Toolrest the culprit?

[pmpartain]

Hey, I have owned a Nova lathe for a while now, but because it only came with a 12" toolrest, I have been turning pens on the smaller lathe. I recently bought the 4" toolrest made by Teknatool and tried turning some pens on the Nova last night. I HATED it. There is a flat spot on that tool rest that made it nearly impossible for me to get the toolrest in a spot when the tool felt right when cutting. At least I think that was my problem. I've made several hundred pens and never had anything like this pop up. Anybody else have an experience with a toolrest they just didn't like? I do like the 12" rest for turning bowls, peppermills, etc. But the small spindle work just doesn't seem to work with the toolrest geometry on the smaller Nova rest.

Am I nuts or what?

 

[woodman928]

A good file will take care of that problem

 

[pmpartain]

Now it sure would won't it!. Actually, I was thinking of buying one of the 6 inch robust comfort rests. The 4 inch is a bit short when using a mandrel. Eventually I plan to try between centers, but for now I'm stuck with the mandrel. Buying this rest has turned out to be like buying a pair of shoes. It sure would be nice to try them on first.

 

[olsenla]

I couldn't get used to the geometry of the Nova tool rest either. Just too different from my old lathes tool rests. After trying for two years to get used to them, I finally gave up and replaced them with the Robust rests. I really like these and they have made a lot of difference for me. YMMV.

Larry

 

[woodman928]

Yah I like the looks of the comfort rest and one of these day who knows right now I use a round rest as it was all I could get for my old Powermatic that I could afford PM wanted over $500.00 for a 12" and that was just plain NUTS. Mine has a 1 1/8" post so nothing is standard.
Jay

 

[pmpartain]

Thanks. Good to know somebody else had a similar experience. I love the lathe though. Ultra smooth. I'm sure the other similarly priced machines are the same though.

 

[pmpartain]

500 for a tool rest sounds pretty crazy to me also!

 

[woodman928]

Yah I thought so too but thats what PM wanted and thats just the tool rest not the whole assembly as I thought they were pricing

 

[mickr]

The comfort rests are just terrific..worth the $ if you are at the lathe constantly