Jacking up the headstocks and tailstocks on a lathe.

[marinosr]

I ended up buying a nice old Rockwell/Beaver 3400 lathe the other day, manufactured 20 minutes down the road from me in Guelph, Ontario in the late 50s. (Pics of it will be forthcoming after I paint it and replace the bearings.) Anyway, I'm on the hunt for a few parts that are missing, and I came across this guy on Kijiji (Canadian CL) who turned his 12" swing lathe into a 16" swing by putting two wooden blocks under the headstock and tailstock. Totally wild. Has anybody else done this? I asked the guy if he had any vibrational or flexing issues, and he said nope all's good. I'm not sure I believe him though haha.

It looks like this sort of thing...

 

[awldune]

It would appear that he did this so that his steady rest would fit (note that it has no blocks underneath). Putting big bowl blanks on a lathe designed for a 12'' swing is probably not a great idea. From the photo, it looks like his tool rest doesn't come up high enough. You would want to modify that as well.

 

[Michael Mathews]

I had a Powermatic 90 that had a 4" lift kit! The only difference between your example and my PM90 was mine had solid STEEL blocks! Oh, don't forget you'll need a taller banjo too! Mine had been upgraded to a Powermatic 3520.

 

[FredP]

If I were to do this I would also up the HP. If I'm gonna die I may as well die with mo power!

 

[Gotcha6]

I think what everyone is saying boils down to this: Taller head/tailstock means larger turnings, requiring slower turning speed and more torque. The current lathe may not be able to reduce its speed enough to handle any imbalances in the workpiece upon initial roughing. You also need to consider what your driving method will be (Faceplate, spur, 3/4 way chuck). Will the current headstock spindle accommodate a larger chuck? Lotsa things to think about........