Tools should make your life easier.
Iteration and testing to make the best product for you
Multiple revisions, agonizing over every detail... so when you get the product, it is amazing.
This steady rest has gone through over 10 physical revisions and even more design revisions. All in the quest for the perfect product, for you to use and enjoy.
This steady rest has gone through over 10 physical revisions and even more design revisions. All in the quest for the perfect product, for you to use and enjoy.
The Iris Steady Rest
About a year ago, I was working on the European Decanter. Because it was so long, I needed to use a steady rest for support when turning it, especially the inside, as I couldn't use the tail stock. While turning, I noticed that anything I turned after applying the steady rest was out of round with anything I turned before. This was incredibly frustrating because it meant I had to go back and re-turn the whole decanter to get it back to round. After having this happen a couple times, I began to notice that when I applied the first wheel of the steady rest, the decanter would deflect. This was especially an issue when I was furthest away from the head stock. Now, at the same time, I was making a Longworth Chuck for a school project. A Longworth Chuck is basically a self-centering scroll chuck for turning the bottom of bowls. I then though, "Why is there nothing on the market that is a combination of a Longworth Chuck and a steady rest?" This simple question took me down a 9-month long spiral of concepting, designing, and testing different versions of this idea. I went through over 30 different designs and over 10 physical prototypes trying to perfect the product, tweaking the smallest things to make the user experience smoother, quicker, and better each time. This path eventually lead me to the Iris Steady Rest. Launching as the first product for Harmony Tool Co., it truly represents what we stand for: A good tool should disappear into the background while using it, but be worthy of fascination when studying it.
Future Products
Every product we put out will innovate its respective space. We want all of our products to make a meaningful difference in the industry. While many companies make slight improvements to existing products, we focus on blowing the existing products out of the water.
Off-angle clamping made easy ~ Launching end of summer 2020
A lot of projects have the need to clamp parts together that don't have faces parallel to the joint but, there really isn't a great way to do this without using extra clamps, gluing on calls, or leaving material when cutting your part. This is such an issue that the design of furniture and woodworking pieces has, been subconsciously limited to one specific joint. If you look around, you will almost never see non-90° joints. With furniture and design moving towards more free flowing and non-orthogonal pieces, the woodworking community is in need of a simple, quick, and reliable clamping technique for off-angled glue ups.
A lot of projects have the need to clamp parts together that don't have faces parallel to the joint but, there really isn't a great way to do this without using extra clamps, gluing on calls, or leaving material when cutting your part. This is such an issue that the design of furniture and woodworking pieces has, been subconsciously limited to one specific joint. If you look around, you will almost never see non-90° joints. With furniture and design moving towards more free flowing and non-orthogonal pieces, the woodworking community is in need of a simple, quick, and reliable clamping technique for off-angled glue ups.
One tool rest to rule them all ~ Launching end of 2020
Tool rests for wood turning come in many different shapes and sizes so that you can change them in and out for different projects or sections of project. They come in distinct shapes, so unless you are turning the exact shape of the tool rest, or you are willing to spend tons of money on having every different shape, you will always be turning with sub-optimal tool rest placement. We find this a particular issue when turning the inside of bowls, vases, or the outside of any complex shape. What if there was one tool rest that, with a click of a button, could be adjusted to match the exact profile you are turning? One tool rest that could take the place of every single other tool rest so you never have to switch between them or spend the money on them.
Tool rests for wood turning come in many different shapes and sizes so that you can change them in and out for different projects or sections of project. They come in distinct shapes, so unless you are turning the exact shape of the tool rest, or you are willing to spend tons of money on having every different shape, you will always be turning with sub-optimal tool rest placement. We find this a particular issue when turning the inside of bowls, vases, or the outside of any complex shape. What if there was one tool rest that, with a click of a button, could be adjusted to match the exact profile you are turning? One tool rest that could take the place of every single other tool rest so you never have to switch between them or spend the money on them.
