Although the toolrest and toolrest bracket, or banjo, must be at the heart of any lathe and be of the correct form to permit easy tool manipulation, it is amazing how frequently one finds examples of appalling toolrest design.  The banjo needs to be easily movable yet needs to lock solidly to the lathe bed.  The height adjustment must cater for both spindle turning, even planing large-diameter items, and also for bowl-turning where it must drop to a position to enable standard bowl gouges to be correctly presented within the cavity of a deep bowl.  Take a look at the images shown here and note the sturdy banjo, the long cam-lock lever for clamping the banjo to the bed with a single hand, the positive height lock, the deep toolpost socket with a good length of shaft yet not fouling the bed, the clean design of the toolrest itself with a decently high angle for the tool support surface and a well-finished, smooth top plane upon which the turning tools themselves slide.  The toolrests, of both steel and cast iron, are slim so that they can easily be used within bowls and hollow forms to bring the tool support as close as possible to the point of cutting.  Now that's what I call a toolpost - and that's praise indeed from The ToolPost where we don't use the term lightly!

The photo on the right shows the latest development in this area - the variable eccentricity banjo.  This innovative design features a circular mounting plate upon which the toolpost socket is mounted and upon which it can rotate about the bolt which forms its axis, and which allows it to be locked in place.  This allows the toolpost socket to be moved bodily, independent of any movement of the banjo itself, to bring the front face of the toolrest into the closest proximity to the working face of the workpiece, regardless of the plane in which that face lies - as illustrated in the photograph, left.  In this position, the toolrest front face projects beyond the front face of the banjo, meaning that the full capacity of the lathe can be used - for instance in turning huge platters - without any risk of the banjo fouling the workpiece, even when the toolrest is in close proximity to the workpiece to give maximum tool support.  Yet another WivaMac innovation setting the pace which others to seek to match.

Toolrests, in both steel and cast iron, are available in a wide variety of standard lengths ranging from 100 mm to 600 mm with the longest (600 mm) being used with a second banjo to ensure a robust fixing.  A 900 mm dual post rest is available to special order.  There's even an offset bracket available for use in cases where you need to work "around the corner" yet keep the banjo in front of the workpiece.

When bowl-turning becomes your "thing" and you regularly want to turn substantial bowls and hollow forms then it may be time to look at the Bowl Turning Attachment usable with both the DB1000 and DB1200, as photographed at the head of this page.  This accessory makes access to large bowls and hollow forms very easy without having to crane over the bed or work with the banjo extended over the front of the bed.  It can be seen that this is not a "bolt-on goodie" type attachment , but a really sturdy and workmanlike extension to the lathe that quite simply converts the centre lathe into a high-performance bowl lathe - and it does so at a surprisingly economic price.  It's almost a case of two lathes for the price of one! (NB: this accessory can also be used with the bench-mounted DB800/DB801 lathes provided that the required mounting bench height is specified: the attachment can then be supplied to the required dimensions.)

Note that the Bowl Turning Attachment is floor-supported, not cantilevered out from the side of the lathe bed or stand.  At the top end it bolts rigidly to the main lathe bed, effectively becoming structurally integral with the bed.  The front support leg for the attachment has its own leveling adjustment, ensuring stability.  Once the attachment is fitted, the toolrest bracket (banjo) is removed from the main bed and fitted onto the auxiliary bed, where it can be used with any of the wide range of standard toolrests to give optimum access across the full face to be turned.  The Bowl Turning Attachment is supplied as standard with an adjustable front support leg, an extender to bring the toolrest to the required height and a complete set of mounting hardware, enabling it to be semi-permanently mounted on the lathe bed, under which it can conveniently be pushed when not in use..