I needed a pivoting attachment yesterday for a re-pivoting job. I have in the past watched them on e-bay, they quite often come with a jacot drum and look like a round disc with holes increasing in size drilled around the outside and make in the region of $180 - $200. I couldnt afford that so I had a go at making my own. It was a little rushed and looks a bit crude but it does the job perfectly, you can even make two or three and have every single size hole you would ever need.
This is designed to fit in the t-rest holder hole which on my Wolf Jahn lathe is 6mm in diameter. This will work for any T-rest holder as long as it takes interchangeable fittings like a roller/file rest etc.
I just cut a piece of 6mm silver steel rod to size and then cut a slot in the top (like a deep screw slot) to fit the "flag". The "flag" is the piece that has your different hole sizes drilled into it and is also made of steel. Once the slot was cut I then drilled through the rod, from one side to the other so with the flag fitted in the grove I could put a rivet all the way through and then silver solder it in place. For riveting I used a 3mm diammeter piece of blued pivot steel first softened by heating to cherry red and then slowly moved away from the heat source so it didnt cool too quickly. This was then cut to size and hammered in to form the rivet. It is then just a matter of putting some solder around the joins and then drilling whatever size holes you need in the "flag". As the T-rest is adjustable up and down and across the lathe bed it allows you to drill a few useable holes in your flag but obviously with each lathe being different please check the amount of adjustment you have with your t-rest holder so as to get an idea of how much "flag" area is useable. Like I said it doesnt take long to knock one up so make two or even three and just drill the guide holes in as you need them.
It worked a treat and saved me a small fortune to spend on other tools
I have added a rough drawing, I hope you get the idea but if not please ask.
Paul.