My lathe has a 15-in. capacity over the gap, but when I mount a large bowl or tray, it’s impossible to get the tool rest behind the blank to turn the bottom. To provide a tool rest for working the back, I bent a strip of 3/8 in.-thick iron to a 90¡ angle and bolted it to my headstock casting, as shown in the sketch. The tool rest was so useful that I made a set of them bent to different angles to fit different shapes. For safety’s sake, remove the tool rest before sanding so your fingers don’t get pinched.

Kevin G. Weir, Brantford, Ont., Canada

Fine Woodworking Magazine, October 1986 No. 60

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

CrushGrind Pepper Mill Mechanism

Matt Monaco designs his pepper mills to accept the CrushGrind mill mechanism, which he likes because it doesn’t require drilling through the top of the mill’s cap and having hardware exposed on top.

Buy at Woodcraft Buy at Amazon

Hedgehog featherboards

The Hedgehog's unique spiral shape and single knob make it easy to set up and fast to adjust.

Buy at Amazon

Double Sided Tape

A thin woven core makes XFasten tape strong yet not too thick (0.008 in.), and helps it hold powerfully without being difficult to peel off.

Buy at Amazon