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  1. #1
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    Default Aftermarket Tool Rests

    For quite some time I have wished for longer and shorter tool rests with a hardened bar welded to the top to (hopefully) greatly reduce dings in the top part of the tool rest.

    Being in Australia anything from overseas is often a long time in gestation and sometimes quite long with delivery, unless you expedite the delivery by selling your spare arm or leg.

    Recently I found out that Vicmarc were now selling their latest ergonomic designed tool rest for their lathes. As their big lathes all run 30mm tool posts and their small lathes run 25.4mm tool posts, I wondered about getting one or two of them to suit my 25.4mm diameter banjo. Unfortunately, Vicmarc do not make these with the hardened steel top with the 25.4mm tool post.

    A bit of fast talking between a Vicmarc dealer and Vicmarc, resulted in Vicmarc custom manufacturing a trio of tool rests for me. A bevy of tool rests; 100mm, 200mm and 400mm for my lathe with a 25.4mm tool post.

    They arrived this morning and although it was freezing holding steel, I braved the elements and had a go. Before using them, I took some pictures before they were tool marked.

    In one picture you can see the 304.8mm OEM Laguna tool rest, which I considered a high quality item. It still is a high quality item and the top doesn't have a single nick in the 6.35mm hardened steel rod welded to the top. But after using the Vicmarc tool rests, with their more ergonomic shape, larger 9.53mm hardened steel rod welded to the top; the OEM tool rest will certainly get far less use.

    Follow this link, scroll down to see their short clip further explaining their array of tool rests.

    Lathe Accessories: Toolrests and Camlocks


    Mick.


    Vicmarc_Toolpost_Group_IMG_20190731_092212.jpgVicmarc_Toolpost_Group_IMG_20190731_092329 (002).jpgVicmarc_Toolpost_Group_IMG_20190731_092408 (002).jpg

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  3. #2
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    Jan 2013
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    Tasmaniac
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    Default

    Well they look like the beez kneez Mick. Good tool rests make the job so much easier.
    I am awaiting (maybe tomorrow in the mail) one of vicmarcs "S" shaped tool rests with a one inch post and overall height of 12 inches. I don't think it has a hardened rod attached to the top or the ergonomic shape of your ones but that is fine by me, don't see myself using a skew or parting tool on bowls. Plus the price vicmarc charged for a custom model rest was really good.
    Also waiting on a custom internal bowl rest from Robust lathes in the US. It does have the hardened steel rod attached to the top. The US vs AU dollar is a bit of a killer....not to mention the postage on top but, "what the blazers?", you're only young once .
    I will post pics of them when they arrive.

  4. #3
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    Default

    I would be very interested to see the comparison between Vicmarc's curved rest and the internal bowl rest from Robust that you receive.

    I have wondered about an S curved bowl rest. I have a rest with a curve that approximates most bowl shapes I do, this has worked well for the past 5 years or so.

    I agree that the pricing of Vicmarc's tool rests are competitive, their bonus being that there is no currency fluctuation factor.

    Mick.

  5. #4
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    My "S shaped" vicmarc arrived today and it does have the hardened rod attached to the top, looks well made too.
    DSCF7608.jpg
    Viewed from above it is not really an S shape, more like a straight centre bit with curves on the end.
    DSCF7611.jpg To my sense of design this rest would be as useful (for bowl turning) if it was cut right through just to the side of the tool post because when you turn it around 180 degrees it is the same shape. However I should not be too critical before it is used. The Robust one I have on order is of the design where the rest is pretty well on one side of the post in a C curve shape.
    Here are a few other tool rests that go with this lathe.
    DSCF7607.jpg
    The 2 on the back right, I had made up and they are great. The rests are made from 50 x 16mm steel which is welded vertically to the posts.The double poster is 1070mm long, single post one is 400mm long. Others came with the lathe.
    The one on the back left is handy for getting into tight spots.
    The 3 on the front right all have the rests at an angle to the tool posts, a design that does not work for me so they seldom get used.
    The one front left is a particularly ugly brute of a thing.Very uncomfortable on the hands with lots of things in the way. It does have a pretty good reach though and has been awkwardly used in the past for reaching into large deep bowls.
    DSCF7614.jpg
    There were another couple of rests that came with the lathe that were so unwieldy and uninviting with shapes so strange I could not imagine what they would be used for, so they got cut up and turned into other things.
    Will post a picture of the Robust one when it arrives. Have found in the past the U.S postal service can be unpredictable.

  6. #5
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    When you mentioned 12" high, I thought, yeah right, he means length. Well, it is 12" high. Looks very nice. I'm thinking that if it was a genuine S curve, then it wouldn't have that straight bit. having a continuous curve would, the way I'm imaging it, be able to go deeper and curve internally and externally with biggish type bowls. Thoughts?

    I like your double post unit, as for that really interesting super odd shaped unit.......................

    I was gathering material to make my own double post rest, but now that I have used these rests on spindle work and for a wet bowl blank, I think I'll ask how much their double post units are. I really like the shape of the area that your hand/finger(s) rest in. Makes for really easy sliding along for spindle stuff. I used the 400mm one to make a turning handle for a new found chisel. The blank was just over 400mm long, working area was 360mm. First time I haven't needed to adjust the rest left and right; only in and out. And then, only once rounded. I'm sure it didn't make any noticeable difference time wise, but it really was a pleasure to use.

    Then I tried the 200mm unit with a wet spotted gum bowl blank; smooth as. The bigger hardened steel rod on the top is certainly better than the smaller rod welded to my OEM rest. That said, I switched between the OEM rest and the 200mm Vicmarc rest; the Vicmarc is the winner, certainly nicer to use.

    I'll drag out my bowl curved rest and take a picture, maybe tomorrow.

    Size of the bowl as pictured, is 240mm wide, walls are around 20mm thick. Beautiful stuff to turn, clean as and like a hot knife through butter. I've got 2 more trunk sections of this tree to go, they are much larger than this. Using a corer, I hope to get three from each half, for a total of 12 bowls.

    Mick.



    Spotted_Gum_IMG_20190801_161914 (003).jpg

  7. #6
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    Hi Mick. I will post up a picture of the Robust C shaped internal bowl tool rest when it arrives.

    I really like the shape of the area that your hand/finger(s) rest in. Makes for really easy sliding along for spindle stuff.



    Yes, it sure does. I just don't get why some rests have a silly angle on them. The standard rests that originally came with my woodfast lathe were like that plus they were flimsy and broke easily. The only downside to a great lathe I still have.

  8. #7
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    Beautiful rests made and finished to the usual Vicmarc quality. I have seen very long spindle tool rests made of timber with an angle iron on top. Retired used to make long large spindles - 10 meters long. There may be photos of his tool rests. Found a video: YouTube At the end there are still photos of the set up.

    Aha! Long tool rests: YouTube
    So much timber, so little time.

    Paul

  9. #8
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    I believe the Bowl rests made by Robo Hippy are the best, Robo Rest Inside Bowl Rest | Medium: 7.5 | 16: 1 inch post for 16 inch lathes — Reed's Woodworking not cheap but I had a real good look at them when I was at his place and the engineering takes away all the problems.
    Rgds,
    Crocy.

  10. #9
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    Apr 2007
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    Adelaide Hills, South Australia
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    Default

    For rough turning larger green bowl blanks my preference is for the Nova Woodsurfer Bowl Rest. It's a large chunk of heavy cast iron that doesn't budge when plowing through an irregular shaped half log or root ball. It isn't so good for the inside of bowl blanks, but with larger blanks they are likely to be cored anyway and smaller blanks that won't be cored don't need such a substantial rest.

    I would never use a hardened steel rest for this stage of rough turning a bowl. HSS bowl gouges are tempered very hard (in the high 60's hrc) so they retain their sharp edges, but this also makes them relatively brittle and at risk of snapping. The temper is a balance between edge retention and brittleness with assumptions about the impact forces likely to be encountered. You don't see or hear of snapped gouges happening very often, but it does happen and there are times when I reckon I come very close. Powdered metal exotics have an additional risk if the sintering process was not done well.

    For final turning of bowls, I prefer a curved rests with a generous round bar, like this. I have one of those rests with a thin hardened top bar, but don't like using that compared to the larger round bar.

    I have some single curved rests, but prefer the 'S' shaped ones with a tighter curve on one end, which allows me to finish off both the outside with the larger curve and the inside with the tighter curve without having to change rests.
    Stay sharp and stay safe!

    Neil



  11. #10
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    Default

    Old Croc, they look good, but as you say pricey, still, you can't take it with you.

    Neil, they look good, I was unaware about the Nova Woodsurfer Bowl Rest (interesting name) Interesting to note that Carbatec have it listed, but only for purchase via the web. Presumably meaning it is only available from QLD.

    It is annoying to me to go to a vendor's website and look up lathe tool rests and nowhere do you see that item. However do a world wide web search and that item comes up immediately; tagged though with, "web purchase only". By the way, including the word Woodsurfer, also brings up retro wooden surfboards.

    This is my curved rest, home made I think, came with a lathe I picked up around 6 or so years ago. Works reasonably well.

    Mick.


    Bowl_Curve_Rest_.jpg

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Optimark View Post

    This is my curved rest, home made I think, came with a lathe I picked up around 6 or so years ago. Works reasonably well.

    Mick.


    Bowl_Curve_Rest_.jpg
    I have a matching pair of those (a left and right). The ones I have were made by Woodfast (still available from Woodworking Solutions). I prefer that larger round bar style.

    I rang Carbatec here in Adelaide and they got the Woodsurfer rest in for me.
    Stay sharp and stay safe!

    Neil



  13. #12
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    Paul29, thanks for the links, his workshop is not that far from me. Passed through his small town many, many times; last week in fact. I've never seen his workshop, but I met him last year. Very knowledgeable and speaks from very long experience.

    Well to me anyway, he seems to speak from very long experience, particularly when I asked a couple of turning questions at a forum get together. Straight to the point; refreshing.

    Mick.

  14. #13
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    Neil, nice to know they are still available, the curved rest I have, that is.

    I sort of understand why they have a left and right hand version, but I manage to do both the outside and inside with the one curve; am I missing something?

    Mick.

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Optimark View Post
    Neil, nice to know they are still available, the curved rest I have, that is.

    I sort of understand why they have a left and right hand version, but I manage to do both the outside and inside with the one curve; am I missing something?

    Mick.
    Mine flips over and like this.

    C1.jpg C2.jpg

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Optimark View Post

    I sort of understand why they have a left and right hand version, but I manage to do both the outside and inside with the one curve; am I missing something?

    .
    Yes, Mick, an inboard RH curved tool rest like that will do both the inside and outside of a bowl. Well, that is in the current era

    However, there was a time when you could only turn items up to a diameter of 12" inboard on most lathes. If you needed to turn something larger you had to do that outboard on the back of the headstock AND then everything there had to be left handed (LH spindle thread, faceplates, chuck inserts, curved scrapers and, of course, curved tool rests). We are talking about before EVS and reverse switches became available!

    Sent from my ZTE T84 using Tapatalk
    Stay sharp and stay safe!

    Neil



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