Shopsmith Forums

I have two old Shopsmiths dated 1981 and 1984 along with various equipment. On both of these the lathe tool rests have both been damaged somehow, with what looks like hammer strikes along the top edge that should be straight and smooth. I am not sure how they got there but both of them are like that. Is there some way to restore the top surfaces of these? If I had a surface grinder it would be easy. But I don't.

i keep mine in great shape by laying a mill file flat on it and just a few strokes has it looking like new. many guys recondition them by holding it on a belt sander for a few seconds. should work but i have not done that yet. our turning club has ten jet mini lathes and the rests have been much worse than mine and i have done them with the mill file as the kids are hard on them

bettyt44720 wrote:i keep mine in great shape by laying a mill file flat on it and just a few strokes has it looking like new. many guys recondition them by holding it on a belt sander for a few seconds. should work but i have not done that yet. our turning club has ten jet mini lathes and the rests have been much worse than mine and i have done them with the mill file as the kids are hard on them

Same here!

Sharp corners on the lathe chisels can cause such dinging. Breaking the sharp edges (rounding them over) will help to minimize future dinging.

I have to file that soft cast iron regularly.

Good thing about the cast iron, it's soft and absorbs vibration.

Bad thing about the cast Iron, it's soft and gets damaged easily.

There are other tools rests that can fit that our tool rest holder. Many people like harder steel rests.