Tool post holder for Jet Mini (photos)

Looks like you have a commercial product here.

At the very least a magazine article or a book chapter.

Fame and fortune will be yours.

Nice work. :-)

Ken Vaughn wrote:

Hi Ken

You certainly did a nice job on that mini. And I know what you are talking about, it sure is handy if you want to make straight walled and flat bottomed boxes, not just the outside. I have experimented with some different shape cutting tools, trying to get good smooth cutting tools, for hogging I used a tool bid with a groove ground in the bid so it looks a bit like a bowl gouge on one side, but I use my normal wood turning tools for 99and1/2% of the time, with a normal wood turning tool rest. I like turning wood better than metal turning, but it sure is handy to be able to build your own dohickies.

Ken Vaughn wrote:

snip

not counting trips to the thrift store, how much do you think that it cost to build it?

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Thanks, Mac

I'm assuming you are asking how much to build the semi-mobile lathe stand. My only out of pocket cost for the stand was for the lifting levelers from Rockler. The oak was stock I had in my wood stash. I have a friend who is a commercial building contractor who had just finished a health spa which required a lot of glued up and milled oak. He had some left over and asked if I wanted some. Never one to turn down free wood, but I couldn't believe the 8/4 and 4/4 oak he dropped off.

I don't know what it would cost to build the tool post holder. The old machinist vise would be expensive, as would the computer tape drive hubs. I had the threaded rod and most of the hardware on hand -- probably spent about $10 at the hardware store for cap bolts, the 10mm bolt, and some 1/2" nuts. Most of the rest was from stuff on hand, including the UHMW strips on the bottom of the slide. All the wood was scrap stuff.

This was a really fun project -- I sort of designed it on the fly. The problem with making something like this as you go is that you really never know if it will all work until you are done. The cross slide came together easily, but I spent several hours getting the feed screw aligned properly.

Ken Vaughn

it was the tool holder, Ken.. my mini is at home on a workmate until I build a rolling stand.. lol

I'll have to look again, I don't remember seeing tape drive hubs... I have 3 or 4 1 gig tape drives in storage that aren't doing anything but taking up space..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

The aluminum hand wheels were made from the tape drive hubs -- we're talking big mainframe (vertical cabinet) tape drives from the 60's or 70's, the kind on which you mounted 2400' reels of mag tape. I worked for a computer manufacturer and there was a mandatory FCO (field change order) and the engineers who maintained some of our sites were throwing these parts out. It took me many years to find a use for them, but I finally did (grin).

Hi Ken

Yes I know the ones your talking about, the place I worked had a few to in those days, jeash you are as bad as I am, perfectly good material, and they throw it out, what a shame, but it has helped me lots of times to, sure cost a lot less than buying in the store IF you can find it. I have some of the vcr flying tape head wheels, they are a nice aluminium wheel, use them for glue blocks when I need al the wood for the bowl, rough out on the face plate and make a very shallow cutout

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Ken Vaughn wrote:

yep.. I sort and save everything.. *g*

Shouldn't be a problem making hand wheels.. finding an old DP or machinist's vise could be a problem..

I think I might throw one together for the Shopsmith and leave the Jet alone for mow..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing