PeterE – C3 accessories – Tool Tray

[Peter EParticipant @petere]

[Peter EParticipant @petere]

I have a habit of putting chuck keys etc on top of the headstock, and have done so since I started using lathes. The difference is that when I started the lathes were quite a lot bigger than my hobby machine and so included a tray to put chuck keys etc.

There is just suffícient room for such a tray on the C3 and I made a shallow tray. The sides are 10 mm and the tray is made of 1 mm steel sheet. The corners are sealed with epoxy glue for user safety and finally painted in the shop color – guess mine.

Two strips of double stick tape, the thick carpet type or those double stick foam bits are good to use to fit the tray to the headstock. The tray is sized to fit between the chuck protector and the left end of the headstock and be as deep as the headstock allows.This gives sufficient room to store the other set of chuck jaws and som other bits including chuck keys.

 

A small but very useful addition in my mind.

BR

/Peter

[adyParticipant @ady]

You’ve got to watch that the design doesn’t allow machine vibrations to jiggle anything out and fall near the headstock otherwise it may fall onto the revolving chuck and get fired across the room….

 

…not that I’ve ever seen this happen…

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Surely thats the reason for making the tray with sides, if you just lay the tools on the headstock they are likely to fall but the tray keeps them in place.

 

J

[colin hawesParticipant @colinhawes85982]

Safety first.Just make sure you get into the habit of taking tools from the side and not across the chuck,one day you may leave the machine running and drop the drill chuck key.I have a tray on the front of the headstock and sometimes let my old flat belt lathe warm up while setting tools.This may be a bad habit but time is precious.

[Peter EParticipant @petere]

Quite correct, I made the tray as a shallow box. Even though the sides are only 10 mm high, they effectively stop stuff from jumping out. Furthermore, the bottom of the tray is covered with a piece of thin non-slip matting (Cheap stuff for kitchen drawers from IKEA) which also prevents stuff from wandering around, and with double-stick foam pads the tray is also dampened from vibrations. It works, Nothing has even tried to get out.

 

When it comes to beware of the chuck, I think you can see a glimse of the protective shield to the right. It came with the machine (Arc C3) and is still in place because it does keep me from interacting with limbs or tools with a rotating item and also prevents things like throwing chuck keys all over the room

BR

/Peter

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Cheap from ikea ? But I do like to see my chuck keys, they are stuck on an ex computer magnet, screwed to the wall behind the lathe. If I can’t see the key, don’t start the machine. But the tray is a nice thing, if I get time will make one.

[Sean CullenParticipant @seancullen60833]

I have one of those small magnetic trays on my headstock for this purpose. As it is magnetic it stays put and keeps the chuck keys etc in place. I found it in a local pound/dollar/euro (delete to suit your currency) store.

 

Sean Cullen

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I have a similar tray, but wth two small, powerful magnets glued underneath, so I can move it away if I want.

 

Neil

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