New Tool Rest

[Dylan Skeean]

Hello fellow wood turners, I have a question for you and hoping someone can help me out? I have a Central Machinery, Harbor Freight Lathe. It's the 12" Model, #34706 and I'm looking for a new tool rest and banjo. Does anyone know where I can buy a new tool rest that will fit my lathe? The tool rest that comes with the lathe is cheap and the threaded holes have been stripped already so I would like to replace it with a better rest assembly. I have a smaller Harbor Freight lathe that I use for pen making and other small items, the threads stripped on that one as well but I just re-tapped it to a larger size and currently have a allen bolt in there right now, but it's a pain to use an allen wrench all the time.

I know that my lathe is similar to Grizzly and Jet but I have no idea which one would have a tool rest that would fit my lathe? If anyone that has my lathe and knows where I could buy a replacement rest and banjo I would appreciate your help.

Thank you!

 

[Mike Johnson]

You could possibly drill out the hole and tap a larger diameter threaded hole into the banjo. There were plenty of these Jet clone lathes sold over the last couple of decades with many of them sitting in garages and basements across the country. If you look on Ebay you should be able find a banjo or tool rest listed most any day of the week. You could also check Craigslist and possibly find another Jet clone lathe and use it for parts if you can get a good deal on one. The Jet clone lathe is a 12" lathe so most other banjo's of that size that sit on flat ways should work.

 

[John Torchick]

Lots of possibilities. I would use that as an excuse to buy a new lathe.

 

[Dylan Skeean]

You could possibly drill out the hole and tap a larger diameter threaded hole into the banjo. There were plenty of these Jet clone lathes sold over the last couple of decades with many of them sitting in garages and basements across the country. If you look on Ebay you should be able find a banjo or tool rest listed most any day of the week. You could also check Craigslist and possibly find another Jet clone lathe and use it for parts if you can get a good deal on one. The Jet clone lathe is a 12" lathe so most other banjo's of that size that sit on flat ways should work.

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate that! Yes, eBay was the first place I looked and didn't find much of anything. Lots of parts for Delta lathes though? But I will continue to look until I find something. You're right, at this point I will drill and tap the hole and try to find a new handle for it. I've already done that for my smaller lathe. I don't really like the tool rest so I hope I can find one I do like, and will fit without too many modifications.

Lots of possibilities. I would use that as an excuse to buy a new lathe.

Lol, Now you're talking!! If my health was better, I'd be looking for a new wood lathe in a heartbeat- But that is not possible at this time unfortunately.

 

[John Torchick]

Dylan, good luck and good health. Try www.ereplacementparts.com for your part. Might not have it but worth a few minutes to check.

 

[hockenbery]

Lots of parts for Delta lathes though

I would think you can make most 12” banjos work. A delta included
Basically the flat on the banjo bottom will sit flat on any lathe ways.
They may have a different tool post size.
Treat yourself to a Robust rest the fits the new banjo

The problem you will need to solve is making the locking plate fit. You can make one smaller using an angle grinder and cut off wheel.

A locking plate can be made in any machine shop or you can make one that works by drilling a hole in square of metal.
The metal can be fit working it with a cut off wheel and angle grinder.

 

[Guy Scronce]

You might want to see if you can find a rikon 70-220 banjo. It is a different design than the jet. It uses the same mechanism to lock the tool rest, but it might be a little beefier where it is threaded. It also has a 1 inch post so you have more options with tool rests. FYI I did crack my first banjo where the lockdown bar goes through the back. It seemed to be a bad casting as the replacement was a little thicker where the first one failed. Rikon was great about replacing the broken one.

 

[Dylan Skeean]

Dylan, good luck and good health. Try www.ereplacementparts.com for your part. Might not have it but worth a few minutes to check.

Thank you very much John, I appreciate that! Thanks for the link, I looked there as well. It's tough when you're looking for a replacement because they really don't give any useful dimensions when looking for a base.

I would think you can make most 12” banjos work. A delta included
Basically the flat on the banjo bottom will sit flat on any lathe ways.
They may have a different tool post size.
Treat yourself to a Robust rest the fits the new banjo

The problem you will need to solve is making the locking plate fit. You can make one smaller using an angle grinder and cut off wheel.

A locking plate can be made in any machine shop or you can make one that works by drilling a hole in square of metal.
The metal can be fit working it with a cut off wheel and angle grinder.

That's true, I will check again to see if I can find any 12" banjos. Yes, I love those robust rests, I will definitely add that if I can find a banjo!

You might want to see if you can find a rikon 70-220 banjo. It is a different design than the jet. It uses the same mechanism to lock the tool rest, but it might be a little beefier where it is threaded. It also has a 1 inch post so you have more options with tool rests. FYI I did crack my first banjo where the lockdown bar goes through the back. It seemed to be a bad casting as the replacement was a little thicker where the first one failed. Rikon was great about replacing the broken one.

Thank you Guy! Exactly, I forgot to mention that in my original post. My banjo is 25MM and it's very difficult to find tool rests in that size. They either have 5/8" or 1", so having a 1" banjo will make the choices a lot easier. Thank you to all of you for replying, I really appreciate it. I will continue my search and update my post If I'm able to find something that works for my lathe.

 

[Bill Boehme]

The best solution for stripped threads is to use a helicoil insert which would be stronger than a hole tapped in cast iron. Since you've already drilled out the hole, you could get a helicoil insert for the larger hole and then get a larger locking lever. I think that Robust makes a toolrest with a ⅝" post for mini lathes.

 

[Guy Scronce]

Dylan, hope your search is going well. I had an opportunity to use a Rikon 70-050 yesterday and I checked out the banjo with your question in mind. It is not as substantial as the banjo from the 70-220 and it has a 5/8 post. It still might be an upgrade to the harbor freight. I would assume you could just swap the lockdown plate from the harbor freight banjo if the Rikon plate didn’t work with your lathe.

I used to own a lathe with the 25mm post. It was a real pain when I decided I wanted a different tool rest. You can drill the 25 mm to 1 inch. Check with your club to see if anyone else is in the same situation. I’ve heard of clubs doing a drill party where they spit the cost of a nice 1” bit and set up a drill press to convert the post size.

 

[Dylan Skeean]

The best solution for stripped threads is to use a helicoil insert which would be stronger than a hole tapped in cast iron. Since you've already drilled out the hole, you could get a helicoil insert for the larger hole and then get a larger locking lever. I think that Robust makes a toolrest with a ⅝" post for mini lathes.

I think I have some inserts somewhere in this mess, that will be my next course of action if this holes strips on me.

Dylan, hope your search is going well. I had an opportunity to use a Rikon 70-050 yesterday and I checked out the banjo with your question in mind. It is not as substantial as the banjo from the 70-220 and it has a 5/8 post. It still might be an upgrade to the harbor freight. I would assume you could just swap the lockdown plate from the harbor freight banjo if the Rikon plate didn’t work with your lathe.

I used to own a lathe with the 25mm post. It was a real pain when I decided I wanted a different tool rest. You can drill the 25 mm to 1 inch. Check with your club to see if anyone else is in the same situation. I’ve heard of clubs doing a drill party where they spit the cost of a nice 1” bit and set up a drill press to convert the post size.

I put the search on hold for right now, I ended up re-tapping the hole and buying a new ratcheting handle for it. This is where my experience as a machinist for 27 years comes into play, I'm going to do exactly that, I'm going to ream the hole from 25MM to 1 Inch and just buy a new tool rest. But for now, everything is working well, except for the fact of not liking my current tool rest! Thank you for the reply and the tool rest comparison for me, I appreciate that!

Here's a picture of the handles I got on Amazon, the 5/16 handle was $10.00 and the 10MM handle was $15.00.

 

[Don C Davis]

Dylan, IMO without question the Oneway banjo is the best on the market--they make and sell separately a 12" banjo, this is without question what I would do--the locking clamp on their banjo is a circular plate, so you could grind/file that plate to fit the ways on your lathe--just check out their website, I think a 12" one runs around $220

Had to double check, and I was right check their banjo here: https://oneway.ca/products-category/lathe-accessories/Toolrest-Base-Retrofit-for-Other-Lathes/12"-Banjo-For-12"-Swing-Lathes

 

[Dylan Skeean]

Dylan, IMO without question the Oneway banjo is the best on the market--the make and sell separately a 12" banjo, this is without question what I would do--the locking clamp on there banjo is a circular plate, so you could grind/file that plate to fit the ways on your lathe--just check out there website, I think a 12" one runs around $220

Had to double check, and I was right check their banjo here: https://oneway.ca/products-category/lathe-accessories/Toolrest-Base-Retrofit-for-Other-Lathes/12"-Banjo-For-12"-Swing-Lathes

That's definitely a very nice banjo! I didn't realize how expensive the Robust banjo is, it's more than I paid for the lathe! Granted, I have a very inexpensive lathe, I'm hoping one day I can return to my job and get myself a new lathe. Thank you for the link Don, I appreciate that very much. I think this will be my banjo upgrade for sure, looks like a nice heavy duty and reasonably priced banjo.

 

[jacklewis]

Hello fellow wood turners, I have a question for you and hoping someone can help me out? I have a Central Machinery, Harbor Freight Lathe. It's the 12" Model, #34706 and I'm looking for a new tool rest and banjo. Does anyone know where I can buy a new tool rest that will fit my lathe? The tool rest that comes with the lathe is cheap and the threaded holes have been stripped already so I would like to replace it with a better rest assembly. I have a smaller Harbor Freight lathe that I use for pen making and other small items, the threads stripped on that one as well but I just re-tapped it to a larger size and currently have a allen bolt in there right now, but it's a pain to use an allen wrench all the time.

I know that my lathe is similar to Grizzly and Jet but I have no idea which one would have a tool rest that would fit my lathe? If anyone that has my lathe and knows where I could buy a replacement rest and banjo I would appreciate your help.

Thank you!

It really doesn't make a difference and you can re position and redrill the set screw holes to a position of your choice.