Tool rest for bench grinder

[Roger Peine]

Having just bought a new, Abbot and Ashby 8" bench grinder, i was perplexed as to "why" a machine designed to regrind bevels etcetera
has such crappy tool rests!!!!!!! I mean they are unusable to the point of taking them off and binning them. Anyway no problamo
make new ones. Hey, at least mine work. Just opens a can of worms, the new rests are nice and solid, what they directly bolt onto are not. Although i am loathed to spend yet more hard earned on this machine,...... What do you folk reckon of these after market bolt to the bench type rests?? Any other suggestions welcome..

[ubeaut]

There are a couple of different bolt to the bench type tool rests. I used 2 of them for a video we were doing on sharpening a number of years ago. I found both to be extremely good with one minor minus. If you use them to give correct sharpening angle for the tool you can only use them with tools that have at least 3+ inches of blade hanging out the end of the handle.

This wasn't a particular bother to me as I tend to use the tool rest as a hand rest or not at all, but for someone who needs the rest and wants to use the whole of the tool they paid for it may be a minor stumbling block.

One of the two rests I used was supplied by Carba Tec Melbourne and the other by Beenatree Crafts of Cranbourne. Both were excellent, the Carba Tec one was lighter than the other and might be more inclined to rattle after a lot of use, however, it did have a better range of movement making it infinitely more adjustable than the other more robust one from Beenatree. The Carba Tec one also incorporated a sliding T Bar for acurate sharpening of angles whilst the other had a cast piece that slides in a trench this one was also designed with set angles for skew chisels and gouges for woodturners.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers - Neil http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

[John Saxton]

Teknatool make a good tool rest that I saw at a wood show being demonstrated so I bought one.It mounts onto the same surface that your grinder is and has the ability to accurately place your bevel of your tool at the grinder face.

It must be similar to the one Neil describes in the above post with a sliding 'T' piece that will traverse across the face of the wheel.Also the rest has the ability to be angled to the grindstone with graduations that mark out the angle required.

While travelling thru Victioria and going thru those weekend markets you have in your country towns I bought an el'cheapo 8" grinder that had crappy toolrests and grindstones that were consigned to the bin.

Considering that I got a bench grinder so cheap I put a couple of white cool running wheels on it and now serves me well for my turning tools.

Cheers http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

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Johnno