Thread: Wider tool rest needed

Not fimilar with that lathe but from a quick search, it seems to be a mini lathe.

Can offer you a couple of options here, I can make you a longer rest which will cost you a few dollars or you can come and use my lathe for free which has a 300mm rest on it. If you're still in Healesville I'm not that far from you at east Warburton.

Thanks for the kind offer DJ, I'll be in touch.

I normally go to steel merchant and buy bright round bar to suit tool rest and flat bar 50 by 10 mm.
have found someone to weld them up so it works out rather cheap last lot of tool rests cost $28 . but I wouldn't go bigger than 400 long with 1 banjo, my 400 long toolrest gets vibration at the ends so sometimes I chock it with timber!

Like Chuck I had a couple of extra rests made from bright steel when I bought my current lathe. Funnily enough a medium & short one as the long one that came with the lathe was 'too' big for some of the things I make.

Anyway, one thing to know is a steel rest can (and probably will) vibrate & ring at times. If you can get the rest section made from Iron it would be quieter.

Or you could just move your rest.......? Phil

I have a long lathe and a normal tool rest.

I rough out the cylinder, moving the rest as needed.

Then set the tool rest parallel to the bed and use the skew in the planing position - sharp edge parallel to the bed - , moving rest as needed.

Check that the cylinder is the same diameter all the way across and use the skew to get a nice surface, moving rest as needed.

Get a board an inch or two longer than your cylinder and about 4 inches wide and glue or staple your first grit of sand paper to it. Use this to get any high spots knocked down.

Repeat with finer grits until you are ready to finish. Food grade mineral oil is available at drug stores here, possibly at the equivalent in AU. Sold for as a laxative. Much cheaper than mineral oil sold for cutting boards and salad bowls at woodworking stores.

Thanks all. Truth is if I was making a rolling pin for a doll's house - say 1" long - I'd be perfectly confident in doing a good job it's just getting the same diameter on the full sized pin - <> 17" - that I want to get right (I would never claim to be a proficient wood turner). Like Paul's idea of a sandpaper board thanx for that Paul think I'll be doing that.

Originally Posted by sikm

Like Paul's idea of a sandpaper board thanx for that Paul think I'll be doing that.

I learned that from someone on this forum.

If you lean forward and eyeball the top of your rolling pin against the back edge of the lathe bed you can see where you are high or low.

Just take your time, it is not hard to get it straight. The ace in the hole is the sandpaper on a board.

Wow! all that for a rolling pin?

I just chuck it up between centers, lock up the crossfeed for cuts and crank it across! LOL.

I guess that's one of the beauties of these forums, they cater for people with different skill levels.

Originally Posted by oreos40

Wow! all that for a rolling pin?

I just chuck it up between centers, lock up the crossfeed for cuts and crank it across! LOL.

Not everyone has a metal lathe, pattern makers lathe, or builds their own - as you have. I have never know of a plain Jane wood lathe with a carriage.

One can buy a duplicating attachment that will give you a rougher surface than a skew: https://www.google.com/search?q=wood...iw=853&bih=484

Here is a Wadkin pattern makers lathe:

http://www.west-point.co.uk/App_File...el_R.S_10_.jpg

And Oliver pattern makers lathe: http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/images/360-A.jpg

Oreos, how about a photo of your finished lathe with the carriage.

I have almost finished the atlas conversion from 10" to 12". I couldnt bring myself to pay 644 dollars for one bearing for the original headstock. the lathe is over 60 years old and I suspect has run somewhere between 6 and 8 million peices. I will take some pics this weekend. any lathe can be modified for a carriage. Drawbacks to the finish from many copy attatchments is that support, pattern or workpeice are not ridgid enough or the cutting tool is incorrectly ground.

Just a side note: thanks for letting me(a production turner) play in your sand box (artists)

Roger