Custom 1.5" lift spacers = 1930's Delta

This is a chronicle of my 1.5" spacer lift added to my 1930's Delta lathe. This spacer has changed my lathe from, an 11" lathe to an 14" lathe.  I wanted to retain the look as best as I could and all the functions of the lathe tailstock. It all started with a dream and $20.00 worth of steel. The block was 2" x 4" x 12" which would allow me to have the needed blocks once milled smooth and cut to size. I enlisted the help of a local Voc. School machine shop (free labor, I am a bit cheap ya know..) They did a pretty good job, although accidentally cut the blocks to the same length so I needed to add about 1/2" back on to the tailstock. I was in luck to have a chunk of steel in my shop so I put a metal cutting blade in my Delta tilt-top saw and cut it to size, well as best as I could with what I have to cut 1/2" thick steel in my shop!

In the next few photos you can see the block for the tailstock and the holes that were needed to attach the block. First I needed the holes for the u-bolt to pass thru. I used a transfer punch set to mark the center of the hole followed by a center point drill bit to accurately start the hole. This was followed by a few drill bits to reach the needed 3/8" hole.  Next we jump ahead a bit to show the three 1/4-20 countersunk bolts used to lock the original tailstock block to the new spacer. I did not want this to be loose and only held by the u-bolt and cam lock. You can see the 3/8" transfer punch lines up perfect!

Now off to the headstock... I had to remove the lathe from the stand to do this part. I clamped the block to the bed once it was lined up and again using the transfer punches I marked my holes. If you do not have a set of these, you can buy them for about $10.00 at Harbor Freight and they are well worth the cost spent. I also use them if I need to take apart one of my pens.

Here is a photo of the tailstock block after some work on the disk sander to round the corners and sand off the rough cast iron surface. The headstock & tailstock are both aluminum so by filling the cast iron surface the new riser block will appear much more seamless. I did forget to take a photo of the headstock after it was sanded, but you get the idea. They were sanded with the matching part bolted on so as they would be matched to each other perfectly. The second photos show the headstock all ready for paint as is the headstock & tailstock themselves. I wanted to repaint them as a whole to fix some nicks and just to keep it looking fresh and seamless.  In the bottom photos you can see the start of the repair I had to do where I added a 1/2" back on to the lift block that the school accidentally cut too short. I did not weld the entire block up. I did weld both sides and across the lower tab, but just 2 spot welds on the top as I did not want to get into the surfaces that were machined.

Now I have a couple parts in primer and ready for paint. I will be repainting basically everything but the bed over. A lathe can take some abuse and gets chipped, nicked and finish stuck to it here and there so I might as well paint it while it's apart. I am also painting the tool banjo but that just needs a quick strip & paint. At this point all that is left is to finish grind the tailstock block and make the u-bolt and it's ready for paint work.

Below are the photos of the u-bolt I had to fabricate from 5/16" CRS stock. I tapped the ends first and then bent the rod around a 7/8" tool rest I had which was almost the perfect inside curve of the original. The rod was made half an inch longer and extra threads were done so that I could trim the threads down to the exact length.

And finally for the finished product, my "new" 14" lathe!!

=> e-mail me <=