WeekendMiniaturist Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I haven't purchased a tool rest for my taig lathe yet... and when I was looking at the post from member PJPickard, I see a tool rest in his member photo. Obviously I need one for wood turning with gravers. At present time my taig only works as a metal lathe. What kind of tool rest is this one in PJPickard's photo? is this a Boley lathe tool rest? is this similar to the WR Smith tool rest? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to a tool rest that is hinged? What do we use at GS? I hope it is it a sherline part or taig part and off the shelf stock item. Do forum members have a preference for tool rests? or do you have a bunch of them that you acquire and change according to your needs. If you have used different tool rests and have opinions about what you like and didn't like about the various stock rests I need some reviews. Thanks, Tamra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Hudson Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 For a while BR was putting together a Taig lathe group. He drilled and tapped several holes along the center of the bed. Then he made tool rest to fit the lathe. I machined out a clamp assembly to mount the rest to so I had a little more leeway in adjustment. I purchased a tool rest made for my Sherline but it turned out to be a bit rinkey dinkey so I machined a clamp to adapt the Taig rest to my Sherline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karincorbin Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 You can get a woodworking tool rest for the Taig from Lee Valley. They sell them in two lengths, single and double long. I got one to have handy, it is very nice quality. Lee Valley is a Canadian based company but they also have a USA outlet.http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=50247&cat=1,330,50260 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wm. R. Robertson Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 As they would say, back in the day, there were no tool rests to fit a Taig, I started using Taig lathes about 35 years ago and wanted a tool rest. What I did was take a Unimat 3 tool rest, shorten the top to about 2" and drill a series of holes down the middle of the Taig's bed. I tapped these 1/4-20 and got some wing bolts. This worked perfectly, for years I made copies of these out of aluminum for lathes used in my classes including those at guild school. Since then a few others made similar, Sims, George Hoffman, etc. Mine were more solid. Then Lee Vally came out with theirs followed by Taigs blue turning rest. Both of these are ok when shortened and I have them however after all these years I prefer my original design for the simple reason it allows more room for your fingers while holding a graver in such tight quarters. So today if you didn't like either option chase down a Unimat 3 rest and modify it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 Thanks Bill, this tells me why I wasn't able to figure out what was on our lathes at GS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karincorbin Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 The Little Machine shop sells a tool rest than can be used on a Unimat 3. so that simplifies finding one. Of course I am no judge if it is going to be suitable for modifying for use on the Taig to resemble something Bill R would think is suitable.http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2949 My workshop mate has a Unimat he got in the late 1960s up in the storage loft. I have never gotten it down to take a look at it to see what model it is or what accessories he has as I don't have a need for it. But I do know he plans on selling it but lacks motivation to deal with all the stuff up there. Low mileage tool collector's item Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Oh, Sweet! I like this tool rest, then I would only need to (carefully) tap my bed on my Taig lathe. It looks like it is short enough, but I'll email them about the height of the rest. Tamra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 I tapped my bed on my taig lathe --- yes, my apprehensive self spent a Sunday afternoon, watching You tube and hand turning a drill and (tapering) tap with our benchtop drill press. Husband already had a tap wrench which I used with the bottoming tap... I did acquire 1 beautiful NOS unimat 3 tool rest and an altered uni 3 tool rest, thank goodness for eBay. Now I have two tool rests that are two different lengths for the taig. I know that multiple tools rests are very useful, as I have already acquired some of those accessories for my Jet mini wood lathe. The Sherline WW collets are ready to rock 'n' roll out the spindles for the dream stair build. My inexperienced self, didn't ruin the lathe bed; didn't hit concrete, and didn't break the drill bit or tap, and the rest is tight to the bed; and I got a cool wing screw off eBay, too... pretty cool experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 On 1/28/2016 at 10:52 PM, Bill Hudson said: I machined out a clamp assembly to mount the rest to so I had a little more leeway in adjustment. I purchased a tool rest made for my Sherline but it turned out to be a bit rinkey dinkey so I machined a clamp to adapt the Taig rest to my Sherline. That is a beautiful clamp and look forward to the day when I am making my own metal accessories. I am infinitely more comfortable with wood. Yesterday, I made collet holder for my WW collets ( Yep, I drilled a series of holes in a piece of wood... ) and am working on putting together blocks of wood to hold my taig cross slide and tail stock when they are off of the lathe bed .... so I am waiting for that day when I cross over to a new comfort level of working with metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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