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Robo Rest

Wow! I've been putting off buying a roborest for my bench grinder for a while. I just ordered one. Looks like just in time. Thanks for the great innovations and tools Robo Hippy. Enjoy your freed up time and less headaches.
 
My shipping department is me.... Been really busy the last week.... I try to pack them so even I wouldn't be able to damage what is inside...

robo hippy
 
Robert D Evans said:
Wow! I've been putting off buying a roborest for my bench grinder for a while. I just ordered one. Looks like just in time. Thanks for the great innovations and tools Robo Hippy. Enjoy your freed up time and less headaches.
Click to expand...
I just ordered one, too. I usually procrastinate a long time, too, but knowing the grinder rest won't be available much longer put a fire under me.
 
Chris Edwards said:
Got mine this morning, many thanks

RoboRest1.jpg


And two hours later the bowl turned into a flying saucer and scattered debris over 900sqft, still haven't found all of it.

BrokenBowl(1).jpg


Rookie mistake, forget to check the tightness of my chuck.
Click to expand...

Chris - I see you have a Magport box in the background (next time get your bike in the pic!). I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. I emailed them some questions earlier in the year. They never responded so perhaps they closed up shop.

Thanks!
 
Rob Fridenberg said:
Chris - I see you have a Magport box in the background (next time get your bike in the pic!). I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. I emailed them some questions earlier in the year. They never responded so perhaps they closed up shop.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have Magports on most of my tools that have 4" ports. I have two drops that terminate in 4" flex hose with Magports on the end. These two drops service about 8 different machines, so I switch between machines quite a lot. Although a little pricey, I absolutely love them. I stretch out the 15ft 4" flex hose quite often, but the magnets are strong and I've yet to have a dust connection come apart while the tool is in use.


Sorry for the thread hijack
 
I think I was #13 on the list for a robo rest put in my order on the 7th
of Oct
Are they in yet sounded like someone said he got his???????
 
@robo hippy and Robo-users, for a 16" lathe (Vicmarc VL200), will the medium size tool rest do everything that the small tool rest will do, or is it best to have the small tool rest in addition to the medium?

I don't mind buying both, but if the medium does everything the small rest will do just as effectively, I'd rather just buy one rest.

Thanks,
Steve.
 
Steve Tiedman said:
@robo hippy and Robo-users, for a 16" lathe (Vicmarc VL200), will the medium size tool rest do everything that the small tool rest will do, or is it best to have the small tool rest in addition to the medium?

I don't mind buying both, but if the medium does everything the small rest will do just as effectively, I'd rather just buy one rest.

Thanks,
Steve.
Click to expand...

I bought both. I have several inside tool rests from other manufacturers, and I've found that using a longer one when a shorter one will work, means the tool rest must be outside of the bowl, and generally in your way. The answer is "yes", the medium rest will work, but if you have both, you will appreciate having the convenience of using the correct rest for the job.:D

-----odie-----
 
odie said:
I bought both. I have several inside tool rests from other manufacturers, and I've found that using a longer one when a shorter one will work, means the tool rest must be outside of the bowl, and generally in your way. The answer is "yes", the medium rest will work, but if you have both, you will appreciate having the convenience of using the correct rest for the job.:D

-----odie-----
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Thank you @odie, both it will be.

I am tempted to buy the longer post version for 20" lathes and cut the posts. The 16" rest posts will work, but my Vicmarc rests have posts of 4" long, .5" longer than robo's. Have you cut the post on yours yet? Does a 4" grinder cutting wheel make quick work of the cutting? Or is it a hardened steel that will be a pain to cut?

Edit- I just went and did some careful measuring at my lathe, the small and medium Robo tool rests for 16" lathes will work just fine. @robo hippy I just placed an order for one of each with the 1" post (VL200 uses a 1" post). Looking forward to putting them to work.

Steve.
 
Last edited:
Steve Tiedman said:
Have you cut the post on yours yet? Does a 4" grinder cutting wheel make quick work of the cutting? Or is it a hardened steel that will be a pain to cut?
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Hi there, Steve. You'll be glad you have both, I'm sure! :D

I didn't need to cut the Robo-rest posts. My banjo is a dogleg style that accepts the longer posts. My original plan was to get a larger lathe, but for now, I'm keeping my Woodfast lathe. (I reserve the right to change my mind on that, at any time! ;)) Having the longer posts means that if I ever do purchase another lathe, I wouldn't have to get new tool rests.

The last time I did cut one of the tool rest posts, I did it the old fashioned way.....hacksaw! :eek:
If any tool rests have a hardened rod, I'm not aware of it.

Happy turning!

-----odie-----
 
There are 30 mm posts for the Vicmark lathes. As to which one do you need, well, of course you need both... You can turn bigger bowls with the larger rest, and you can turn smaller ones with it as well. Mostly if you turn a lot of both, then having the smaller rest for smaller bowls means you don't have to adjust the banjo as often. More difficult to turn larger bowls and platters with the smaller rest.

robo hippy
 
It's been a long time since I've stood at a Woodfast. Nice, classic lathe.

Both my Vicmarc VL200 and my (recently sold) VL300 use a 1" diameter post. The 200 banjo was built for the 1", and the 300 has a sleeve built into the banjo hole bringing it down from 30mm to 1". Both machines came from Craft Supplies in the very early 00's, I'm not sure if the VL300 banjo sleeve was/is a CS exclusive, but I'm guessing here in the USA 1" is far more typical than 30mm.

Thanks for your help.
Steve.
 
30mm is not common. I had to order it from the east coast. Some day the US will go metric....

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
There are 30 mm posts for the Vicmark lathes. As to which one do you need, well, of course you need both... You can turn bigger bowls with the larger rest, and you can turn smaller ones with it as well. Mostly if you turn a lot of both, then having the smaller rest for smaller bowls means you don't have to adjust the banjo as often. More difficult to turn larger bowls and platters with the smaller rest.

robo hippy
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Ordered Thursday morning, got 'em Monday morning, the fit is perfect (1" post for the USA Vicmarc VL200). Thanks robo!

Now, what color to paint them...?

Steve.
20201109_121938.jpg
 
Steve Tiedman said:
Ordered Thursday morning, got 'em Monday morning, the fit is perfect (1" post for the USA Vicmarc VL200). Thanks robo!

Now, what color to paint them...?

Steve.
View attachment 35827
Click to expand...

You'll be glad you have both! :D

I didn't bother to paint mine, but I did make a couple notches in the post for height adjustments. ;)

-----odie-----
shop photos november 7 2020 (8).JPG
 
Yeah, painting does seem like a chore. I'll probably just put a good carnuba paste wax polishing on them from time to time, just like the lathe bed.

Steve.
 
I would recommend at least some kind of rust protection.
Instead of Reed's famous "Mambo Pink" I chose a dark blue - more in the line with the rest of my workshop.
 
Robo Hippy
As usual, I’m a day late and a dollar short. Will anyone else be manufacturing your Robo Rest in the future? I’ve been trying to find one used to no avail.
Thanks.
 
No wonder he is going out of business; how can a human even respond to all those questions?
 
I have sent all parts, pieces, and schematics to some one. He said 'some time after the first quarter of this year'. This includes both the bowl rests and the platform. I would expect a few changes....

robo hippy
 
I received my small and medium rests a couple of months ago. Fit great on the Nova Galaxi (16” swing), and work great.

Yes Robo, please keep us in the loop on a new mfr/supplier. I wanted a generic mount platform but they were sold out.
 
Doug Freeman said:
I received my small and medium rests a couple of months ago. Fit great on the Nova Galaxi (16” swing), and work great.
Click to expand...


That's what I found, too. These are great tool rests. It's great to have exactly the right tool for the specific task, and these have been a wonderful addition to my tool rest corral. :D

-----odie-----
 
robo hippy said:
I have sent all parts, pieces, and schematics to some one. He said 'some time after the first quarter of this year'. This includes both the bowl rests and the platform. I would expect a few changes....

robo hippy
Click to expand...
Robo, where would someone look for one of the med rests w/ 1" post, and one ouf your platforms for use on a Wolverine set up? Thank you
 
Bud Neale said:
Robo, where would someone look for one of the med rests w/ 1" post, and one ouf your platforms for use on a Wolverine set up? Thank you
Click to expand...

You’re about a year and a half too late. If it’s any consolation I’m the only other person on this forum who doesn’t own a robo rest. :rolleyes:
 
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