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Thread: Steady rest
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25th June 2019, 10:40 PM #1SENIOR MEMBER
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Steady rest
My lathe came with a steady that belonged to a smaller lathe and used a block of wood to raise it to the correct height.
Old steady.jpg
It wasn't super stable but I was able to get by. Have wanted a more substantial steady rest for some time and it took a large vase to spur me into action. The new steady is capable of holding something up to 380mm in diameter and was built largely with scrap metal, and a set of inline skate wheels.
Built the main frame out of 50 mm square hollow section (SHS)
Img_6478.jpg
Fabricated a base using 6mm by 50mm flat bar, one on each side of the SHS base. The steady will be held on the bed by 2 bolts. A length of heavy flat plate would have been simpler for the base.
Img_6480.jpg
Used 30mm SHS for the arms and they slide in a SHS sleeve. I am not good at WIP photos but the finished article below will be fairly self explanatory.
Img_6481.jpg
Img_6482.jpg
After giving it a test run I can say that it works well. This vase was turned green and is 250 by 350mm.
Img_6486.jpgImg_6488.jpgImg_6489.jpg
And while I had the welder out I made a better base for the old steady using a piece of 50 by 75 RHS.
Img_6487.jpg
The smaller one is easier to take on and off the lathe and will still get a run for small projects like pepper grinders.
TonyYou can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. ~Oscar Wilde
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26th June 2019, 12:41 AM #2SENIOR MEMBER
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Tony, you did a good clean job on your rest. Just that you should make you proud of a job well done. I'm going to describe the one I made below. Do not take it as criticism.
Mine was made just like yours, but instead of a Hexagon, I left the left side open about 12". It looks like the one you first showed which is a reversed "C". It was designed that way because I found times that I really needed to mount it while I still had a piece between centers when the tail stock couldn't and shouldn't be removed. Besides, it is pretty heavy, and I'm getting weaker in my old age. To simplify mounting, I made a clamp that fit through the ways, and rotated clockwise 90 degrees and locked when I tightened it on the ways. The arms were not locked in a rigid position but free floating in order to position them where I think pressure or stability is needed. It was done that way because when reading about others steady rests, they always complained about the arm at 10-11 o'clock. It was in the way of lights or maybe a camera. Can't really remember.
The arms can also be flipped 180 degrees in order to get wheels to come together for smaller spindles and long items. The bolt holding the arms screw into a solid piece of steel tapped all the way through to be able to mount the wheels on the other side of the 2" tube at different spots along the item's surface without repositioning the rest. I can get almost a 5" distance on mine. Yours, if you were to remove the retaining screw and flip the bar 180, if my calculations are correct, you can gain a 1 1/2" difference from the wheels being inboard or outboard.
The downside of my open rest is if the form I'm turning has warped, I have to deal with a shaky rest even though it's pretty sturdy.
When you are using it, do you use a square to align the wheels 90 degrees to your project, or do you just mount it and start turning. ................ Jerry (in Tucson)USA
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26th June 2019, 08:45 AM #3SENIOR MEMBER
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Thanks for the comments Jerry. Should have mentioned that there is a piece of 6mm plate welded under the base that fits between the lathe beds and aligns the steady "perfectly" every time.
This steady was built for larger hollow form/vases and I can work with having remove the tailstock to put the steady on. Still have the smaller "C" shaped one which I can use for pepper grinders where i do find the centring issue that you describe above. If I ever decide to use a light for measuring the wall thickness Ill deal with that at the time.
Tony
TonyYou can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. ~Oscar Wilde
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26th June 2019, 08:20 PM #4
Hi Tony , nice job on the rest mate , well done looks good and solid
Cheers smiife
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28th June 2019, 06:35 AM #5GOLD MEMBER
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I like, its just a shame I don't have a welder, otherwise mine would've looked like yours. not from doubled up 19mm ply. as posted recently. nice work. I think if I spray mine black no-one will know its timber, hahahahaha
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28th June 2019, 09:35 AM #6SENIOR MEMBER
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Thanks Fumbler. Got a feeling that you dont need to overthink a steady for what most of us do. The old setup I had been using, with the wobbly wooden block to lift it up, worked and I turned quite a few things using it. But the new one is noticeably more solid when turning something big.
TonyYou can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. ~Oscar Wilde
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29th June 2019, 03:55 AM #7GOLD MEMBER
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29th June 2019, 08:06 AM #8New Member
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Nice build. I have used inline skate wheels to build a camera dolly, got the skates for a few bucks from the local tip. That jig would give me a lot of confidence turning weird stuff, thanks for sharing.
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29th June 2019, 09:11 AM #9SENIOR MEMBER
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