Powermatic Tailstock Swing Away, for Model 3520 and 2020 Lathes (6294721)

Makes working at the lathe all day much more enjoyable, not having to lift the heavy tailstock off and on the lathe. Wish I had bought one long ago! Quality merchandise. One minor detail, I wish they had made it about 3 inches or so longer. Other than that, performs as it should!

No more bumping tool handles (or my elbow) when turning bowls. A little bit of a pain to line up and install, but well worth the effort. It is kind of heavy for one person, so a helper is a good idea when installing. Not only does it allow the tailstock to swing away, but since it adds several inches to the lathe bed, often just moving the tailstock the extra few inches is enough to allow tool handle clearance when turning bowls. One caveat - if the back of your lathe is too close to a wall, the swing away function will be impeded, but that should be pretty obvious from the description.

Product doesn’t adjust where it needs to, needed a lot of shims to make it work not happy cost to much to have to deal with the problem

I know the write up on it said "like new" condition. There were some pretty deep scratches in the metal ways the tail stock is supposed to slide onto without obstruction, looked like who-ever bought it first tried to file or sand them out. It still works OK, but not as smooth as I would have expected. I think next time I will opt for the new version if that what it means to be "like new". I still give it a four star because it does work the way it was made to, just not smooth.

I should have bought this years ago.

It was easy to install, just two bolts. I bolted it up snug and then backed off a turn on each bolt and then brought the tailstock back so that the ways guide and the big washer were half on the lathe and half on the swing-away and tightened the tailstock and the washer and ways guide tightened up and brought both pieces into alignment then tightened up both mounting bolts. The fit up is OK, once the swing-away is back in line with the bed, there is a slight difference in height on one side and the tailstock hits the bed and has to be lifted up some to clear. Tried adjusting a few times and I guess its just going to be like that. Also, the swing-away is very short compared to the length of the tailstock and about half of the tailstock hangs off with no support. Doesn't seem to be a problem and I'm sure its not a big deal, but I would have added the extra length and would have made the spring a bit beefier and more tension to aid in swinging back up. Its pretty easy to pivot back into place, but the whole idea was to make lifting the tailstock easier, so might as well make it even easier if going this far. Hard to say if its worth $300. I guess if your back went out lifting it off the floor, the $300 would seem like a small price vs a chiropractor. Not overjoyed with it, but all in all I guess it was worth getting. I do a lot of hollowing and need the room to work, so in time I'm sure I'll appreciate the ease this provides.

saves having to left and remove tale stock when needed . also best price ever..

Always reluctant to buy "expensive" add-ons worried whether or not I will get the use I paid for. But this was well worth the purchase. I do a lot of hollowing and bowls--was having to remove the very heavy tail stock completely off the bed to get safe access to the end work. Then it was a struggle putting it back by a single person. I'm definitely getting my money's worth for something that is not difficult to use!