Jet Mini Lathe Tool Rest

[Jim Stuyck]

My Jet mini lathe, with the bed extension, came with a 6" tool rest. Is there a longer one -- ten inch or so -- available that fits this lathe properly? If so, where can I find it?

Jim Stuyck

[mac davis]

to 12", I think..

Order the post(s) carefully or it won't fit the mini, Jim..

I use these rests and they work well for the money, especially since I can have posts for them that fit both the mini and the larger lathe, and just change posts..

Good point: I like the steel bar on top better than traditional soft iron rests..

Bad point: I'd like the rest to be at an angle with the bottom further than the work that the top.... If you're using them for some things, you can't get the rest as close to the wood as I'd like without the bottom of the rest hitting the wood..

mac

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[Jim Stuyck]

Thanks for the pointer. I had looked at the Woodcraft catalog and the web site but didn't see this. Since there's such a wide range of "parts," I figure I'll simply take my Jet toolrest (bought from Woodcraft, by the way) to the store on the west side of Fort Worth and see what fits (and haggle over price!).

Jim Stuyck

[Jane & David]

Lee Valley has this one, among others:

Jet mini takes a 5/8ths post I think. I actually just received this rest from LV, but haven't tried it yet - promised myself to leave the lathe alone until some more pressing jobs get done (damn lathe is addictive! :-)

PDX David

[mac davis]

Let me know how you like that tool rest, David.. I almost ordered it for my Nova but was really looking for shorter rests..

I like the choices and price of the Woodcraft ones.. I do a lot of pens, so I got the 4" and 6" straight rests as well as the 2 curved bowl rests..

2 posts shared by 4 rests seems to work well for me..

mac

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[randyswoodshoop]

Try looking at

have rest to fit mini lathes that are longer and have curves also.

Randy

[Ralph E Lindberg]

Mac the Nova has a 0.995 inch tool post, makes for finding posts a little interesting (note 25mm works, 1-inch doesn't, ask me how I know). The short rest I bought from Delta has too short a shaft, I would check with Best Wood Works and get your tool post there

[mac davis]

Funny that you mention that... I use the 1" posts from Woodcraft and noticed that when going from the Nova post to the Woodcraft, they seemed like different sizes, but I thought it was just my imagination.. lol

I have a lot of really nice rests that I bought for my Jet that I can't use on the Nova because they're too short.. Most are short because when I got them they were too long for the Jet so I cut an inch off the posts.. Not knowing, of course, that I would be going from a 14" to 16" and that my tool rests would all be to short for the Nova.. *sigh*

mac

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[Jane & David]

Mac,

I'm so new to turning that I doubt that I could tell you much that would be useful. I just don't have a reference for evaluating tool rests - I'm not even always sure what to do with the hand at the rest. One thing, though - when the LV rest arrived I was relieved that it was more robust than it appeared to be in the catalog. It just had that delicate look in the pictures to me. But I trusted Lee Valley to not sell me junk.

Now to tackle that mountain of projects so I can clear some time for playing with the lathe.

Regards, PDX David