Replacement/upgrade Banjo

[pointer2null]

I'm in Bristol UK.

Don't get side tracked on the Draper. I've seen many lathes on you tube with a range of banjos, some high lift, some extended etc but simply cannot find any source of them. It may be possible that the only source of these is with the new lathe, but since you can find almost everything else as an aftermarket improvement or add on, it seems odd that there are no banjos. It's also worth noting that I've seen lathes in the US and EU that look identical to the Draper, so my guess is they are all badged machines - including the Axminster flavour.

I know the Draper is cheap - I bought it second hand for £170 with the Nova scroll chuck. I've never had a lathe and didn't know how I'd get on with woodturning so bought a cheap old one to try. If I get on well I'll ulimately get a better model, but not quite yet.

[HillClimb]

My view is that there are 100s of lathes, and probably at least a few dozen lathe-bed/bar formats. So banjos are not unniversally interchangeable (unless you took it to a machine shop to be modified) but for any one lathe there may be another brand that shares the same format and their banjo may be better but likely to be equally bad.

Unfortuantely almost no info on this available on the turning shops / manufacturers websites. So the best advice is what others have already said, take your banjo with you to a branch of Axminster or a "wood turning shop run by a woodturner" such as Olivers, Stile & Bates, Toolpost etc, if they don't sell what you need they may at least have some good suggestions including possible how to mod what you have got.

Otherwise what you need is someone who has the same lathe as you and knows the problem you are suffering. And that isn't me.

Some photos of the banjo/problem description would help people here to help you - plus your location to suggest your local gurus.

Good luck

[burywoodturners]

I made two for my lathe, so I could have a long tool rest for turning chair legs.  It was not difficult once I gave it some thought. I used oak for them and made the rest with a hardwood batten to which I fixed a length of angle iron.
Ron

[burywoodturners]

I hope this photo will explain all!

[BrianH]

Just wondering if a second hole was drilled and tapped into the existing banjo at a higher level before a corresponding amount was sawn off the bottom of the existing toolpost might offer a solution?
I think a lathe....or anything else come to that..... from this end of the marketplace is almost bound to have its own collection of quirks and awkwardnesses. Solving the banjo problem may well only highlight the next one! My advice might be to put your wallet away, learn to live with Mr Draper's idiosyncrasies, while you gain enough experience to know where you want to go with your next lathe investment.
All the best with whatever you decide
Brian