than before; if anything less. I think the plywood was a great help here. The sheet metal flexed quite a bit when turning a blank that wasn't perfectly round. Here are some pics of the results:

I did use CA glue to glue the tailstock & toolrest holder to their risers, to keep things from getting out of alignment. This was kindof a down and dirty modification. Oh, forgot to mention, I used a piece of mulberry that was a scrap as the tenon for the bed & headstocks to keep them centered. This isn't as precise as a metal shop would do, but it suits what I'm doing just fine.

[Jim Underwood]

Oh heck yeah... Sorry I missed this on your other thread... I think your Locust will do just fine. It's some darn hard stuff.

I think you've pushed me over the edge... Looks like I might just fix up my friends lathe fairly soon. I have one of these Rockwells in my shop that's just been sitting while I play with my Jet mini... Got the motor and everything, just haven't mounted it. I might copy your mods....

[Bill Bolen]

Won't you have to do the same thing to the tailstock aqnd banjo?...Bill...

[Nathan Hawkes]

Yep the tailstock & banjo have risers as well. I have a better banjo that was probably a grizzly model that I have a 12mm bolt on order from a specialty fastener place that I couldn't get anywhere locally. The tailstock and headstock seem to mate up perfectly for now. Its possible that the wood may compress over time, but I figured black locust was my best bet for what I had available; oak, walnut, maple, cherry, SYP, and poplar. Everything I have I personally milled, and I really don't want to purchase lumber unless I absolutely have to. I might have to, as I gave a bowl to the nurses station at work, and now a couple nurses want to buy bowls! I only have green cherry that's sealed on the ends, and I really don't want to give it all up....