robo tool rest on a laguna 18-36

[joe zarnitz]

does it clamp ok---i have a best wood rest that is too loose and wont clamp---it worked in my old jet 1642----just looking to make sure before ordering---tks,joe

[Reed Gray]

Well, since I don't have a Laguna lathe, I can't really answer that. The post is 1 inch, and I know they fit on the Jet, PM, and Robust lathes.

robo hippy

[John Keeton]

For what it is worth, although I don’t have a Robo rest the rests that I used with my Jet 1642 work on my Revo 1836. They do require a bit more “squeeze” to tighten than the factory Laguna rest.

[Brice Rogers]

Joe, have you measured (that is, with a micrometer or caliper) the diameter of your Best tool rest post? Both of the lathes you mention accommodate a 1" post. Is it possible that your Best tool post is 25 MM rather than 1 inch?

[Mick Fagan]

Because the Laguna system clamps the entire tool post, as opposed to screwing something into the tool post to lock it to one side, any tool post will need to be almost exactly 25.4mm or 1" in diameter.

If you have a 25mm tool post, which in your language is 63/64" then I think you will find it will not work.

The 25.4mm Laguna tool rest will happily work in a 25mm holder, but a 25mm tool post will not work in the Laguna 25.4mm clamp system. I know this as I've tried to get a 25mm shaft to lock; not a hope.

As John Keeton says, you do need to squeeze a bit more than others to lock the tool rest post solid. Once locked though, it is rock solid.

Mick.

[Reed Gray]

I seem to remember that for a while, both Grizzly and Laguna used 25mm posts. I think both of them have gone to 1 inch posts now.

robo hippy

[Brice Rogers]

Joe Zarnitz, if the underlying issue is a 25 mm post swimming around in a 1" pocket, you can fairly easily fix it to the extent that you can use your Best tool rest. Just take an aluminum soda or beer can and carefully cut out a shim. Then slide the shim between the post and the pocket. Maybe a single wrap or perhaps two. If you want something more permanent, try using some superglue between the undersized post and the shim. A couple of hose clamps should compress the shim tightly to the post which the superglue cures.

The difference between 25 mm and 1" is only about 0.016" so, the gap is only 0.008 all the way around. But perhaps the shim doesn't need to be 0.008" thick to work. It just needs to take up enough of the gap that the travel range of your banjo will clamp adequately.

Come back and tell us what you found.

[joe zarnitz]

i was able to clamp it by placeing a hollow pvc pipe over handle so that i could exert more turning--- pressure------the best tool rest miked out at exactly 1''

[Reed Gray]

I think that there is more than one person who has had their 25mm banjo bores out to 1 inch.

robo hippy

[Alex Zeller]

I would be careful putting something on the end of the clamp to apply more force. Often that'll break stuff. Also adjusting the rest is done so often that I wouldn't want to have to do that each time. Was the stock rest also 1"? If so are they both the same length? Is there any grease or cosmoline inside the rest allowing it to slip?

[Reed Gray]

Getting the tool rest to lock in the banjo can be an issue with the set screw levers which are becoming less common. Only solution I found to that was to add a second set screw on my old PM3520A. I also torqued off several of the handles that were on them. No clue as to why they would make the set screw itself out of hard metal, and the handle out of cheap pot metal. That is designed to fail, even with minimal tightening. I had one machined for my PM where it had the T type handle, similar to what you will find on a bench vise where the cross bar that you twist with slides back and forth so it can simply be moved out of the way and you don't have to ratchet anything....

robo hippy