I ended up buying a nice old Rockwell/Beaver 3400 lathe the other day, manufactured 20 minutes down the road from me in Guelph, Ontario in the late 50s. (Pics of it will be forthcoming after I paint it and replace the bearings.) Anyway, I'm on the hunt for a few parts that are missing, and I came across this guy on Kijiji (Canadian CL) who turned his 12" swing lathe into a 16" swing by putting two wooden blocks under the headstock and tailstock. Totally wild. Has anybody else done this? I asked the guy if he had any vibrational or flexing issues, and he said nope all's good. I'm not sure I believe him though haha.
It looks like this sort of thing...
It looks like this sort of thing...