# HF Mini Lathe replacement tool rest



## lando42295 (Jan 18, 2016)

Hi all,

I have the HF Mini lathe (http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-x-12-inch-bench-top-wood-lathe-95607.html) and in my time owning it for 3 years have broken the tool rest on it twice, in the same way. I get a catch and it snaps the crossbar from the post on the tool rest. Unfortunately, HF does not sell replacement parts and the last time I was only able to get a new one by finding another reseller of that same cheap lathe and they happened to have an extra. I was wondering if anyone else had experience finding a replacement, the post is smaller than 5/8 so I can't buy standard ones. Currently my options I've considered are:
A. Buy the same replacement (~$25, IF I can find one)
B. Buy a better replacement (unlikely because of the nonstandard size)
C. Buy a new banjo from a nicer mini lathe that can hold standard sizes (Dependent on if I can find one, and it would likely cost as much as the lathe itself)
D. Have a metalworker fabricate a new one (I'm not sure how much it will cost or where to find one)

Anyone out there had luck with this? Thanks


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## JADobson (Aug 14, 2012)

What about:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=57663&cat=1,330,49238&ap=1


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

E. Drill out the banjo to 5/8"


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

I'm a bit late to the game here, but perhaps you could take the broken rest to a local machine shop and have him weld a piece of round stock to the post. I made my own "S-curved" rest doing that. 
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http://lumberjocks.com/JoeinGa/blog/66386
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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

This is another reason why I think woodworkers should learn some basic welding skills. Even though I am self-taught, and therefore not very skilled, I use my wire welder all the time, for making jigs and attachments-all sorts of stuff.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

> This is another reason why I think woodworkers should learn some basic welding skills. Even though I am self-taught, and therefore not very skilled, I use my wire welder all the time, for making jigs and attachments-all sorts of stuff.
> - runswithscissors


Or at least have a buddy/neighbor who does  Not only good for fixing stuff, but the combination of metalworking and woodworking can open up a whole different world of design and creation. Even with a cheap HF mig welder, you can do some impressive work.

Cheers,
Brad


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

If its got the 5/8 post then its the same as the 10" lathe. Rockler has them. There 10" excelsior mini lathe is an exact copy to the HF mini lathe.


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## lando42295 (Jan 18, 2016)

It's a 1/2" post, I was eventually able to find replacements on ebay from some salvage shop. Decided it's not worth upgrading to higher quality custom tool rest for a nonstandard HF lathe, I'll just upgrade the entire lathe at some point.


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## HapHazzard (Jan 9, 2016)

Buy some 1/2" round stock and some 1/8" flat stock and make your own tool rests. You can make them narrower or wider than the original and use the wide one for spindle roughing and the narrow one for detail work. I absolutely agree with what others have said about learning to weld. Wire-feed welders make it easy to get decent results right from the get-go, and with practice you'll get even better, and you can fix things when they break and make tools and fixtures to your liking.

That lathe, by the way, is what I started out with. I liked the variable speed control, but it was just too short for too many of the things I needed to turn. It still works great though.


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