tool rests

[Michael Schneider]

This is not anything about a specific tool rest. A nice luxury is a long rest for your lathe (after you get the small ones you need). I have the longest rest my lathe safely supports for practice.

Practice is not the most fun thing in the world, so I try to make it as pleasant/simple as possible. I cut popular 2" inch stock into blanks 2x2 (or width of wood square) x the length of the tool rest. The longer the tool rest, the less blank changes. The less blank changes, the easier it is to get into the rhythm of practice. Many people use 2x4 lumber for their practice wood. Popular is cheap around here, and like it better than pine (personal preference, again, make practice cost effective and as fun as possible).

[John K Jordan]

...I cut popular 2" inch stock into blanks 2x2 (or width of wood square) x the length of the tool rest. The longer the tool rest, the less blank changes. The less blank changes, the easier it is to get into the rhythm of practice.

This is a great point! I found this out when teaching first-time turners. If the tool rest is longer than the practice piece I don't have to remind so much about running off the end, especially for kids. I really need to weld up some 12" tool rests for the mini lathes.

I wish I had poplar for practice pieces. (I'm assuming you mean Yellow/Tulip Poplar here.) I've been mostly using cedar since I have so much, and pine. The next time I fire up the sawmill I will make a point of cutting some poplar.

JKJ

[Michael Schneider]

John,

Thanks for catching the typo, spell check is not always your friend :-)

Yellow/Tulip Poplar is exactly what I was trying to type.

Happy Turning,
Michael

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for catching the typo, spell check is not always your friend :-)

Ha! I really didn't even notice how you spelled it, but just typed the word. Somehow, I spelled it right this time.

JKJ, in contention for World's Worst Speller

[Rick Gibson]

I have the same system but I got it from Lee Valley. Wanted the 4"rest for turning pens and liked it well enough I got the 6" and 9" later. When I got my larger lathe I just had to order the 25 mm post and everything works on it. My only complaint is with the larger lathe the banjo will not let me get the rest as close as I would like for pens. Since the post is a standard M12 thread I'll drill and tap a short piece of angle iron that will get me that extra 1/2" closer that I would like.
Would I buy it again Yes. for $160 I have 3 different length tool rests that fit on my Delta midi and my larger lathe.

[Sonny Kemp]

Bruce I had a Jet mini that used a 5/8 post and PSI has a curved rest ,that is pretty cheap, and worked well.It is round rod and is not a Robust, but works plenty good til you want something bigger and better.

[robert baccus]

It,s not difficult to glue on a hardened rod to any tool rest. I use JB weld after grinding the back side of the rest square. Robust is glued on also--I broke one off. D. Ford gave me some air hardened rod that made it easy.

[John Sanford]

I have both the Robust rests and a RHerrel rest for my Jet Mini, which uses 5/8" posts. What is said above about the modular rests moving the contact point back is true, and it's noticeable on close work. Also, the post on the modular gets "in the way" when sliding back and forth, compared to the Robust. I personally prefer the Robust.

[Reed Gray]

Once you use the hardened drill rod, you will never go back to cast or round bar stock rests. Less friction, no denting, and they just feel better. You can buy your own drill rod, which comes in different diameters, but it needs to be hardened, which is a bit of a science, though those who know how say it is fairly simple. I used a thicker Lock Tite metal epoxy or the 2 part JB Weld to fasten some on to a rest. It does work, but if you drop it and the rod hits first, like when you drop your turning tool it always lands on the sharp part, it will bread off. The first ones from Robust were just epoxied on, but now they are tack welded in place. You can run into problems with the rod losing its temper with the welding so that, again is 'science'. Not positive, but the air hardened drill rod does harden over time and is harder than the oil or water type drill rod, but I don't know all the specs. Only real thing I know about metal is how to grind it....

robo hippy

[Brice Rogers]

Hello Reed,

Thanks for your comments.

I am both a wood turner and a metal worker and have made a bunch of specialty tool rests, cutting tools, etc. I have also done a bunch of metal treatment. I have not yet added a section of drill rod. I was concerned about softening the rod during the welding process. But I like your comments about the air-hardening drill rod.

I think that I'll get some air hardening rod and do the tack welding technique and see how it works.

Thanks

[Reed Gray]

Before you weld, you should harden and then temper the drill rod. The air tempered is considerably harder than the others, but not up to the grade of the Robust. This is where a black smith could come in handy. You could tack weld it on and then harden and temper it, but that is more difficult.

robo hippy

[Brice Rogers]

Reed,

Good point.

I actually have a few kilns in my shop. My favorite for heat treating is a little one with a 6" H x 12" wide x 10" deep opening. It goes up to around 1850 F. I'm familiar with hardening and tempering. I've made a hand full of cutting tools that I have hardened using that kiln. If I have something very small, like my home made version of the "termite hollower", I will heat it with a propane torch and usually oil quench. I've also done some Case hardening of low carbon steel. It works okay and I can get a hardened surface (perhaps up to 1 mm). The things that I heat treat get hard enough for my purposes, but I consider myself to be an amateur.

One of my limiting issues of my set up is scale production during a prolonged heat treatment (like what is typically used for air hardening). Pros will either use a slight vacuum or will put their work piece into a pouch of stainless steel foil along with some paper or sawdust to scavenge out the remaining oxygen.

You have given me some ideas and new projects.

[Reed Gray]

Keep us posted Brice....

robo hippy

[Jamie Straw]

Bruce, the rest that came with my new Nova Comet lathe was pretty awful, so I took a chance on the Rockler rest mentioned earlier (hardened rod top). It's a respectable rest if one doesn't have the $$ to drop on a Robust -- I use a Robust rest when turning at a mentor's shop, and they are exquisite. Two comments on the Rockler: "Hard" is relative. The rod definitely is harder than cast iron, it totally out-performs the rest on my Jet lathe. But when I use a largish D-Way bowl gouge, which is much harder than most tools you'll find, the rod can get marked up a bit. Also, the paint on the post is a royal pain -- I've sanded most of it off, as it makes the post sticky after the paints been banged and scratched by the locking mechanism.

[John K Jordan]

I actually have a few kilns in my shop. My favorite for heat treating is a little one with a 6" H x 12" wide x 10" deep opening. It goes up to around 1850 F. I'm familiar with hardening and tempering. I've made a hand full of cutting tools that I have hardened using that kiln. ...
... Pros will either use a slight vacuum or will put their work piece into a pouch of stainless steel foil along with some paper or sawdust to scavenge out the remaining oxygen.

Interesting. The paper/sawdust sounds much like the raku pottery firing, except the combustibles are added after the ceramic is removed from the kiln.

I wonder, can you bleed nitrogen, argon, or CO2 into the kiln to displace the oxygen? I use gas every time I close up a container of finish to preserve it.

Another thing I wondered which perhaps you can answer concerning loosing the hardness when welding hardened rod. Would it be practical to weld the rod onto a support made of mild steel then put the combination into the kiln/quench hardening sequence? Perhaps this would cause significant warping. The post could be welded on later, perhaps annealed with a torch. I wonder how Robust does this since the small (1/4"?) hardened rod has a healthy bead down both sides.

I would love to find a little kiln like that for the shop. Did you make it? Gas, electric? A friend of mine has three kilns for pottery but they are huge and the gas bill is horrific (fed with a 2" gas line!) He makes the largest raku-fired pottery in the world. He said just build a small one from fire brick and fire it with a tank of gas.

JKJ