"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Owen Lawrence" wrote: (clip)I've got a lathe that can hold about 35"
with the live centre, but I want to turn bedposts 36" and 48" long.
Obviously I'll have to do each one in two or more sections. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sometimes the obvious is wrong. You could hold the work in a chuck and a
steady rest. I have described, in an earlier thread, how to hold square
stock in the steady rest, so I won't go into it again, unless you ask.

Excellent!

How does your tailstock hold a live center? Isn't there a Morse taper?
Do you know that you can buy collets that fit in a Morse taper, for any
drill size you care to use? Uses up less bed space than a jacobs chuck,
and more accurate.

It has a Morse taper, but it's held in an outside-threaded cylinder. To
move it forward or back you turn this wheel that sits around the cylinder.
(It's kind of like those routers that adjust the height by turning the ring
around the motor.) The problem is, when you loosen the thing so it can
move, it slops all over the place. It's a really dumb design if you ask me.
(Sears Craftsman lathe)

I don't really like my lathe, but it's what I have right now. I intend to
upgrade it someday, but this day isn't it.

Thanks for the great idea!

- Owen -