A new poppet regime

Well, I have a new camera -- much like the old one, only more expensive -- so here are the new poppets for the lathe, made this weekend.
The poppets, which replace the old 2x4 items, were made from a section of birch log, split in half, and smoothed out on the good old shaving horse. Then they were sawed to shape, and I used the bandsaw for that purpose; finally shaved again to fit the bed. The headstock is so tight it requires no wedging; the tailstock is wedged in place. I now have a screw-in tightener on the tailstock (or tail puppet). It is a piece of threaded rod from the hardware store. Needs to be cut down, but it works as is. The poppets put the center height over 15cm. or 6" if you must.

All this required making a new tool rest. I am experimenting with the height of the rest. I have always found it works better a bit below center height. I am using a set of ordinary carpenter's gouges as turning tools. They work fine, but do need honing.

A pole lathe is a lot like a treadmill, only you have something to show for the effort at the end of the workout! So voila (or is that voici?) pole lathe 1.1.