Polelathe - The Toolrest

In my recent posts on the new polelathe I've covered making the main parts, the poppets, the centres and the rails.

I needed to get on and make these to get the lathe into use. In the cartshed there are no legs as the lathe is mounted onto two upright posts. But the pole, the tool rest and the treadle can be just as crucial to the ability to carry out good quality work and in comfort.

To start with I've used a temporary tool rest. One of the ones from my other lathes with another strip of wood underneath to raise it to the height of the centres on the new lathe. I made the ledge for the toolrest about 2 inches below the centres to allow for a more substantial tool rest.






But now I've made a suitable toolrest for the new lathe from a spare length of oak left over from the rails. About 2inch by 1 1/2inch its more substantial than my previous rests. This is important as I've noticed that even the slightest flex in the rest can make a good finish hard to achieve by introducing some chatter on the lathe.

I made the curve simple by taking off the corner with a hand plane. I'm still considering how best to provide spacers for fixing the tool rest at various distances from the workpiece, but I can use it as it is for the moment. It certainly seems stable. I have read of using a metal bar to stiffen the rest. I think allowing for a thicker rest to be used should be good enough in this case.

Time to turn my attention to a new pole.