With all of the technology available these days, we tend to look for ready-made fixes for everything.

The learning curve on CNC equipment may be fairly large but once mastered, things can be accomplished in short order. Need a special molding? There’s almost sure to be a stock router bit that will cut it. Or at least one close enough to get by.

Recently, I had need for a long, turned wood shaft. The needed length exceeded the capacity of my lathe. My first thought was to look at aftermarket bed extensions. I found several that could be adapted to my machine. But the cost and time involved exceeded the part’s value.

I ended up with a good old DIY solution. A couple of pieces of plywood and a few screws later, I had a serviceable bed extension for short-term use.

Sometimes the low tech, old school, shoot-from-the-hip solution is hard to beat!