Harold Hall simple grinding rest

I made everything out of steel because that's what I had on hand. I'm sure you can get away with using aluminum for some of the components. Yes, grinding dust will embed, so surely the top plate and the "business" components should be steel. Use your best judgement on the rest of the parts... If you make something out of aluminum and it doesn't hold up, you can always make a new one out of steel down the road.

I ended up making the advanced fixture as well and posted it on this list. A search should easily find it. I would suggest making that one, because it's easier to setup and use. If you do, I would make the slides and major components out of steel.

Good luck and have fun!
Ted
 
I have all the stock I would need in aluminum but only a 3/16" thick plate and rectangle bar in steel- which just may be enough to do this one.

As for the advanced version of this rest I don't have the stock material for it in steel at all. But I think it makes sense to build it once and build it right. So I'll post a couple of questions about that one in your other thread (I have it bookmarked) to keep things relevant.
 
I don't know how much experience you have, so I'll make a suggestion. If you've only worked with aluminum and not steel, make sure you use proper feeds, and more importantly speeds, for machining steel. I find that USA made HSS cutters (lathe bits, end mills, etc.) hold up a lot better than imports. If you use import HSS cutting tools, reduce your cutting speed from what is suggested by at least 1/3 reduction. They just don't hold up as well and will dull up quickly. Cutting oil/fluid/spray mist helps as well.

Ted
 
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