snip...



Another thought on the subject -- there are several lathes where the top
surface of the tool rest is pretty wide and sloped at maybe a 50 deg.
angle from horizontal. So, if you hold the handle of the gouge down, the
tool will be resting on the back edge of the top surface of the rest
rather than the front edge. The Jet and Powermatic rests share this
unfortunate design characteristic and I think that they are unusable for
that reason. They encourage bad turning and get in the way of good
turning. I think that many would profit by replacing the original
equipment rests on those machines with ones designed for wood turning.


Sadly, there appear to be nothing but cylindrical rests out there in the
replacement realm. If you know of others, chime in, I'm looking for a
smaller curved one. Resting a cylinder on a cylinder with some control is
difficult to begin with, and with a fingernail grind prone to rotation, even
worse. Of course, you can't get the fulcrum any closer than clearance plus
radius, either. When I transitioned from Ol' Blue to the 3000, I considered
modifying my grinds to suit the new rests, then realized I still had one
old - my "S" rest - to work with. Took a file to the 3000 rests, and never
looked back.


....snip
Both the Woodfast tool rests and the Stubby rests are properly designed,
IMHO. They both have a properly designed surface to support the tool
and both have an indentation on the back which fits your index finger.

If there was an after-market for these rests I'd be happy to consider
supplying them.

Woodfast makes both inboard and outboard 's' shaped rests which I could
import but I haven't seen one so have no idea right now what they look
like. They don't make a rest with a single curve.

Bill