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You rest of choice for inside of bowls

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The curved tool rest I have isn't working for all the bowl insides that I'm turning. What is your favorite tool rest for getting good support in the insides of bowls (obviously not speaking of really shallow ones). Thanks.
 

john lucas

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I don't turn large bowls so I just use my Robust straight mini rest. It's about 11" long because I had him cut it to my length. It's only about 1 1/4" thick so it goes in pretty far. Sometimes I use my straight off center Bestwoodtools rest. Since the post is mounted off center you have the choice of flipping the rest 180 degrees and having either the short end in or the long end in. All my cuts are bevel rubbing. I use a 1/2" bowl gouge and rarely have more than 4 inches hanging out. So far it's worked for me far better than the curved rests. I have 2 Robust rests and one Bestwood tools. The curved rests come in on larger bowls when I need to use the scraper to clean up the shape but rarely need that. Most of the time I'm just shear scraping and can still hang a fair amount over the rest and use my straight rests.
 

hockenbery

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The Robust J rest is terrific!
I use the standard oneway rest for most bowls under 14" diameter
I use the Robust J rest on most bowls bigger than 14" diameter.
I got a J rest for my 1221vs and on this lathe I use the j rest on bowls above 8" diameter.

The advantages of the J rest:
Longer reach into a bowl
Stiff at the end of the rest
Nothing on the left side to be in the way.

Fast forward to 27:30 you can see the J rest in action.
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo0bGSafZq4
 
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john lucas

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Well I thought I posted last night but I guess I didn't hit some button. I use a straight rest almost always on bowls 12" and under. I have 2. A Robust mini 12" long rest which is the one I use the most. My next favorite it a Bestwood tools offset tool rest. The post is offset so you can rotate the tool rest 180 degrees and stick either the short end or the long end in the bowl. That one also is great for the outside because you flip the rest to get the length you need.
 
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I use a strait rest for 80-90% of bowls.

I do as well...because I don't have any curved ones. :) Yet!
My friendly neighbour blacksmith finished up a custom rest for me last week. So far its worked beautifully.

This mornings bowl was 10" deep and this totally eliminated all chatter / vibration.

IMG_1517.JPG IMG_1518.JPG IMG_1519.JPG
Drilling the holes took a me a long time...

This is version 2, and maybe a bit too beefy - its certainly heavy.

Version one proved the concept, but wasn't strong enough.
IMG_1497.JPG
 
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The curved tool rest I have isn't working for all the bowl insides that I'm turning. What is your favorite tool rest for getting good support in the insides of bowls (obviously not speaking of really shallow ones). Thanks.
It depends on the tool I'm using.

For the neg rake scraper
I saw a rest somewhere that I copied. At the business end it is a hunk of 3/8 thick steel about 1&1/2" wide that just provides a wide flat bed for the scraper sticking straight into the bowl. So it's a hunk of Flat heavy bar stock welded to a piece of one inch diameter round bar stock describing a right angle between the two.

For a gouge that rest ( supra) is unhelpful. When using a gouge a curved rest that has an edge or a radius upon which to rest the gouge that I also can get well below center so I can present the gouge in an upturned manner is what I prefer.
 

odie

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As bowl profiles progress from flat platter like shapes, to deep bowls, the tool rest of preference transitions from straight to curved. This, because my techniques are better applied when I can position my lathe tools with the least amount of projection from the tool rest as possible. The smaller the projection distance, the better the control I have. The better control I have, the better the cut will be without chatter, or tendency to grab.

ko
 
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Emiliano Achaval

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I'm also an amateur welder. I have a complete welding shop. So its easy to make whatever I need. My favorite inside tool rest is one I got ages ago for my first lathe, a Oneway rest. I moved the tool post more in, it was at the back, and I got the right size tool post for my Stubby. I have lots of others, but for the inside, I'm always reaching for the modified Oneway...
 

hockenbery

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What tool rest works best for inside is largely determined by your style of turning and how far over the tool rest you work.

A curved rest gets you close to a bowl that is its shape. This is not too limiting since most are somewhat hemispheiral, perhaps the best shape for bowls. Scraping for example works best for me with a short overhang. If I need to scrape inside a bowl the J rest gets close to the bowl for me to scrape a reasonable area. It would not work well if wanted t scrap the whole inside.

In hollowing bowls with an Ellsworth ground gouge, it is not uncommon for me to work 4-6" over the tool rest. I teach beginners to keep the tool rest within 2". Most (all?) of the well known bowl turners use a side ground gouge, straight rests, and work well over the tool rest. It takes a lot of practice.

I like the J rest because it works for my style of turning.
 
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odie

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I'm also an amateur welder. I have a complete welding shop. So its easy to make whatever I need. My favorite inside tool rest is one I got ages ago for my first lathe, a Oneway rest. I moved the tool post more in, it was at the back, and I got the right size tool post for my Stubby. I have lots of others, but for the inside, I'm always reaching for the modified Oneway...

If you can manage a photo of your modified Oneway tool rest, I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with, Emiliano.....:D

I have both the Oneway and Robust curved interior tool rests, and when I want a curved inside rest, I find myself most often choosing the Oneway over the Robust. I do think the Robust rests are great with that hardened top surface......but, the difference in these two rests is the Robust top surface has a curve over the whole surface, while the Oneway, on the other hand, starts out more straight from the attachment point at the post, and then morphs into a curve further distant from the post......sort of like a less pronounced J rest. I find this difference to be very useful and handy for an interior rest.

ko

L to R.....Robust J Rest, Robust interior rest, Oneway interior rest:
IMG_2737.JPG
 
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Emiliano Achaval

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If you can manage a photo of your modified Oneway tool rest, I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with, Emiliano.....:D

I have both the Oneway and Robust curved interior tool rests, and when I want a curved inside rest, I find myself most often choosing the Oneway over the Robust. I do think the Robust rests are great with that hardened top surface......but, the difference in these two rests is the Robust top surface has a curve over the whole surface, while the Oneway, on the other hand, starts out more straight from the attachment point at the post, and then morphs into a curve further distant from the post......sort of like a less pronounced J rest. I find this difference to be very useful and handy for an interior rest.

ko

L to R.....Robust J Rest, Robust interior rest, Oneway interior rest:
View attachment 22429
Sorry, just saw this reply. I will take a picture tomorrow for you to see. Aloha
 

odie

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I'm expanding my shop, I will have double the space that I have now! I have been busy for a few day, but I finally took the picture of the Oneway rest. Remember I said, Amateur welder..... View attachment 22469View attachment 22470

Amateur welder, or not.......that's a great job, Emiliano! :D

I'll bet you see a difference in stability when you do heavy roughing cuts. Don't know why I never thought of doing that (or Oneway, for that matter!), but I'd do that to mine, if I could. I can do some brazing, and minor welding on thin steels, but don't think my acetylene outfit is capable of doing anything as thick steel as the Oneway rest. (When I was working, I had a wire feed welder I could use, but I don't have access to that anymore.....:()

I love it when I see other turners use a little ingenuity in their shop......!:D

ko
 
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The Oneway rest is stainless steel. I don't know any tricks to welding, but stainless is different from standard steel.

robo hippy
 

Bill Boehme

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The Oneway rest is stainless steel. I don't know any tricks to welding, but stainless is different from standard steel.

robo hippy

Transition welding is difficult, especially welding stainless to mild steel. You really need to know the SS alloy in order to select the right electrode. Otherwise, the weldment will be hard and prone to cracking. It helps to grind or file a V notch along the joint in order to get good penetration.
 

Emiliano Achaval

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Amateur welder, or not.......that's a great job, Emiliano! :D

I'll bet you see a difference in stability when you do heavy roughing cuts. Don't know why I never thought of doing that (or Oneway, for that matter!), but I'd do that to mine, if I could. I can do some brazing, and minor welding on thin steels, but don't think my acetylene outfit is capable of doing anything as thick steel as the Oneway rest. (When I was working, I had a wire feed welder I could use, but I don't have access to that anymore.....:()

I love it when I see other turners use a little ingenuity in their shop......!:D

ko
Yes, tool rest feels better than the original one. Not sure why Oneway decided to have it at the very end, with hardly any bracing... The manager of one of the best welding shops here is a good friend of mine. He also teaches at the local college, welding as part of a mechanics course. So, I have traded some pheasant hunting for welding lessons... He also made me wait for their yearly clearance sale, got the best midsize welder at a good discount, I think its a Tig welder. or Mig, i forgot, lol, but It has Argon gas... Comes in handy, I'm welding a box with heavy steel around the legs of my Stubby, I'm tired of looking at the ugly sandbags...
 
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I can finally add something,:) Welding a 300 series stainless to a carbon steel as long as it's not tool steel can be accomplished with a 309L electrode. That grade of electrode or wire is specifically designed for a bimetallic weld and will give you great results.
 
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I have and also use the Robust inside curve rests on bowls, and the "J" rest for deep walled vessels like vases or deep bowls. Having tool support close to the cutting edge of the tool prevents chatter and gives better control of the cut. I use a straight rest occasionally on shallow bowls, but for anything medium to large ...say 9" to 20" in diameter, you can't beat the inside curve Robust rest IMO.
 
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This thread has been very illuminating. Thanks to all who posted pictures, and to Al for the video! Had to take a week+ off bowl turning, should be getting back to it soon. Am liking the looks of the J-rest, checking the piggy bank.:rolleyes:
 
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