As Seen At The John C. Campbell Folk School

Maybe you have heard about or even used a Butler’s Tailstock Swing Away on a Powermatic 3520 A or B lathe at the Willard Baxter Turning Studio at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.

The tailstock while needed for safety in roughing out bowls often gets in the way when it comes to hollowing. So what do we have to do to utilize the headstock feature of the Powermatic, we take it off? Now after sliding the tailstock off where do we set it, on the floor or on a bench lifting all that weight and then lifting the weight again when we have to put it back on the lathe. A real pain (literally) in the back.

The Tailstock Swing Away Is A MUST-HAVE Lathe Safety Accessory

I developed Butler’s Tailstock Swing Away for my Powermatic 3520 B lathe after double knee replacement and a bad back. Leaning over the lathe to hollow out a bowl is tiring and I knew there had to be a better way. With a Tailstock Swing Away you can put a bowl between centers and rough or finish the outside and then move the tailstock onto the Swing Away and swing it out of the way.

Moving the headstock (which is one of the best features of the Powermatic 3520 lathe) down the lathe you can stand in front of the bowl for hollowing at the end of the lathe, which is ergonomically correct. This requires less stress on the body and allows much better tool control and I cannot stress tool control enough. With a sharpened gouge you now can control the tool with your body instead of waving it around in the air while leaning over the lathe bed.

I like to keep things simple. Powermatic has already provided two tapped holes for a bed extension; I use them to attach the Swing Away to the lathe. It is just a minor one- time adjustment to line the top of the lathe ways with the Swing Away.

The Tailstock Swing Away Is Rugged and Reliable

The Swing Away is constructed of ¼” steel plate 8 ½” long by 10 ½” wide, powered coated, and Delrin ways with a 5/8” dia. pivot point. This is a very stable platform that easily carries the weight of the tailstock.

The Swing Away for the Powermatic 3520 A & B lathe is the only model being produced at present. I am in the process of developing a Swing Away for the Powermatic 4224.

Oneway and Robust Solutions

Oneway makes a similar accessory they call the Tailstock Swinger.  It works well, but it only fits the Oneway. Robust has their Tilt-Away which is a brilliant design, but again fits only Robust.  And with the Tilt-Away design you still have to lift the weight of the tailstock plus the mechanism to put it back in place.