Wood Lathe Tool Holder Repair

I was foolishly trying to round a large piece of tree stump which was out of round and the roughing gouge caught on the wood and broke my cast iron tool holder. The tool holder (as I discovered) was probably not flat and not very heavy so it was really only designed for lightish work.

When I looked up replacements they were of the order of $160. After some research I decided to fabricate one from bits of steel I had lying about the place.

Parts list

• Length of 15mm square steel
• 75mm x 5mm flat steel
• 3/4" water pipe
• 10mm nut
• Eccentric bar and circlips (recovered from  the old tool rest)
• Bed securing assembly (recovered from  the old tool rest)

I started by cutting the 15mm steel square into two lengths  the length of the old holder less 10mm for the two end plates. I put a small 45 deg chamferon the corners of the bars to take the weld. From the flat steel I then cut two pieces one for each end, the one at the tool rest end being higher to cater for the tool rest. I then cut a short piece of the 3/4 water pipe for the tool rest.

I drilled two 20mm holes in the end places centered across and 5mm up from the bottom. I then welded these plates onto the 15mm bars I cut previously. This left a gap of about 50mm in the center for the eccentric bar. I then welded the piece of 3/4" pipe to the inside of the longer end plate to take the tool rest. After drilling a 10mm hole in the side of the pipe, using a short piece of threaded rod as a gauge, I welded a 10mm nut to the pipe to take the tool rest securing screw. I used a 10mm tap to clean up any splatter that obstructed the thread and to cater for any misalignment with the 10mm hole in the pipe.

The assembly was now complete. I then reassembled it and tested it on the lathe bed.

My thanks to Kryn over at the Woodworking Forums for the idea.