Steady Rest for a 10" lathe

Tim Schubach wrote: [snip]

This reminds me -- I've been thinking of getting a license plate frame "I'd rather be driving my Oneway". It couldn't be any more obscure than the current pair of "The Art of Rotodendrology" (thanks to A. Hilton, I think) and "Carpe Lignum, Torne Lignum" (courtesy Lynn Mangiamelli). I should explain -- the plate itself is 'A WDTRNR'. DW

Hi Tim

Penn state has a steady for a mini lathe, though the price is not mini IMO. At $49.95 plus shipping cost, I would make one myself. Just have a look

I still have my first lathe given to me by my parents decades ago.

I do note that you'd rather buy one, however, I offer a couple pics of the homemade steadies I used on my Delta Midi:

The "bearings" are UHMW plastic (ultra-high molecular weight) - this material is very slippery. I drilled a couple holes of varying diameters in a few lengths and then cut the hole in half to fit over the wood spindle to make a pair. You can see the "B" in the second pic to use the drilled pairs as a set. They're held to the steady and against the wood by deStacco clamps. I've had very good success with this setup - just keep the speed under 2500 or so for 1/4" spindles to make sure the plastic doesn't get too hot and begin smoking.

Hi Owen

Owen that's a very need setup, KISS all the way, thanks for showing, I don't think I would have ever considered using the UHMW material for that, I'd have expected it would just wear away to fast. This is just to show, "there's always more to learn".

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Owen Lowe wrote:

warning you to remove any and all rings from your fingers. Called degloving, extended hardware can grab your ring and rip it off your finger. A pic for the strong of stomach:

finished smoothness.

Ingenious, Owen, Fit & proper for the lathe shown, but I do hope you will paint the base white before insulting the Oneway. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Very clever, Owen!

Of course, if I could afford jig clamps like yours, I could buy a steady rest..

*g*

I was going to build one like this:

but your system looks like a better way to go... Mac

I used regular 2" or 3" C-clamps for a while but wanted something that was quicker - there are likely many clamp types that would work.

I was gonna ask what the clamps were, then I saw the 'de' in the brand name. Pretty much anything that has 'de' in the name I can't afford. :o)

As I recall, these de-Sta-cos were about $13-$14 each. When you compare that to other quality clamps that will hold well - even Vise-Grips, they are in the ballpark and even inside the baseline.

That sounds reasonable. I did a search, but couldn't find a seller. Do you remember where you got them?

Hi Reed

There is a 10 piece bundle of brand new Destaco clamps on Ebay if you are interested.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Lobby Dosser wrote:

Those are pretty cool, though... probably great for jig setup and such.. Mac

" snipped-for-privacy@rogers.com" wrote: Thanks Leo.

Thanks Leo. I've dealt with Penn State previously, and no longer even read their ads. Long story, but they are one vendor from which I will not make any more purchases.

And you are right - for $50, I can make my own.

tms

I think DeStaCo also makes a plastic version of these clamps that are more affordable. Don't know if they're fit to use in this case, but may be worth looking into.

Clever setup ...

tms

I got in on this post late, but Tim, if you want to take a look at the design I came up with for building your own, see it on my webpage at

under "Tips"

The direct link to a instruction file on how to make it is:

This thing has been copied hundreds of times by now, and everyone that has made it likes it because it's simply, extremely sturdy and cheap to make.

Herm

"Tim Schubach" wrote in news:SvbCg.45803$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

Herm... you lost me at "1½? square steel tubing and weld in ¾? threaded rod"... Not being a welder, I'm outta luck there...

Do you think that there be a lot less stability if the threaded rod were fastened to the square tube with bolts and lock washers?

Also, would there be any advantage to having maybe 2 rollers on the bottom, to center the work, or is it already self-centering?

thanks!

Mac

mac davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Tim, sorry to be late in responding. The advantage to welding the threaded rod into the holes in the sqaure tubing is to give you a bit more capacity on the lower crosspiece. If you had a nut on the top of the square tubing, your lower cross piece could not be lowered as much. You would lose the width of the nut in capacity.

There is already 2 wheels on the bottom crosspiece, so I presume you mean the top crosspiece. No need for it. The piece centers itself well. By using light adjustments on the ends of the bottom crosspiece you can get the bottom wheels touching the work at precisely the same time. A half turn or so upward on each nut will keep the piece centered. The top wheel just ensures that the centering won't be lost. I guess you could put two wheels on the top too, if you wished.

Hi Herm, thanks. Awful good to see your name and your good advice on a rcw thread.

For any newbies; Herm was and still is, a valued member of this newsgroup. He is a superior turner-instructor in his own right and he initiated a very fine woodturning forum (WOW) with pictures as well as text and he hasn't been as active here as before. Let's keep asking for his advice. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter