Hardinge TL10 follow rest

thingiverse

This is a custom-made follow rest designed specifically for use with a Hardinge TL-10 lathe. Feel free to modify it to fit other lathes as needed! It's crafted from 1/4" plate and can be cut using plasma cutting, waterjet, or laser techniques - CNC machining also works well. To achieve success in fabricating this follow rest, focus on the cut-off tabs and leave them intact until completion. Begin by cleaning all slag off your components and grinding any areas to be welded to bare metal. Stack up the front and back plates carefully and secure them with clamps at least 4 places, then tack weld at least 6 points. Do not weld in the finger slots! Weld all edges except where the brace fits into the corner. If you plan to mill the slots, do it now. You can remove the tabs at this point if desired. I used 1" x 3/8" cold rolled steel for the fingers on mine, though plasma-cut fingers would have worked equally well. Please note that if you cut the finger slots a bit deeper than 1/4", you'll need to mill the end of the back finger thinner afterwards; otherwise, it will catch on the two front fingers. After completing any finishing work on the slots, weld the foot and brace in place, then smooth all corners. Make sure the foot is square to the front/back assembly. You'll also need to ensure that the foot is flat. After welding and grinding, you can either apply epoxy to the foot and set it on a treated flat surface or mill it flat. I chose to mill mine and then enjoy some fun scraping it even flatter. The three bolts used to hold the fingers in place are 3/8"-16. The holes are undersized so that you can drill them to size and ensure they're round. In use, move the follow rest as close to the headstock as possible, slide each finger firmly against the work piece, and clamp them securely in place. Lubricate the work/fingers regularly for optimal performance. I don't recommend using rollers on these; they tend to suck chips in and either ding or bump the work. I tried it out...