J Rest or Inside Bowl Rest

[Brian Kent]

For those who use either a J Rest or an Inside Bowl Rest, which do you think would be useful to buy first?

Most of my work is chalice and plate, pitcher and basin.
24" lathe, but all that means at the moment is that I can now exceed the 11.5" limit for plates and bowls.
I will be getting the rest from Robust.

(Note - on the Grizzly G0800, the banjo is very slightly lower than on a Robust, so I will be ordering a custom size tool rest post, which they said they can do.)

Thanks in advance

ps. I will be reviewing the Grizzly G0800 soon. I wanted to make sure to get it covered with sawdust before evaluating. It will be a very positive review.

[Roger Chandler]

I have both Brian, and like both much. If you do more deepwalled vessels than bowls, the 14" "J" rest is the way to go. Nothing beats it for stabilizing the tool & the cut deep inside a vessel. The inside curve bowl rest is great for bowls, especially larger diameter ones. You will likely in time want both but outlay of $$$ is a consideration.

[Steve Mawson]

I have the J and use it some but does not seem as handy as I thought it would be. Just use a 12" straight rest the majority of the time.

[Brian Kent]

When I get it or them made, should the post extend to 1/4" or 1/2" above the center line (or some other amount)?

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Brian - I've got both, do a lot of bowls in particular. I find myself using the J rest (14") much more than the curved rest. The J rest seems to be more versatile and fits the different profiles I turn more often than the curved rest. I do turn a lot of relatively shallow, bowls with generous diameters (14 - 22 inches) along with platters. With the bend at the bottom it seems to hit the dreaded transition point better for some reason, and stays out of the way better for long cleanup cuts.

That said, I'm glad I've got both.

[Roger Chandler]

When I get it or them made, should the post extend to 1/4" or 1/2" above the center line (or some other amount)?

I like my rests to extend from 1" above center to 1" below. That is a general thing on the over, due to spindle work and using a skew. For bowls it won't really matter about the above too much, but below is important if you want to lower the rest for shear cuts using the wing of a bowl gouge. Sometimes that lower position can allow you to get your gouge in really close and use the wing for shear cuts that will give you pretty good finish off the tool. Doing this, I have been able to begin sanding on some outside bowl surfaces at 240, and a couple of them at 320 grit. That saves lots of time sanding! It does not work on every piece because of grain and cell structure of the individual piece of wood, but you won't get a better finish off the tool than with a shear cut on a bowl. Shear scrapes can do good as well, but that is a scraping not cutting technique.

Depending on how much tool post you need in the banjo hole for stability, you might be able to get the standard long post rests from Robust. I am not sure how much neck you have on your banjo with the G0800, but my updated factory banjo on my G0766 made me need 8.50" [total height] at least, and I went ahead and got 8.75" for my own reasons listed above, and the standard long post rests they sell are 7.25" from top of the rest to the bottom of the post [total height]

[Clay Fails]

I have both size Robust J rests, plus their inside bowl rest. I use one or both of the J rests on almost every bowl. For my money, if you can only get one now, I'd get the J rest.

[William C Rogers]

I have 5 of the Robust rest. I turn bowls, platters, lidded boxes mostly, but just about anything. I raised my PM 90 for an 18" swing and needed new rest. Here is what I use in order of most used: 12" straight rest, 4" straight, inside bowl, 9" J rest, outside bowl. I find the 4" rest very handy. I don't use the J rest as much as the inside bowl rest. For my lathe a 14" J rest would be too big and the 9" is fine.