Steady rest project

[Don Frank]

I am planning on welding up a steady rest for my 3520b. I printed off the very detailed instructions from JD Combs. This design is using a steel flange angle ring (Jeff Nicol style) as a beginning point. The design makes it pretty rigid to start with. Since it would be a 20" flange I'd probably go with a 3/8" thick base plate that it's welded to.
I have never hollowed anything using a steady rest but I'm wondering if there would be a constant battle with the laser arm having to be above or below the steady rest. Would it make any sense to emulate the same design except with an open gap at the top of ring (perhaps 4-6"). (__)
Basically I can see where having a right and left side to the steady rest instead of a complete circle could cause vibration etc so I'm guessing a little extra beefing up would be in order. Perhaps even purchasing two steel flanges and welding them back to back to stiffen up everything.
Am I over thinking this? I love the basic design and how the wheels adjust to fit any form. I'm just thinking a gap in the top of the circle would make sense. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[John Keeton]

The stresses on a steady, while distributed in various directions, mostly are upward in response to cutting pressure. You only need to get one good catch without a steady to see this in action. A gap between 8 and 11, or perhaps 9 and 12 would seem to be more effective for laser use, but you need some resistance on the top side IMO. You could consider making the arms moveable.

[Brice Rogers]

I built a steady rest for my old smaller lathe. I used it primarily when I was hollowing something that hung way out, like a long skinny vase. I used it as a safety device in case I got a catch - - so that it wouldn't tear the piece out of my chuck or off of the glue block. Also, with something hanging way out, it is easy to have the piece move a bit in the chuck - - which I didn't want.

You raised an interesting point about the interference with a laser system. But, perhaps (IMHO) you are overthinking things a bit. I recently watched a hollow-form master (Mike Jackofsky, Escondido Ca.) turn a hollow form and he didn't use a laser. Also, he didn't use a hollowing rig. He mentioned that he had probably hollowed at least 4000 hollow forms in his life. He did it with a mechanical thickness measuring instrument (C shaped), by feel and by sound. So, when you will be using your new steady rest, there will only be about an inch and a half portion where the laser won't work. So if you know the thickness before and after that point, I think that you will be in good shape.

It would be possible to cut out a 90 degree section of the ring, but that will weaken the structure. That requires you to beef things up and complicates things. Plus the flanges are not particularly cheap.

If you still want to go ahead with a steady rest with a space for the laser, perhaps you may want to consider making the support structure out of thick wall (like 1/4 or 3/8 inch) square tubing. That will provide the required stiffness. BTW, it is not necessary that the steady be round. The one I built is square. I'll post a picture.

[Brice Rogers]

Here is a picture of a smaller steady that I built. It is nothing special but it works. When I make something that I am really proud of (like my cast aluminum ball turning rig), I paint it. This is unpainted. The design was influenced/determined by the materials that I had on hand. The only thing that I bought were the roller blade wheels.

Although a laser system was not part of the design considerations, this one would work, if I snipped off a small portion of unnecessary steel tubing. This steady was stiff enough. If I wanted it stiffer, I would have added a triangular gusset at the corners. If you decide to cut out a chunk of the circle or square, keep in mind that the forces are primarily in line with the arms holding the wheels (as long as your wheels are turning don't lock up).
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[Don Frank]

Guys, Thanks much for the input. It gives me some more things to ponder. Brice, a bigger version of your design might be the ticket for what I have in mind. The gusset on the top arm and where it meets the base should make things pretty solid.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I built from the same plans. Altered them slightly to reduce the number of wheels to three (four seems excessive to me when three captures the form just fine) and angled the three so that the topmost wheel is 7 degrees off the top to allow space for the laser to pass through (similar to the way Steve Sinner's is built). Moving away from the laser to a camera system, so slighly less vertical room needed.

I started with a 26" ring (lathe is 25" swing). Even with the larger diameter ring the rest is very stable with 5/16" plate used for the base and clamp. Here's a couple of pictures from the initial testing. It looks a lot larger than it really is - the wide angle effect. Hadn't even gotten around to painting it when these were takenBut there's plenty of room for the laser to pass through even with a larger diameter piece being worked on. Sorry for the sideways images - it's that iPhone thing.
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[Thom Sturgill]

Go to Jeff Nicol's site, woodennicol.com. While he no longer makes tools, Jeff still has plans available for his movable bracket for the wheel arm. Using a movable bracket lets you position the arms to clear your laser easier. If you really feel the need, you could cut part of the flange that is horizontal away and leave the vertical part. That would leave the laser( or camera) blocked for only 1/4" - 1/2".

[Hayes Rutherford]

Don, I built one recently and had the same thoughts. Was the laser arm going to be inside or outside the frame? I concluded that the steady didn't need to accommodate the full swing of my lathe(25") and the laser could be outside., I wanted a wheel at 9:00 to back the cutting action, and I didn't want one between 9:00 and 1:00 because it would be in the way.

Its an elevated hexagon, the wheels are at 9:00, 1:00, and 5:00. It will accommodate 18"or so in diameter(which I don't plan to exceed.) The laser setup was put together in a hurry but worked well enough raised up above the frame. The loss of the laser due to the frame is a non issue. 1-1/4" sq. tubing frame, 1" arms, 3/8" x 2-1/2" base.

The vase form is western red cedar, slightly over 2'-0". I was really happy with how it worked, the boring bar and steady rest combination makes hollowing a stress free operation.

[Don Frank]

Jeffrey, Good points on going from 4 wheels to three. Also positioning that top wheel at 1 o'clock or so makes perfect sense. My concerns on clearance for the laser arm was primarily for large diameter hollow forms. I can see where smaller pieces or vases would be no problem. With that in mind there is no reason I couldn't go to a 24-25" flange instead of a 20". That way I'd be good to go when I eventually own an American Beauty! lol
Hayes, your design gives me food for thought too as making that frame work from tube steel is within my skill set. Also, I wasn't sure that the laser arm could be raised that high without a lot of vibration. I can see it works just fine.
Once again guys thanks for the input. Ive been a lurker on here for the last year and have learned a lot.

[Mike Goetzke]

Don - thanks for the post. I'm at a point of looking for a steady rest for large bowls and HF's. I have a hollowing jig with a laser and was wondering couldn't one just use a steady rest that is concentrated where your cutting action is - like the OneWay bowl steady? This is probably more economical than building a ring type jig and offers no obstruction to a laser or video system?

Thanks,

Mike

[Dan Kralemann]

There is a "C" steady rest being used to demonstrate the Kobra Hollowing System on youtube (wooden frame): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B8HG5tLM04 I remember there was a thread on SMC in 2014 or 2015 about "C" steady rests.
Dan

[Jeramie Johnson]

Here is a nice C steady. I would have used smaller wheels for more range. I still need to make mine yet, but have my the required wheels.

https://woodbowlsandthings.wordpress...eady/img_1339/

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[Dan Kralemann]

This is the materials list and assembly with future modifications for Jeramie's pictures. Thanks for posting Jeramie. I will be making this for myself in the future (larger version).
https://woodbowlsandthings.wordpress.../lathe-steady/

[Mike Goetzke]

This is the materials list and assembly with future modifications for Jeramie's pictures. Thanks for posting Jeramie. I will be making this for myself in the future (larger version).
https://woodbowlsandthings.wordpress.../lathe-steady/

I looked that up too and found it's made by fellow Creeker Peter Blair!

I'm going to try to make one of these too.


Mike

[Peter Blair]

Jamie, I did change to smaller wheels for larger work but still like these when the item is of a smaller diameter.
I also would have cut the grooves on the tailstock end to allow the wheels to get closer to the end of the piece.
Yesterday while working about 8 or 9 inches deep I noticed a little vibration but found one wheel not touching the piece. Once I adjusted that the vibration went away completely.