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Mustard Light

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No, I'm not talking about a new Powermatic mini lathe. :D

I've had a Moffatt lamp attached to the headstock of my lathe since I first set it up. It's been great, but it's not long enough to reach around a lot of larger pieces. I decided to build an articulating arm to mount the lamp on. I stole this idea from my buddy Philip Morris on another forum, but modified it a bit to elevate the horizontal arm enough to clear large pieces and my DC scoop.

Here is it folded up, and tucked in close to the headstock...

Folded

...and partially extended...

Partially extended

...and fully extended, beyond the end of the lathe bed...

Fully extended

When it's stretched out all the way, it sags a bit, but I don't anticipate using it out there a lot. It will be handy, though, for times when I'm using the tail end of the lathe bed as a spare bench space for things like signing the bottoms of pieces and such. It'll also reach the Workmate I have set up behind the lathe, as well as the bandsaw to the left of the headstock.

The whole thing is mounted to the lathe with this. It's a 3/4" hardened steel bolt welded to a piece of solid 1" x 1" steel bar. (The old guy at a local machine shop did it for me in a couple of minutes, then refused to let me pay for it.)

Bolt

Lock washers keep it in place, but I also drilled a detent hole in the bolt so I can use the spring pin for a little extra backup. (The bracket and spring pin were originally for mounting the wire safety cage that I've never attached to the lathe.)

Mount

The vertical bar (the solid steel one) is tapped in the top end to accept a 7/16" hardened steel bolt. The threads go about 1 1/4" down into the end of the bar for strength. I've got bronze thrust bearings (look like washers to me) top and bottom to allow the horizontal arm to swivel without loosening the bolt.

Swivel bushing

The horizontal arms are 12" long 1" square tube, and the joints are just 5/16" (I think) bolts with nylon washers between the pivot points and the tightening knobs. The nylon washers allow me to tighten things up so they don't move unless I want them to.

Typical joint

The end piece has a stud bolted onto it to accept the quick-release swivel connection at the base of the Moffatt lamp. (The stud is normally mounted on a bracket.)

Moffatt stud

And another shot showing the base of the lamp attached...

Lamp attached

I have another Moffatt lamp that's mounted on a non-swiveling magnetic base. I move it wherever is handy, but much of the time it lives stuck to the bottom of my hanging air filter.

Magnetic Moffatt

Between the two lamps, my lathe area is pretty well-lit now. :cool:

Light show

I hope this post is illuminating and that it helps enlighten others looking for bright ideas for handling this dark issue. :p
 
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john lucas

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Wonderful i idea. It is a must have. I may do the same thing but mounted to the bed and designed to hold the dust collector. Thanks for posting.
 

john lucas

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Vaughan I think with my vacuum hose I might have trouble with it wanting to shift position. I might put a spring washer in the joints to add some tension.
 
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Great setup, Vaughn. Expect it to be cloned. The typical joint (06 800) could be stiffened a little by placing a large washer between the two arms. Nylon or HDPE should be sufficient; or metal if easier to find.
 
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Thanks for the comments guys. As I mentioned in the original post, I borrowed this idea myself and expanded on it, so feel free to adapt it to your needs.

Vaughan I think with my vacuum hose I might have trouble with it wanting to shift position. I might put a spring washer in the joints to add some tension.

John, I can romp down on the threaded knobs pretty hard and things stay put nicely. If I back the knobs off a little bit from that point, the joints are still firm, but flexible. I'll try to remember to try clamping my dust hood (with 4" flex hose) to the end of the arm this weekend and see how it behaves. I'll let you know what I find.

Great setup, Vaughn. Expect it to be cloned. The typical joint (06 800) could be stiffened a little by placing a large washer between the two arms. Nylon or HDPE should be sufficient; or metal if easier to find.

Good idea, Joe. I think the outside diameter of the nylon washers I have between the arms is 5/8". If I went to 1" diameter, it'd offer more support. I do like using the nylon washers, since they seem to help smooth things up. (Bronze bushings like I used on the vertical support post would work nicely, too.)
 
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Great idea! I've been using the otherwise useless "Safety cage" to hold a clamp-on shop lamp and wiring a dust collector hose to the bottom. It works, but....
 
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Vaughn, great job on the articulated light.

As John Lucas commented he may make an articulated dust pick up, here are some pics of the ones I fabricated and have been using with great success for several years. Simple and effective to collect dust anywhere along the bed. These are mounted on my long and short bed VL 300's.

Fredo :cool2:
 

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Well done, Fred. I like the U-shaped mounting bracket on the back of the lathe bed. I like your dust scoop, too. I suppose you're gonna tell us it wasn't an accidental funnel, huh? :D
 

john lucas

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Thanks for posting Fred. Well done. I've with Vaughan, I won't ever believe you did the dust collector mouth on purpose. :)
 
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Vaughn & John,

Oh... Honest guys, those are purpose made collectors, and besides, my shop heater eats all the ones that are not deliberately made. :p :D

Fredo, :)
 
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Is there any reasion that the light bracket can't be made of aluminum. That would make it lighter and may not have the sag at the end.
 
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Is there any reasion that the light bracket can't be made of aluminum. That would make it lighter and may not have the sag at the end.

It certainly can be made of aluminum. But by itself, that won't solve the sag problem. For equivalent stiffness, a solid flat bar of Al must be about 1.5 times the thickness of iron. Slightly different for tubing, and comparisons should be made from available stock sizes, considering both stiffness and weight. In any event, I think most of the sag derives from the joints.

Most of the collapsible canopy frames I've seen are made of aluminum, but the joints are very snug. Same with garden umbrellas.
 
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Good idea

I lashed up a similar swing arm for my dust collector. As you have done, the key to flexibility is using 3 (not just 2) articulated arms. On my Dust collector, it's just t-nuts and bolts in plywood, nothing exotic, but it works great. I recommend that everyone spend an hour or so constructing similar setups.
 
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