Thread: lathe steady wheels

For wheels I used bearings with Clear PVC tubing tyres.
At first I just jammed them on but they did eventually come off so I glue them on with a few spots of super glue around the rims
threepoints.jpg
steady.jpg

Originally Posted by BobL

For wheels I used bearings with Clear PVC tubing tyres.
At first I just jammed them on but they did eventually come off so I glue them on with a few spots of super glue around the rims

Thanks Bob,

Thats a monster!! Great thinking, I have quite a bit of tubing lying around, and besides, tube joiners are a dollar or 2 from the great green giant.

i must ask though, why were you using the steadies with your tail stock up? Or was there too much flex in that rod you were turning?

Try the op shops/second hand shops for skateboards their wheels are great.
Lyle.

I have bought a pair of inline skates in a junk shop for $3.00, nice bearings, softish wheels. Wheels may need scrubbing to get grit off.

Originally Posted by BobL

For wheels I used bearings with Clear PVC tubing tyres. At first I just jammed them on but they did eventually come off so I glue them on with a few spots of super glue around the rims.

Nice use of simple materials, Bob.

QUOTE=Lyle;2126943]Try the op shops/second hand shops for skateboards their wheels are great.
Lyle.[/QUOTE]


Hi lyle , yeah , I tried the op shops and was told there not allowed to sell them
Cos someone might hurt themselves
I bought a new pair of kids skates from k mart for $20.00
I now have a steady i made and have spare wheels over ,
fumbler If you would like them I can send them to you

Originally Posted by Fumbler

Thanks Bob,

Thats a monster!! Great thinking, I have quite a bit of tubing lying around, and besides, tube joiners are a dollar or 2 from the great green giant.

Yes it is quite a big one. I made it before I had much in the way of metal working gear in my shed. Table saw, router belt sander and drill press, plus lots of filing. It's all made from Al scrap I found in the offcuts bin at work. I probably poisoned myself form the amount of Al dust I generated making that thing.

i must ask though, why were you using the steadies with your tail stock up? Or was there too much flex in that rod you were turning?

That was just part of testing the setup .

I'm curious, are you building the lathe steady to assist with your long thin spindle project?

If so a few points to consider,

• for any given wheel diameter there is a minimum diameter for the stock that can be practically turned. Thin spindles require small wheels.
• the wheels all should be co-planar so that you do not induce stress and hence flex into thin spindles.
• the steady wheels must remain free of each other,
• for spindle turning the lathe RPM is high, however the circumferential speed i.e. cutting speed of the tool is quite low compared to larger diameter bowl blanks turned at the same RPM.
• thin spindle turning requires relatively high accuracy to prevent vibration and harmonics from setting up.

Hence the accuracy of and the "speed rating" of the bearings used in the lathe steady wheels needs to match, as does the accuracy of placement of the arms / wheels to the centre axis of the lathe spindle / blank, and to maintain that accuracy while turning.

Turners creating long thin trembleurs prefer "string steadies" that "guide" rather than confine the long thin blank.

Originally Posted by smiife

QUOTE=Lyle;2126943]Try the op shops/second hand shops for skateboards their wheels are great.
Lyle.

Hi lyle , yeah , I tried the op shops and was told there not allowed to sell them
Cos someone might hurt themselves
I bought a new pair of kids skates from k mart for $20.00
I now have a steady i made and have spare wheels over ,
fumbler If you would like them I can send them to you[/QUOTE]

Smiife, thank you, I'll take them. But please let me give you some money for them, and to cover the cost of postage. PM me your details and I'll get it sorted. Thank you

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

I'm curious, are you building the lathe steady to assist with your long thin spindle project?

If so a few points to consider,

• for any given wheel diameter there is a minimum diameter for the stock that can be practically turned. Thin spindles require small wheels.
• the wheels all should be co-planar so that you do not induce stress and hence flex into thin spindles.
• the steady wheels must remain free of each other,
• for spindle turning the lathe RPM is high, however the circumferential speed i.e. cutting speed of the tool is quite low compared to larger diameter bowl blanks turned at the same RPM.
• thin spindle turning requires relatively high accuracy to prevent vibration and harmonics from setting up.

Hence the accuracy of and the "speed rating" of the bearings used in the lathe steady wheels needs to match, as does the accuracy of placement of the arms / wheels to the centre axis of the lathe spindle / blank, and to maintain that accuracy while turning.

Turners creating long thin trembleurs prefer "string steadies" that "guide" rather than confine the long thin blank.

Moby turns, thank you for the tips, and here is my steady, still in production.
IMG_5182.jpg IMG_5183.jpg
The steady will be used to get the batons down to the smallest size possible before I switch down to these

IMG_5171.jpg IMG_5184.jpg IMG_5185.jpg

The screws are Bear Claw picture hangers which screw into the wall studs and are rated at carrying 100kg each.

Having said all that, a roller steady will always come in handy, so killing several birds with the one stone, so to speak. Hopefully PETA don't come chasing me for that comment.

PM sent......

Further along,

IMG_5210.jpg

Originally Posted by Fumbler

The steady will be used to get the batons down to the smallest size possible before I switch down to these

IMG_5171.jpg IMG_5184.jpg IMG_5185.jpg

Last week I called by one of my "local" timber merchants to take this picture.

(Phone camera, plus pretty crappy lighting)

Anyways, this piece is a bit longer and more ornate than what you want to make, but indicative of what can be done using string steadies.

As I was taking the photo Terry, the piece's maker walked past. (Terry is a disciple of Mike Darlow -- the final finish is what you achieve off the chisel.)

Anyways, I asked Terry how the piece was turned, his response was
the starting blank was square and held in a chuck.
the blank was turned down to a cylinder wider than the widest "knob".
the the shape was turned from the free end back towards the chuck in increments no longer than this -- Terry held his thumb and finger about 1.5 cm apart.
each part of the shape was turned to final size in one hit -- i.e. once completed there was no reworking of completed sections.
string steadies were used to stabilise the thin turning.

These are the string steadies Terry used.



I'm not pretending to be a skilled turner, but thought you might find the approach Terry briefly described useful.

Originally Posted by ian

the the shape was turned from the free end back towards the chuck in increments no longer than this -- Terry held his thumb and finger about 1.5 cm apart.
each part of the shape was turned to final size in one hit -- i.e. once completed there was no reworking of completed sections.

Prezactly. Any sanding (if the need is there ) should be done before moving on.

The photos nicely show what I meant by using springs. Some turners prefer to use a small hook of bent wire instead, onto which they slip small nuts/washers/etc as weights to get the tension they want.