Sometimes when you want to, need to, or are asked to do a turning that is beyond the capacity of your lathe. 99.99 % of the time, the answer, for safety’s sake, should be “NO”. When I was asked if I could turn some 36 inch long legs for a Kitchen Island. This exceeded the limit for spindle turning on my lathe, so I replied, “no.”
After thinking about the problem, I thought that if I could attach my Midi lathe to my large lathe, I might just accomplish the feat.
For a trial, I put the end of my Jet Midi lathe up to the end of my Robust lathe. I shimmed the Midi lathe so that the spindle heights (headstock of large lathe to tailstock of the Midi lathe) would be level and lined up. I reversed the tailstock on the Midi lathe. I then clamped the two lathes together securely. After being able to safely turn a 36 inch, 2″ by 2″ piece of maple in a trial run, I felt confident that I could accomplish the project safely.
If you try to do this, here are some tips I think you should follow.
- Don’t do it. Just because I was able to do it successfully doesn’t mean you should try to do it.
- Buy a large lathe that can handle long spindle turnings. Or buy a bed extension.
If you’re stubborn and like me don’t have a long spindle turning lathe or a bed extension then: - Attach the two lathes securely. I wouldn’t recommend attaching two Midi lathes together. Nor two Mini lathes.
- Make sure the spindles of the two lathes (headstock of one lathe to tailstock of the other lathe) are “lined up” perfectly vertically and horizontally.
- Double check that two lathes are attached securely.
- The two pieces I made were 2″ by 2″ by 36″. I wouldn’t recommend anything larger. Remember, the Midi lathe is much smaller and lighter. It is not recommended to do a large turning like that for a larger lathe.
- Do a practice piece or two or three.
- Follow all safety precautions that you normally should do every time you step up to a lathe to turn wood.
- Use a steady rest for long spindle turning to keep the stock from “whipping”.
- Think over what you’re fixing to do. Then think it through a second time checking that everything is secure and lined up.
- At the first sign of noise or vibration, STOP. Check everything, especially the way you have secured the two lathes together. Ensure the headstock and tailstock lined up vertically and horizontally.