Rowteight wrote:Is having the top of the tool rest level with the centres the universal practice, or do some people work with a rest height slightly below the centres? My recollection from the couple of courses I've done is that the tool rest was slightly below the centres, but I can't be sure, and I don't want to modify my setup if this is a bad idea.
Hi. There are many more experienced turners on this site who can help you with this question, but the set-up you are referring to is certainly more of an issue when spindle turning, and on a power lathe. With the pole lathe, which is more sympathetic to both the turner and the tools, and the timber, this is not so critical. Like you are describing, I set my tool rest up a tad below, and it's fine for spindle work. Once you get working with the longer hook tools and bowls, it really doesn't seem to matter. I ended up with two tool rests; one is simply longer and thicker than the other. The extra height seems to be handy for bowl work; the thinner one gets the tools below the centres holding the piece. As Robin mentioned earlier, with the longer tools, you are adjusting the angles by raising and dropping your (probably) right hand.
Hope that helps... and I suspect the experienced users out there can offer more solid advice. The great thing about it is that we can make all these changes ourselves, simply by guntering about with bits of timber, which is probably what got us on to this forum in the first place!
Best of luck