In message , mac davis
writes

Something else I just remembered which is probably a big factor is the
height of the rest to centreline of work piece. I was looking into this
the other week, and found that the lowest height of standard tool rest
is (using metric here) 5mm below centre, with the tool being 7mm thick (
One reason I have been looking at an upgrade to the lathe. But if I make
some rests I can drop that height

I'm going through the results of doing just that...
When I was using the 14" Jet, I bought several rests and most were a an
inch too
long for use on the Jet, so I shortened them..

Now that I've moved up to the Nova I find that those rests are too short to use
on it... ya just never win..lol

I think it was the JET 3520 I saw which had the best design, with the
hole for the tool rest offset on the banjo, which in theory would allow
as long a stem as you like. This is other than the occasion of avoiding
the lathe bed, and assuming the top of the banjo is low enough

I've found that as you get more experienced and more comfortable, and have
enough catches, they become much smaller.. and because you've "been there, done
that", your reaction is a lot milder, which minimizes damage to the wood, tool
and you, and keeps the laundry bill lower..

My usual result it to loosen the turning in the chuck jaws, and the
worst, using it as a a projectile across the room. Unfortunately with a
minimum speed of 400 I am partly restricted. So tool rest is as close as
possible which helps control the missile

--
John