Small tool rest

**Christophe Mineau** · Feb 10, 2015, 03:19 PM

Hi,
As said with the Doc, I have made also a small size tool rest for my wood lathe, more suitable when turning small pieces like pens, than the long 30cm rest.

Its' a piece of flat steel inserted in a slot cut at an angle in a metal tube and brazed.

**Hotz** · Feb 10, 2015, 04:05 PM

Very good...

**Doc** · Feb 10, 2015, 04:30 PM

Very professional looking build there Christophe.

Love anything we can make ourselves. Envy those who do it so well though

Regards

Doc

**Christophe Mineau** · Feb 11, 2015, 03:09 AM

Thanks to the bad photos, you do not see the brazing details, not sure it's so professional ...

One drawback also is with that soft tubing, the pressure screw on the side as a tendency to mark the steel and the rotation and setup became not as smooth as at the beginning.
Solid steel would be preferable (but I couldn't find something with that diameter)

**kbalch** · Feb 11, 2015, 02:11 PM

Thanks Christophe! I've added your Lathe Tool Rest to our Metalworking category, as well as to your builder page: Christophe Mineau's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Lathe Tool Rest by Christophe Mineau

tags: lathe, brazing, tool rest

**Caliper Ken** · Feb 14, 2015, 06:15 AM

Originally Posted by Christophe Mineau

Thanks to the bad photos, you do not see the brazing details, not sure it's so professional ...

One drawback also is with that soft tubing, the pressure screw on the side as a tendency to mark the steel and the rotation and setup became not as smooth as at the beginning.
Solid steel would be preferable (but I couldn't find something with that diameter)

That's a good looking rest - better than my effort which ended up in the scrap bin. You could turn a piece of hardwood the same diameter as the tube and push it in to make it solid enough for your toolpost.

That's what I did and it was OK - the problem was with the angle of the tool rest.

Hope that helps.

Ken

**Christophe Mineau** · Feb 14, 2015, 08:21 AM

Thanks Ken, Yes that's a good idea to fill the tube with wood, I could also poor in hot lead.
But actually, the tube walls are thick enough, it keeps round, but the steel surface is marked and not smooth, so that it does not turn smoothly, but that's not a big issue, I file it from time to time, and that's OK.
Ideally, it would be better with some kind of surface heat treatment, but ...