New guy with a question.

[Brian Bumpers]

I'm new to the forum but not to turning. It looks like a great array of talents and styles here. Very impressed. I've been turning about 15 years or so along with other types of woodwork. My main focus is bowls on a home built lathe I fabricated about 12 years ago. I built it primarily for bowl turning with a removable bed so I can turn very large diameter items. I need to build a tool rest stand for when I have the bed removed as I have a large project coming up. I intend to copy something along the lines of the Powermatic stand I see on line. My question is for anyone who may use such a rest. Is there any thing you would recommend or change about what you have or have used? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks for having me on he forum.

Brian.

[John K Jordan]

I'm new to the forum but not to turning. It looks like a great array of talents and styles here. Very impressed. I've been turning about 15 years or so along with other types of woodwork. My main focus is bowls on a home built lathe I fabricated about 12 years ago. I built it primarily for bowl turning with a removable bed so I can turn very large diameter items. I need to build a tool rest stand for when I have the bed removed as I have a large project coming up. I intend to copy something along the lines of the Powermatic stand I see on line. My question is for anyone who may use such a rest. Is there any thing you would recommend or change about what you have or have used? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks for having me on he forum.

Brian.

Hello Brian! Welcome, I hope you enjoy this forum.

Is it a free-standing stand or the standard banjo with an extension post that Powermatic includes with the bed extension (for when it is mounted in the outboard turning position)? I have that extension post but haven't used it - looks sturdy enough though.

If not the extension post, maybe a photo of what you see on line and/or your lathe would help get useful responses.

JKJ

[Don Frank]

If you are going to fabricate something from scratch take a look at the one that Robust sells to go on the end of an american Beauty. It looks like a really nice design.
If you are not likely to use it very often, I saw a guy take a pipe with a 1" inside diameter and weld some scrap onto the bottom 6" of the pipe. Then he set the pipe upright in a five gallon bucket, filled it with concrete and made sure it was plumb. Had a hole drilled up near the end with a nut welded on so his tool rest could be positioned at the correct height. Very ugly but functional and solid. I guess you'd use a two wheel dolly to move it in the corner when not in use as it probably weighed a couple hundred lbs.

[Brian Bumpers]

John, What I have looked at online is a free standing unit essentially a tripod stand with the tool rest on top. The upside to that style is I can use it for other things such as an outfeed stand in my shop. If looked at the integrated ones like Don mentioned on the Robust unit and am considering that as well. If I could lay my hands on one it may help with making that decision. Im leaning toward the stand but was interested to hear what other turners had experienced. My shop is crowded and removal of the bed would buy me a bit of space so I can cram something else in its place.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Delta sold the floor standing tool rests for out board turning on their large floor model lathes. There is one on the Reading PA craigslist right now, but the guy wants WAY too much for it. There were two six months ago for around $40 each. A fellow in our club made one using an large used brake disc from a heavy truck as the base and a piece of 4 inch steel pipe for the upright. It uses the same tool rest as fits on the banjo of his Delta lathe.

[John K Jordan]

John, What I have looked at online is a free standing unit essentially a tripod stand with the tool rest on top. The upside to that style is I can use it for other things such as an outfeed stand in my shop.

A friend of mine turned large bowls outboard with a free-standing stand. He used a large, heavy truck wheel and welded a post on it with a fitting on the top for his tool rest and filled the top with concrete. This worked well. For a larger footprint a base made like that could also have some steel tripod legs welded underneath at a shallow angle. A big truck brake disk is pretty heavy and might work too. We have a local metals recycling place that I'd visit for ideas and cheap materials!

I like your idea of making it double as a heavy-duty outfeed stand. (I could use one of those) A roller could be made with the same diameter post to swap with the tool rest. Since the lathe and other tools are probably different heights it might be made adjustable with a sliding square tube, a slot in a large angle iron, or a series of holes for coarse adjustment.

JKJ

[Michael Mills]

I am not sure this would work for you but you stated "...for when I have the bed removed..."
Since the bed is removed use it as in this video. An upside is you can slide the banjo anywhere without having to relocate the base (bed).
Ignore the chainsaw and rasp.... skip to about the 3:30 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydDQQQww1AA

[Brian Bumpers]

I use a large truck drum for the base of a vise stand. That was one option I was considering if not a tripod style. My concern, having never used the frame mounted style would be building it adjustable enough to work from the center out to the edge of a 40" or larger work piece with out loosing ridgidity due to length of arms. This is the lathe when I first built it. I've since added an encased ballast box under the head stock. Thank you guys for suggestions and ideas.
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[John K Jordan]

I use a large truck drum for the base of a vise stand. That was one option I was considering if not a tripod style. My concern, having never used the frame mounted style would be building it adjustable enough to work from the center out to the edge of a 40" or larger work piece with out loosing ridgidity due to length of arms. This is the lathe when I first built it. I've since added an encased ballast box under the head stock. Thank you guys for suggestions and ideas.
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Nice job on the lathe! But yikes, have you tried working with a 40" piece? A chunk of cherry that big might weigh 500 lbs and the forces from an out-of-balance piece would be incredible. You might need something pretty stout for that size wood.

You might see how the late Lissi Oland turns big pieces. (Lissi's husband Knud helped get the woodturning program started at the John C Campbell school in the '70s.) I visited her a few times in Brasstown and her lathe was massive. The banjo she made looks like a sturdy design - maybe something like that would be best for big wood. She had a huge custom-built faceplate. Watch how she moves and mounts the blank. How she cores out the middle is entertaining too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PMEJ7rirso

BTW, I bought a set of her tools but then decided I like to turn smaller things instead and never even opened the box. Maybe I'll sell them some day - they are not only well proven but a part of history now.

JKJ

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I was considering an outboard rest a few years ago and tried a couple of homemade versions out. For me, they occupied too much floorspace right where I wanted to stand. The nice thing about the tripod version like the older Powermatics is that you can position for good ergonomics. Vicmark sells a really nice solution that several people had adapted to lathes in the Powermatic / Jet style of legs by simply bolting on. It looks a little like the Robust solution, but was quite a bit cheaper. I think the heavy post that rests on the floor and is braced to the lathe legs (like the Vicmark and Robust) is the best solution for stability.

[Brian Bumpers]

I like the vicmarc style. If I can design one I like that I can fabricate I may go that route if cheap material is available If not I'll do a stand. As for the large turning, I've done some large and heavy items but not 40" This will not be that bad as its a fairly thin and light glued up piece to be turned into a shield for a wall display. Sort of like a large platter.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Brian - I recall that there were a couple of videos on youtube by people that have done diy versions similar to the vicmark design. Search should turn them up.