# Lathe Bed Extension (sort of)



## mzetati (Sep 30, 2011)

The 7x10 is rather short. On frequent occasions the added lengths of the workpiece, TS chuck, and tool prevent the insertion of the tool itself into the chuck: then I have to remove the TS, chuck the tool, and put the TS back in place. Clean the hands from the lathe bed grease, drill the hole and ... again with next bit.

Ive had this piece of metal hanging around for a good while, waiting for an idea to reuse it.
Holes, slots and pockets everywhere: not much material left.














Held in the mill vise, while slotting with a single flute mill purposely made for al.: that bit is a pleasure to use. It cuts like butter, with little if any problems with chip clearance.






T-slotting: first use of that big Tslot cutter I bought by weigh. You see the rust traces on it.







Now, I can slide (and eventually rotate) the TS to place where it wont fall to insert the tools, and take it out of the way when it is not in use. 
PS. I made the added ways purposely thinner than the lathe ways (the full turn of theTS locking lever wont clamp the TS to the bed extension securely) not to be tempted to make use of the thingy for machining works.






A view of the (barely visible ) clamp: a piece of scrap (once upon a time the column of a David II wobbler) drilled and tapped for the locking (black) screw, while the cheese-head reaction screw is set into a tapped hole into the extension itself.







Marcello


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## B-RAD (Oct 2, 2011)

Very neat - I'll take one for my 7x16 please :bow:


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