Gloat - My Jeff Nicol Style Steady Rest

[James Combs]

Tonight I finally finished my new steady rest for my new Jet 1642 lathe. I made some design changes as compared to Jeff's design or the one Baxter Smith recently posted. This post is just to show it off. I will be making another post detailing my fabrication process and the design changes with in a few days and will include numerous photos of the process so that it can be used as a tutorial if anyone is interested.


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This is the end product

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This is a platter steady add on that was an after thought.

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An earlier unpainted photo showing how the platter steady mounts.

[John Keeton]

JD, looks great! Did you end up welding the sleeves for the arms? Interesting idea for a platter steady.

Look forward to seeing the progress thread. And, don't forget the club meeting Thursday nite!!!!

[Jeff Nicol]

James, Everything looks good but I think the forces put on the arm for bowls/platter at the angle you have them will put extra stress on the wheels and bearings. The wheels would need to be perpendicular to the bed like the Oneway Bowl steady is to let the wheels roll freely. The way you have them the blank will drag and try to push the wheels instead of just rolling them. Just my observation, I have one made for mine that is "L" shaped so the wheels are moveable up and down and pivot to follow the shape of the bowl or platter.

But looks like a great job on the whole thing, glad I can be some sort of inspiration.

Jeff

[Thomas Canfield]

James,

I think I am seeing a pivot for the arms holding the platter wheels so that the angle of the wheels can be changed depending on the radius the wheels are set. That should allow the wheels to roll "freely" while providing support for the platter. Neat idea. My steady does not have that ability, but I haven't got into turning platters (yet). Do you have an extension for your drive to have the clearance for the steady and wheels behind the platter, or is that an issue with platter mounted in a chuck?

[charlie knighton]

congratulations

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking Steady James.

[Jim Underwood]

Nice looking rest Mr. Combs. I'm a bit disappointed that you wound up welding it though. I was hoping I could make one without aid of a welder....

Back to the plywood...

[Norm Zax]

Looks professional indeed. Make sure you and Jeff use different colors/trademarks. By the way, whats the source of those round frames?

[Thom Sturgill]

Nice unit JD.

[Ted Evans]

Great job James, what kind of welder do you use? Ted

[Tim Rinehart]

Very nice looking job James, and I might add...just a bit too much cleanliness going on there to give the impression of throughput!!

I am finishing up mine after seeing Baxter's post of his and putting in my order to McM/Carr for a flange ring. Basically down to fabbing the wheel arms and some paint.

Interesting platter steady...I read Jeff's comments, but haven't digested the whole thing yet. Will look forward to hearing how it works for you.

[Steve Vaughan]

Again, ya'll are just so awe-inspiring! I would enjoy making something like this as well as a captured hollowing system and am realizing more than ever that a really nice welder is a must-have-go-to tool for a lathe. Beautiful work and thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to your post about the process!

[David Reed]

I have in the past been searching for a source for these rings but like you, have since found them at McMaster-Car. My only question I have since finding them is the posted diameter. Is the posted diameter inside or outside? That is, did you use the 16" ring on your 16" lathe?
Thanks
David

[Paul Douglass]

That really is a nice looking steady rest. BTW at McMaster-Carr I think they are called angle rings. Least that is what I searched on to find them.

[James Combs]

JD, looks great! Did you end up welding the sleeves for the arms? Interesting idea for a platter steady.

Look forward to seeing the progress thread. And, don't forget the club meeting Thursday nite!!!!

John I guess I did say originally the words "no welder" but what I meant was "not welded by me" That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

James, Everything looks good but I think the forces put on the arm for bowls/platter at the angle you have them will put extra stress on the wheels and bearings. The wheels would need to be perpendicular to the bed like the Oneway Bowl steady is to let the wheels roll freely. The way you have them the blank will drag and try to push the wheels instead of just rolling them. Just my observation, I have one made for mine that is "L" shaped so the wheels are moveable up and down and pivot to follow the shape of the bowl or platter.

But looks like a great job on the whole thing, glad I can be some sort of inspiration.

Jeff

James,

I think I am seeing a pivot for the arms holding the platter wheels so that the angle of the wheels can be changed depending on the radius the wheels are set. That should allow the wheels to roll "freely" while providing support for the platter. Neat idea. My steady does not have that ability, but I haven't got into turning platters (yet). Do you have an extension for your drive to have the clearance for the steady and wheels behind the platter, or is that an issue with platter mounted in a chuck?

Jeff/Thomas, Thomas you have the right idea. The platter rest wheel supports do pivot. This will allow the wheels to be set to track parallel to the tangent of their circular track avoiding any "skidding"... I hope. Most of my turnings are done with a chuck and the chuck will be on a 1-1/4 8tpi to 1" 8tpi adapter. The combination will give me plenty of clearance behind shallow bowls and platters.

Nice looking rest Mr. Combs. I'm a bit disappointed that you wound up welding it though. I was hoping I could make one without aid of a welder....

Back to the plywood...

My apologies for misstating my intentions. I was always planning on welding the unit but farming out the welding. You will see in the future posting for the fabrication process that the entire thing is "bolted" together and then taken to a welding shop so that the shop does not have to spend time with any setup. Mine was welded up in less then 15 minutes from walking in the door of the welding shop.

Looks professional indeed. Make sure you and Jeff use different colors/trademarks. By the way, whats the source of those round frames?

Norm my angle ring source is McMaster Carr.

Great job James, what kind of welder do you use? Ted

Ted see my comments above. I farmed it out to a local welding shop keeping setup to a minimum by bolting everything together.

Again, ya'll are just so awe-inspiring! I would enjoy making something like this as well as a captured hollowing system and am realizing more than ever that a really nice welder is a must-have-go-to tool for a lathe. Beautiful work and thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to your post about the process!

Steve, yes a welder would be a great plus but not in the wood shop though. If I had one I would limit it's use to the garage, far away from wood and sawdust.

I have in the past been searching for a source for these rings but like you, have since found them at McMaster-Car. My only question I have since finding them is the posted diameter. Is the posted diameter inside or outside? That is, did you use the 16" ring on your 16" lathe?
Thanks
David

David, I used an 18" ring for my 16" swing Jet, however the way I have it designed I could have use a 16" ring. The posted diameter on the McMaster sight is the ID of the ring, mine was actually 1/8" larger then the posted 18" or 18.125"

That really is a nice looking steady rest. BTW at McMaster-Carr I think they are called angle rings. Least that is what I searched on to find them.

Paul is almost correct, the entire name is "Flange Angle Ring"


Thanks for all the comments and feedback folks. The post for my fabrication process may be in the form of a MSWord or PDF document. It is about half done. It includes cad drawings, photos and instructional comments.