Farley Rest Problem

[Terry]

The Farley rest that I have does not travel straight up and down using the joy stick. It cocks side to side. How do I fix this?

 

[butchlambert]

Terry, is the plate on bottom of the rest that slides in the groove in the rear sliding plate, in that groove?

 

[Terry]

Terry, is the plate on bottom of the rest that slides in the groove in the rear sliding plate, in that groove?

I'll look. Thanks!

 

[Terry]

I'll look. Thanks!

Bottom with blue. Top down w/o.

 

[JoeMcNeill]

Butch,
Didn't you do an article on Bench Rest Central on the repair of a Farley rest, with pictures? I
seem to remember it when I took mine apart for inspection and smoothing it's operation.

JDM

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

The Farley rest that I have does not travel straight up and down using the joy stick. It cocks side to side. How do I fix this?

I think it may just be out of adjustment but hopefully one of these two links will be of help. The first one has some helpful videos. Upgrading the bearings is worthwhile too. As is replacing the tension buttons/screws with some from @butchlambert
If all else fails, contact @majohnson He's familiar with them, rebuilds/services them as well as makes new parts for them. This assumes he's still doing this, of course.

Farley Coaxial disassembly / re-assembly

I've had a Farley coaxial front rest since 2018 and it's worked very well. Today I noticed that the joystick wouldn't travel as far as it used to and the bag would rock when the joystick was moved. I got it home and took the head assembly off and re-assembled it but I can't get rid of the...

www.rimfirecentral.com

Servicing a Farley Front Rest

I have a Farley that I bought around 2002/2003 that I need to disassemble, clean, upgrade and reassemble. I’ve done the advanced search and saw the response that Butch gives to get most of the above done. But I would appreciate it if someone could give me advice on the first couple steps on...

benchrest.com

 

[JMayo]

I had this happen and it was my reassembly.
It had to do with the back plate. If i remember correctly i had it upside down. Not in the grove as Butch said.
The springs in the bottom of the bag holder have a "spot" they work the best at. More didn't help, less didn't help.

That was a big mess with grease, i do remember !
I got it everywhere

 

[butchlambert]

Butch,
Didn't you do an article on Bench Rest Central on the repair of a Farley rest, with pictures? I
seem to remember it when I took mine apart for inspection and smoothing it's operation.

JDM

Joe, I did many years ago and much has been discovered since.

 

[Eric Leonard]

Bottom with blue. Top down w/o.

You’re missing a piece on the bottom. I’m at work but can take pics when I get home tonight

 

[shoot4fun]

The Farley rest that I have does not travel straight up and down using the joy stick. It cocks side to side. How do I fix this?

If you can't get it worked out I believe this guy does a lot of work on the Farley.
@majohnson

 

[Eric Leonard]

The forward flat piece inside the rest has a slot in the front that another flat piece slides in and bolts to the bottom of the rest, the front piece with the slot moves left and right but not up and down,, the flat piece in the back moves up and down but the pins keep it in line with the front piece left and right.

Without that flat piece in the slot bolted to the rest there’s nothing to hold it level

 

[Eric Leonard]

You need that flat plate and 2 screws

 

[Terry]

Thanks to everyone!

It was simply not assembled correctly.

Works great now.

 

[majohnson]

Ur nd some lube on the top of the plate. You can see where the bag plate rubs on it . The springs also drag on top of the bottom plate. Plus most bottom plates are not flat. I’ve found them as much as .040” out. My plates are .00005 flat. Finish ground not just cut out of bar stock.

Still trying to find property here in Oklahoma. Been down here for ever it seems. Sorry guys. It frustrating, it almost like ground hog day. Doing this to be close to half siblings I never knew I had until 2015. Never met them until 2025. My sister was taken when she was 1 month old, by a family that knew her parents after WWII.

 

[butchlambert]

Ur nd some lube on the top of the plate. You can see where the bag plate rubs on it . The springs also drag on top of the bottom plate. Plus most bottom plates are not flat. I’ve found them as much as .040” out. My plates are .00005 flat. Finish ground not just cut out of bar stock.

Still trying to find property here in Oklahoma. Been down here for ever it seems. Sorry guys. It frustrating, it almost like ground hog day. Doing this to be close to half siblings I never knew I had until 2015. Never met them until 2025. My sister was taken when she was 1 month old, by a family that knew her parents after WWII.

My web guy moved from Colorado to Broken Arrow, Okla. within the last year.

 

[majohnson]

Here are some pictures of the inner plates, you can see how poorly the machining is, and the anodizing. The first one the shinny spots are the only contact point of the plate.

Now if you set your tension at one point, as you move the joystick it going to be in constant. It my not be much, but it does change.

 

[majohnson]

Here are a couple of videos of the same lower plate. I hope you find the results interesting. Farley had used commercial available bar stock. They bought stock that was premachined to sized. I buy over sized bar stock, which I need to remove equal amounts remove from both sides. I mill the plate to plus .006” over final diamention. Then I grind .003” off each side to finish. It takes 3 days to remove the material. It takes very little heat to cause the plate to warp. I have had so many plates that were junk. Even with coolant it slow.

Since the plate goes into a slot on the bottom of an internal plate, it affects the feel and movement of the joystick. It takes me 3 days to grind a new plate. Here I measure with a .0005” drop dial. Now the block I am using is ground to .00005”, it influence on the results are minimal.

The internal aluminum plates are also surface ground in a similar manner. Yes you can grind aluminum all the companies make grinding wheels specifically for aluminum.

 

[butchlambert]

Here are a couple of videos of the same lower plate. I hope you find the results interesting. Farley had used commercial available bar stock. They bought stock that was premachined to sized. I buy over sized bar stock, which I need to remove equal amounts remove from both sides. I mill the plate to plus .006” over final diamention. Then I grind .003” off each side to finish. It takes 3 days to remove the material. It takes very little heat to cause the plate to warp. I have had so many plates that were junk. Even with coolant it slow.

Since the plate goes into a slot on the bottom of an internal plate, it affects the feel and movement of the joystick. It takes me 3 days to grind a new plate. Here I measure with a .0005” drop dial. Now the block I am using is ground to .00005”, it influence on the results are minimal.

The internal aluminum plates are also surface ground in a similar manner. Yes you can grind aluminum all the companies make grinding wheels specifically for aluminum.

Kinda confused as to your photos. Correct me if I am wrong. Not shown that I saw in your photos is where the two plates work on each other. On each sliding plate there is a vertical vee groove on each side of the plates just in from the end. 2 Hardened pins work in the grooves. This is to make the front sliding plate to go up and down evenly. The bottom of the rear sliding plate has a horizontal groove from side to side on the bottom. The thin plate bolted to the bottom of the main housing fits in this groove. This to keep the rear sliding plate from moving in an uneven manner when moving the joy stick up and down.

 

[majohnson]

Butch,
That just the lower plate , you can see the two holes where the mounting screws go through to hold it to the bottom of the body. That measuring both faces. The shinny edge on the bottom video is where the plate that holds the the bag plate rides. Making it the face that carries the load on horizontal moves.

No matter what I don’t take production material and assume that it flat. I bought a Harig directly from the first owner that only had light use for sharpening his dies. No one else in his shop was allowed to use it. The ways look like they did when it was purchased.

 

[butchlambert]

Here are some pictures of the inner plates, you can see how poorly the machining is, and the anodizing. The first one the shinny spots are the only contact point of the plate.

Now if you set your tension at one point, as you move the joystick it going to be in constant. It my not be much, but it does change.

This is the photos that I was referring to.