Robust "J" rests

[Odie]

I have the large J rest, and I've never found it to be very important to my turning. I'm wondering what others think about it......and, under what conditions they use it.

Thinking it would be most useful for very deep vases, and such.

Giving some thought to the shorter one, however.

Anyone want to make a trade?

 

[Mike Johnson]

A deep vase is the only item I can think of for that tool rest.
What is the tool post diameter?

 

[Odie]

A deep vase is the only item I can think of for that tool rest.
What is the tool post diameter?

1"

 

[Charlie Knighton]

it would be difficult to turn in reverse as some turners do with that tool rest

 

[hockenbery]

It is a terrific rest for hollowing larger bowls. I recommend it to anyone turning bowls 14" or larger.
For smaller bowls I don' t use it except on the mini lathe where large is relative.
I bought one to use on my 1221vs if I bring it for a bowl demo with 10-11" blanks.

On a small bowl 13" or less I would just use the regular rest because it gets me to the bottom of the bowl with the bevel riding with minimal vibration.
On a bowl 15" or larger I would use the J rest. On a 14" bowl I might switch to J if I'm not getting a clean cut with the smaller rest. The J does not vibrate much when I turn on the end of it. The J is also great if I need to clean up the bottom with a scraper.


Above you can see the extra reach the J gives over my standard rest.
Also there isn't anything on the left side to get in my way or hit the tool handle.


Here is a 16" NE Bowl work in progress not sanded turned from a lower case "y" crotch
Used the J rest to hollow it

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

To echo Al, larger bowls and in particular deeper bowls, ie. "full-bodied" bowls. I can usually get away with the standard Robust strait rests, but occasionally the J is the hands-down winner, and I never knew what I was missing until I was given it. Usually I forget about it, struggle with strait, then remember the J.

 

[Odie]

The J rest is straight, with a 90° hook on the end, which is also straight. I don't understand how this could be used on a large bowl shape where a standard straight rest wouldn't do just as well. On second thought, it does look like Al's J rest doesn't have as much bend as mine does. So, with not quite as much bend, it may work for some bowls quite well. Does anyone have photos of the J rest being used in the interior of a bowl?

This one is mine:

 

[Odie]

Matter of fact, I have a 15" maple burl bowl in process right now. I'm thinking my Oneway interior rest will be perfect for that. Why would a rest with two straight sections be better than the Oneway rest?
The Oneway interior rest (photo from CSUSA site):

Here are two ash bowls that measure 14 5/8" in diameter each. The Oneway interior rest worked well for these.

 

[hockenbery]

The J rest is straight, with a 90° hook on the end, which is also straight. I don't understand how this could be used on a large bowl shape where a standard straight rest wouldn't do just as well. On second thought, it does look like Al's J rest doesn't have as much bend as mine does. So, with not quite as much bend, it may work for some bowls quite well. Does anyone have photos of the J rest being used in the interior of a bowl?

The j rest has two advantages. The curve at the end makes it stiffer less vibration.
The short side doesn't hit the turner or the tool handle. Also mine is longer than my straight rest.

In this demo I use the j rest. This view may look more like your rest. Although it is possible the design was changed I think mine is 3-4 years old

Fast forward to 27:30

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo0bGSafZq4

 

[hockenbery]

Matter of fact, I have a 15" maple burl bowl in process right now. I'm thinking my Oneway interior rest will be perfect for that. Why would a rest with two straight sections be better than the Oneway rest?
The Oneway interior rest (photo from CSUSA site):

Here it is turning style. I would be hitting the rest you are using with the tool handle. It is the wrong angle For my bevel riding cut.

If you fast forward the video above to 29:50 or so you can see the angle of the tool cutting to bottom center. The tool is quite level at bottom center and the curved tool rests hit the handle.
The J rest does not. Hit the handle.

By the time I am cutting the bottom I have the tool handle tucked into my side for a controlled bevel riding cut.

 

[Odie]

Here it is turning style. I would be hitting the rest you are using with the tool handle. It is the wrong angle For my bevel riding cut.

If you fast forward the video above to 29:50 or so you can see the angle of the tool cutting to bottom center. The tool is quite level at bottom center and the curved tool rests hit the handle.
The J rest does not. Hit the handle.

By the time I am cutting the bottom I have the tool handle tucked into my side for a controlled bevel riding cut.

I see....thanks Al......Yes, you are correct. Our turning styles are very different from one another. I'm thinking I may want the smaller J rest, but to get the tool rest closer to the bowl than I can get with the long curved Oneway rest. Many of my bowls have inward slanting walls, and undercut rims.....the short J rest might be of some help to me there. The big J rest sticks out too far and gets in the way for this purpose.

Thanks for giving the time to pinpoint the spot in the video you speak of.

I can't remember off hand exactly when I bought the J rest I have, but I think it's about 5 years ago. Pretty sure Brent alters his designs from the input he receives. Also, pretty sure he originally designed the J rest for deep vessels, and that would make sense with a more pronounced bend in the tip.

ko

 

[Bill Boehme]

The J-rest was originally designed specifically for Johannes Michelsen for turning the inside of hats. However it is very useful for other things like deep bowls or places where another tool rest might not reach very easily. My J rest is the 9" size and the curve at the end is about 45 degrees. Here are a couple pictures. The first is an 18" diameter bowl that I am currently working on. I also have a large Robust rest designed for the inside of large lowly like this one, but I don't like it because the tool handle hits the back end of the rest. The J rest works much better. The second picture is a shot of the J rest looking down from the top.

 

[Odie]

I went out and measured my J rest, and it's 13" straight line from tip to tip, and a little more than 14" if measured on the hardened rod around the corner. The other photos are a bit of an illusion, because the bend is far from the 90° I mentioned earlier.....It's closer to the angle of yours, Bill.

This photo is more representative of the angle mine is:

 

[robo hippy]

Well, the Oneway inside bowl rest I have has been dedicated to an articulated arm support for when I sand. I will not use it on bowls primarily because it vibrates when you get all the way out to the end. Not good or safe. What the J rest needs is a recurve rather than a straight.

robo hippy

 

[Odie]

Well, the Oneway inside bowl rest I have has been dedicated to an articulated arm support for when I sand. I will not use it on bowls primarily because it vibrates when you get all the way out to the end. Not good or safe. What the J rest needs is a recurve rather than a straight.

robo hippy

howdy robo.......

If taking very small precise cuts, the Oneway inside bowl tool rest doesn't vibrate......but, yes, I get what you're saying about using the rest way out at the very tip.......😀

Got a photo of that articulated arm support made from the Oneway rest? Sounds interesting.

ko

 

[Rusty Fleeman]

I have the J and use it quite a bit on vases. I purchased it well before my curved inside rest. It was quite handy on the inside of large bowls compared to my stock PM straight rest, but not the perfect answer. Once I got a curved rest the Java now sits primarily until a hollow form comes along.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I made a couple of J and reverse J type rest many years ago, looking at the pictures must be better than 20 years ago.

They do see action but not very often, as I use the regular straight rest unless that doesn’t work to well.

These rest have a bit of a curve before the bend end, the top rod is 1” and is quite solid, they all have limits and you should work within them, big scrapers taking heavy cuts might well have them vibrate, but then I use cutting tools for stock removal and scrapers only for cleaning up if required.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Matter of fact, I have a 15" maple burl bowl in process right now. I'm thinking my Oneway interior rest will be perfect for that. Why would a rest with two straight sections be better than the Oneway rest?
The Oneway interior rest (photo from CSUSA site):

Here are two ash bowls that measure 14 5/8" in diameter each. The Oneway interior rest worked well for these.
View attachment 22246 View attachment 22247

I'm a amateur welder, I have all types of rests, s,j,long, shorts, I have them. The one way is my favorite for the inside of medium bowls...

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Well, the Oneway inside bowl rest I have has been dedicated to an articulated arm support for when I sand. I will not use it on bowls primarily because it vibrates when you get all the way out to the end. Not good or safe. What the J rest needs is a recurve rather than a straight.

robo hippy

When I bought my Stubby I had to change the post on the one way. I added extra support, extra welds, and moved it a little, it's not on the end, super strong, no vibration at all. If I remember I will take a picture tomorrow...

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Leo, do all Canadian's turn in reverse?????!!!!!!!

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Leo, do all Canadian's turn in reverse?????!!!!!!!

Charlie I don’t think so, however I do, as I do not have a threaded spindle but use a large Taper to hold my mounting piece (Chuck or faceplate) there is no danger of the piece being turned off of the spindle, where that would be a problem if using a regular threaded spindle.

So I cut in whatever direction I like, just a flick of the switch and it’s rotating the other way 🙂

 

[Bill Boehme]

Forsooth, what manner of lathe is that big bad boy? 🙂

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Forsooth, what manner of lathe is that big bad boy? 🙂

That is a metal lathe Bill, this way I can and do turn wood or metal.

I made and build the outboard setup so I can turn large pieces and can stand right in front of my turning, out of harms way and in a relaxed position.

As I had turned and learned that on a big metal lathe in our families shop, when I went for a lathe in Canada, a big wood lathe would cost me more than a good metal lathe.

Accessories for a large wood turning lathe are also expensive or not available, so I went for the metal lathe, it has the strength and gives me the ability to make my own parts/pieces for that.

Build the stand with 12” high pressure pipes and a 10” I-beam on top, also rather than go with the screwed on faceplates and chucks (witch I have for metal turning) for wood turning, I went for holding my pieces (Chuck and faceplate) in the #5MT, turned the tapers and faceplates etc and hold the MT in the spindle with a drawbar.

As is I can turn about 33” outboard and up to 19” inboard with block removed.







The things I had learned I could apply here, like centering a faceplate easily.
The picture shows the small faceplate and the loose piece that fits into the faceplate, it has a small removable sharp point, I can set that easily in the centerpoint in the wood and then set the faceplate onto that piece and screw it down.

The difficult mounting and screwing it onto a treaded spindle is done away with, as the MT is easily placed and slipped into the MT opening.

The MT also gives me the ability to turn either way with no danger of unscrewing and dismounting of the pieces.

Bought the Oneway Stronghold chuck rather using a metal lathe chuck as I had used and knew the shortcomings of them, though these chucks did not exist 60years ago, and the Idea of buying a self centering 4 jaw chuck with soft jaws for my wood turning hobby was shot down by my Dad, (Too expensive for just a hobby of mine 😵)

So here I am getting older by the day, but still love turning, it is so much easier to start with that nowadays with the forums etc, as when and where I started to turn wood, no teacher and no internet 😀

 

[Odie]

That is a metal lathe Bill, this way I can and do turn wood or metal.

I made and build the outboard setup so I can turn large pieces and can stand right in front of my turning, out of harms way and in a relaxed position.

As I had turned and learned that on a big metal lathe in our families shop, when I went for a lathe in Canada, a big wood lathe would cost me more than a good metal lathe.

Accessories for a large wood turning lathe are also expensive or not available, so I went for the metal lathe, it has the strength and gives me the ability to make my own partes/pieces for that.

Build the stand with 12” high pressure pipes and a 10” I-beam, also rather than go with the screwed on faceplates and chucks (witch I have for metal turning) for wood turning, I went for holding my pieces (Chuck and faceplate) on the #5MT, turned the tapers and faceplates etc and hold the MT in the spindle with a drawbar.

As is I can turn about 33” outboard and up to 19” onboard with block removed.



View attachment 22339

View attachment 22340 View attachment 22341 View attachment 22342 View attachment 22343 View attachment 22344

The things I had learned I could apply here, like centering a faceplate easily.
The picture shows the small faceplate and the loose piece that fits into the faceplate, it has a small removable sharp point, I can set that easily in the counterpoint in the wood and then set the faceplate onto that piece and screw it down.

The difficult mounting and screwing it onto a treaded spindle is done away with, as the MT is easily placed and slipped into the MT opening.

The MT also gives me the ability to turn either way with no danger of unscrewing and dismounting of the pieces.

Bought the Oneway Stronghold chuck rather using a metal lathe chuck as I had used and knew the shortcomings of them, though these chucks did not exist 60years ago, and the Idea of buying a self centering 4 jaw chuck with soft jaws for my wood turning hobby was shot down by my Dad, (Too expensive for just a hobby of mine 😵)

So here I am getting older by the day, but still love turning, it is so much easier to start with it nowadays with the forums etc, as when sand where I started, no teacher and no internet 😀

Just wow!..... What an incredible setup, Leo..........😎

Really do love to see when others take the initiative to build their own equipment. 😀

ko

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Thanks for sharing Leo, I like the use of the MT....What 's to stop us from mounting pieces with our 2MT besides finding the attachment, I assume check with metal spinning equipment company

 

[Roger Chandler]

I have the 14" Robust "J" rest, and use it mainly for deep walled vessels like tall vases, etc. Nothing I have found beats it for deep walled work.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Just wow!..... What an incredible setup, Leo..........😎

Really do love to see when others take the initiative to build their own equipment. 😀

ko

That’s just it Odie, I did not need to build the lathe, That is usually the downfall for the self builders, I just had add to it, being able to do all the machining, welding and have the knowhow on how to do that it made it much easier.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for sharing Leo, I like the use of the MT....What 's to stop us from mounting pieces with our 2MT besides finding the attachment, I assume check with metal spinning equipment company

Charlie the surface area of a #2 MT is not large enough to do this on anything but the small lathes, most of the spindles on wood lathes are also not heavy enough, and then you have to marry the pieces together, those are not readily available, but if you are able to do the machining than it gets much easier of course, but for the previous mentioned short comings.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Thanks, Leo