# Tool rest for 12" Harbor Freight lathe?



## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

I had gotten serious about learning to cut dovetails by hand, to make small boxes and such. I caught the Central Machinery 12 lathe on sale at Harbor Freight a few months back and bought it, just to see if I would like turning. The only flat work I've done since is to build holders for my lathe tools. Dang, these things are addictive. They should come with a warning label...

Anyway, after making close to a hundred Christmas ornaments, little tops and such from 2" poplar dowels just to learn to use the tools (and produce lots of cheap gifts!), I have turned some bowls . Now I'm thinking about getting a curved or S-shaped tool rest to help me do the insides of the bowls more cleanly. 

You already know my question: The Harbor Freight lathe does not have a standard 1" hole in the banjo for the tool rest. It seems to be 25mm, give or take. I have done some research using my Google machine and the options appear to be:
1) enlarge the hole in the banjo to 1", which would mean I can't use the tool rest I already have.
2) remove enough material from the 1" post to fit into the 25mm banjo hole.
3) purchase a banjo and tool rests that are 1"

Options 1 and 3 would require purchasing two tool rests instead of just the one curved one. I know a lot of people use, or at least started with, the Harbor Freight lathe. Any suggestions on how to proceed.


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

David Nickell said:


> I had gotten serious about learning to cut dovetails by hand, to make small boxes and such. I caught the Central Machinery 12 lathe on sale at Harbor Freight a few months back and bought it, just to see if I would like turning. The only flat work I've done since is to build holders for my lathe tools. Dang, these things are addictive. They should come with a warning label...
> 
> Anyway, after making close to a hundred Christmas ornaments, little tops and such from 2" poplar dowels just to learn to use the tools (and produce lots of cheap gifts!), I have turned some bowls . Now I'm thinking about getting a curved or S-shaped tool rest to help me do the insides of the bowls more cleanly.
> 
> ...


Keep searching, I know ebay and Amazon both have a couple sellers that sell 25 mm tool rests.


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

Dave McCann said:


> Keep searching, I know ebay and Amazon both have a couple sellers that sell 25 mm tool rests.


Robust and Robert Sorby both make what you are looking for


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## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

Dave McCann said:


> Robust and Robert Sorby both make what you are looking for


I keep digging through my firewood pile looking for something that will fit on my lathe. I need to figure out how to get more appropriate blanks cut, and should be able to get them all from on my farm. I'm really struggling to figure out how to get the insides of bowls smooth and thought a curved tool rest that can better follow the inside curve might help.

I made this today from a piece of white oak limb that was about 4 inches across. It turned out better than I expected, except the inside is still "rippled" and sanding won't take it out.

I will look for Robust and Robert Sorby options. I found a couple on Amazon that varied in price from about $20 to over $80, and neither had any reviews or ratings. Both were made in China and neither gave encouraging descriptions.


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## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

David Nickell said:


> I keep digging through my firewood pile looking for something that will fit on my lathe. I need to figure out how to get more appropriate blanks cut, and should be able to get them all from on my farm. I'm really struggling to figure out how to get the insides of bowls smooth and thought a curved tool rest that can better follow the inside curve might help.
> 
> I made this today from a piece of white oak limb that was about 4 inches across. It turned out better than I expected, except the inside is still "rippled" and sanding won't take it out.
> 
> I will look for Robust and Robert Sorby options. I found a couple on Amazon that varied in price from about $20 to over $80, and neither had any reviews or ratings. Both were made in China and neither gave encouraging descriptions.



Ignore the first photo. That was an accident from me trying to learn to use my first ever Mac computer.


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

David Nickell said:


> I'm really struggling to figure out how to get the insides of bowls smooth and thought a curved tool rest that can better follow the inside curve might help.


A scraper will smooth out tooling marks (ripples) in the inside of your bowls. I use; Benjamins Best HSS Inboard Bowl Scraper Set (PSI) $39.00 thru Amazon.
Amazon.com : benjamin best bowl scraper


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## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

Dave McCann said:


> A scraper will smooth out tooling marks (ripples) in the inside of your bowls. I use; Benjamins Best HSS Inboard Bowl Scraper Set (PSI) $39.00 thru Amazon.
> Amazon.com : benjamin best bowl scraper


Can a scraper be used on the whole inside of a bowl? I've seen a Youtube video (I never take anything from the internet as established fact) that said to never use a scraper on the inner sides of a bowl.


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## holtzdreher (Jul 20, 2016)

get a smaller diameter tool rest post and bush it out to 25mm. Certainly not ideal, but I have seen it done for instance a 3/4 inch rest. I have used my HF tool rest on my Delta lathe out board stand. It has a corner cut like the hole is one quarter square. The post gets jammed up into the corner and holds well. 

The other consideration, is that a 1 inch post is only .016 of an inch larger than a 25mm hole. should be an easy job for a machinist to machine it down.


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

holtzdreher said:


> get a smaller diameter tool rest post and bush it out to 25mm. Certainly not ideal, but I have seen it done for instance a 3/4 inch rest. I have used my HF tool rest on my Delta lathe out board stand. It has a corner cut like the hole is one quarter square. The post gets jammed up into the corner and holds well.
> 
> The other consideration, is that a 1 inch post is only .016 of an inch larger than a 25mm hole. should be an easy job for a machinist to machine it down.


Talk to a machinist about that and you may get a different answer. Modifying the post diameter on a bowl rest would be difficult at best, unless it is a two piece rest. Why buy the wrong size tool and have it modified when the proper size tool is available for purchase?


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## gmercer_48083 (Apr 9, 2016)

This fits your lathe. Got mine for christmas... and the finish is smooth as silk.11.8 Inch Cast Iron Lathe Tool Rest For Wood Turning Lathe Turning Tool Rest - - Amazon.com


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

gmercer_48083 said:


> This fits your lathe. Got mine for christmas... and the finish is smooth as silk.11.8 Inch Cast Iron Lathe Tool Rest For Wood Turning Lathe Turning Tool Rest - - Amazon.com





David Nickell said:


> Now I'm thinking about getting *a curved or S-shaped tool rest* to help me do the insides of the bowls more cleanly.


The link provided shows a straight rest with a 16 MM post. He has said that his lathe requires a 25MM post.


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## gmercer_48083 (Apr 9, 2016)

Dave McCann said:


> The link provided shows a straight rest with a 16 MM post. He has said that his lathe requires a 25MM post.


My Mistake, it is a 16MM post... I thought he was looking for a 12" tool rest... Sorry 'bout that.


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## holtzdreher (Jul 20, 2016)

Dave McCann said:


> Talk to a machinist about that and you may get a different answer. Modifying the post diameter on a bowl rest would be difficult at best, unless it is a two piece rest. Why buy the wrong size tool and have it modified when the proper size tool is available for purchase?


IF it is available for purchase. That was the OP's question, he could not find one. If you know where he can get an s curve bowl rest with a 25mm post please post a link. From Robust a standard c curve is $98 and there is a special order charge in addition to make a 25mm.



BTW, if I still had my metal lathe with the big face plate, it would be a piece of cake.


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

holtzdreher said:


> IF it is available for purchase. That was the OP's question, he could not find one. If you know where he can get an s curve bowl rest with a 25mm post please post a link. From Robust a standard c curve is $98 and there is a special order charge in addition to make a 25mm.
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, if I still had my metal lathe with the big face plate, it would be a piece of cake.


He originally could not find one and was then advised as to a source.

I didn't say it couldn't be done. As you point out it would take a metal lathe and a face plate. I know this from being a tool shop machinist for over 40 years. I also know that it would be cheaper to purchase the proper size post than to buy the wrong one and pay to have it altered. I'd be surprised if a shop would charge less than an hour shop time including set up, tear down, clean up and shop supplies. 

He has already been advised and is aware, that a proper sized rest can be ordered directly from Robust. The up charge for a 25MM post is 10 dollars. You already know this of course, because you already looked it up on their web page. You no doubt also know that it is indeed available for purchase. A simple click of your mouse would have put it in the shopping cart.


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

David Nickell said:


> I keep digging through my firewood pile looking for something that will fit on my lathe. I need to figure out how to get more appropriate blanks cut, and should be able to get them all from on my farm. I'm really struggling to figure out how to get the insides of bowls smooth and thought a curved tool rest that can better follow the inside curve might help.
> 
> I made this today from a piece of white oak limb that was about 4 inches across. It turned out better than I expected, except the inside is still "rippled" and sanding won't take it out.
> 
> I will look for Robust and Robert Sorby options. I found a couple on Amazon that varied in price from about $20 to over $80, and neither had any reviews or ratings. Both were made in China and neither gave encouraging descriptions.


The shape in your pictures is not an easy one to turn and not get tear out. A curved tool rest is nice but will not make it any easier to turn those. It has more to do with the grind of your tools. If you use scrapers extensively do some research on negative rake scrapers, they are good for getting out the rough spots. A 40/40 grind on a parabolic profile bowl gouge is a very good all round tool, add to that a steeper grind gouge for the bottom transitions and you can do most shapes. Work on smooth continuous curves for better results.


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## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

Gary Beasley said:


> The shape in your pictures is not an easy one to turn and not get tear out. A curved tool rest is nice but will not make it any easier to turn those. It has more to do with the grind of your tools. If you use scrapers extensively do some research on negative rake scrapers, they are good for getting out the rough spots. A 40/40 grind on a parabolic profile bowl gouge is a very good all round tool, add to that a steeper grind gouge for the bottom transitions and you can do most shapes. Work on smooth continuous curves for better results.


Thanks for the tip on the gouge grinds. I recently acquired another bowl gouge and I'm gradually getting more adept at using them. I suspect most of my problem in getting smooth interiors is not the tool, but the user.


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