# BXA lathe tool holder storage using 80/20 on a PM1340GT?



## Alan H. (Apr 15, 2017)

I have some different profiles of 80/20 on hand and I am considering using it as the foundation for a storage rack for BXA tool holders on my PM1340GT lathe.  I have seen some examples using this approach for storage on the tailstock end of the splash guard of the lathe.   I cannot find them now!  

Some ideas on the use of 80/20 would be very much appreciated.  How do you attach it to the splash guard and what could one use for the individual holders that attach to the 80/20?


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## jbolt (Apr 15, 2017)

I used a piece of 1050 on my PM-1440GT. The 1050 rail was drilled and tapped and screws inserted from the back.

See photos of the holders here. http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/the-pm-1440gt-has-landed.50194/page-3#post-430118


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## mikey (Apr 16, 2017)

jbolt said:


> I used a piece of 1050 on my PM-1440GT. The 1050 rail was drilled and tapped and screws inserted from the back.
> 
> See photos of the holders here. http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/the-pm-1440gt-has-landed.50194/page-3#post-430118



Love them handles, Jay!


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## BGHansen (Apr 16, 2017)

I used Uni-strut on my back splash and made some angled holders out of 1/8" thick aluminum.  I originally made some aluminum bracketry to attach the uni-strut to the back splash.  When I added a second tier the whole arrangement was a bit "floppy", so changed the bracketry on the back splash to uni-strut also.  It's really solid now and sooo convenient to have everything within reach and off the head stock and out of the chip pan.

A buddy at work depleted the supply of pull dowels using Jay's basic design above, saved the drill/tapping step since the dowels are already threaded.  Jay's design is really clean, the pull dowels would save a lot of tapping.

Bruce


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## bss1 (Apr 16, 2017)

Bruce and jay have excellent examples. Some of the best I have seen. If I had room, I would like Bruce's double decker design. Jay definitely went the extra mile machining the holders. 

I made mine in a similar but not as extravagant fashion.  I used 1" 80/20, although I think the 1/2" profile jay used would be better.  The holders were made from 1/8" aluminum angle similar to Bruce's.  I attached mine with 4, 1/4" screws through the front lip of the backsplash. I attached it to some of the tabs that fit into dove tail on the back side of the 80/20. I thought about through bolting it but the bolt heads on the front side would have prevented the holder brackets from being able to slide laterally to reposition them as needed.  While not as solid of a mount as through bolting would have been, it's plenty solid for its use. 

View attachment 231533
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## ronboult (Apr 16, 2017)

Hi Allan
I used 30mm 80/20 bolted to the back chip sheild just under the top lip. The 30 mm 80/20 was wide enogh to just extend out past the top lip. Before attaching I installed some small wedges behind to ensure the front face leaned back a little to stop the tool holders falling off with any vibration.
To hold the BXA tool holders I angle ripped some 25mm (1") HDPE on the table saw to 60 deg each side. Just flip the flat stock for alternate cuts.
My first rips were made slighly oversized and then I sanded strips for a tight slip fit. Cross cut to suitable length drilled and counter bored for cap screws and fitted to the 80/20 with the 80/20 rotatable nuts.
The holders are easily adjustable to the spacing required and can be rotated 180 deg for boring bar holders etc.
The HDPE is soft enough and flexible enogh that they hold the BXA' s securely with no scratching.
Ron

Edited to add a couple of photos


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## pstemari (Apr 19, 2017)

Very nice!

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Alan H. (Jul 30, 2017)

Thanks for the feedback and help.  I also received some good help from a couple of my friends as well.  I am a bit late reporting back on this thread that I started with what I chose to do, but here it is. 

I used 1" 8020 and mounted it to the top front face of the backsplash on my PM1340 lathe.  I put a reinforcement bar behind the backsplash sheetmetal which the 8020 attaches to.  This in effect made it a composite and made it quite rigid and the 30 degree slope works well.   The 8020 extends end to end for rigidity.





I had some thick PVC plate and I took Ron's example for the dovetails and went from there. I made about 30 of these (gave a set to my son).  Holders are keyed to the 8020 slot to keep them from spinning.





Made a couple of chuck key holders.  The aluminum tube is CA glued to the PVC plate. 






Here are the holders in place.   The dovetails can be rotated 180 degrees if needed, depending on tool holder configuration.  I want to keep the cutter ends facing down for safety as much as possible.





I do not want too many holders on my lathe.  I have other storage and will keep the tools there when not in use.    This many holders doesn't overload the backsplash in terms of weight and offers what I think is adequate short term storage for a project. 






Thanks again for all the help and the good ideas.


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## ronboult (Jul 30, 2017)

Hi Alan
I like the improvements you have made by machining a lug on the back to key to the 80/20 and stop the holders rotating. I did think about this but after I had cut all the blanks to length. Hindsight is wonderful.
I machined my holders from HDPE which is not the easiest. How did you find machining the PVC?
I still prefer my holders pointing up so that which tool is which is immediately visible. They are so far behind the lathe bed that I don't think there is any safety problem. Every one to his own. Still not sure where to mount my chuck keys. Having them on the back rail means they are easily visible so you are more unlikely to leave them in the chuck.
Ron


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## Alan H. (Jul 30, 2017)

Thanks Ron and thanks for the idea for the dovetails.

I did most of the PVC cutting in my woodworking equipment.  It cuts fine but make a huge mess with electrostatically charged swarf.


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