I am planning to make a canopy bed that calls for post sections of about 45″. I was going to use this as my excuse to acquire a lathe, but those I am finding all seem to be limited to 42″ or less. The top half of the posts are spindles that will be 45″, tapered and fluted. The bottom half are square, with coves below the rail. Is there some way to use a lathe with a 42″ bed to create a 45″ spindle? Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Drew
Replies
Build yourself a tailstock if you cant figure a way of mounting the existing one on a bench.Turning isn't rocket science .A couple of hundred years ago Holtzapel sold headstocks and tailstocks separately and you found a way to mount them.A pointed piece of threaded rod ,cranked and fed through a plywood support would work.
All I needed was someone to say what you did. Of course I can just mount it on the bench with careful alignment.
Thanks
The one thing you will have to do is rig up some board material to give a uniform lathe bed surface if you are using a router to do the flutes.Wood turning lathes are a very safe tool so they allow one to be creative in their use without risking injury.I needed an 8 ft long toolrest for one job so made it out of maple to get the job done .I have since welded one of angle iron.On another occasion I made a lathe bed of two 2 inch black iron pipes and fixed the headstock and tailstocks with gear clamps .It looked like hell but worked!!
Design the spindles to join together somewhere with a turned tenon.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Probably need to find a center support with ball bearings for spindles that long.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
I built a bedextension for my lathe, adding 24" between centers. Steel angle and bar stock can be bought for surprisingly little cost. With some forethought one can have the iron supplier cut everything to proper length.
Tom
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