Home-Built Lathe Steady

Vaughn McMillan

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I mentioned this in another thread, so I thought I'd show a few pics of a lathe steady I built recently. It's made primarily of 1/2" BB ply, except the base, which is jarrah. The "ring" is two layers of 1/2 ply glued and pinned together, and the "arms" are a single layer. I painted the ring bexause I originally cut the slots for the two lower arms at the wrong angle, and had to fill the slots and re-cut them correctly. I also filled any countersunk screw holes. The paint hides the patches. ;)

The base is made of some leftover jarrah I had. I figure if it's good enough for piers and heavy piling, it'll hold up for my needs. To mount the ring on the base, I cut long slots in the bottom of the ring with the mortiser, then glued and screwed the base into the slot from above and below. It's not going anywhere. I originally thought the plywood arms would be too flexible, but so far they've proven to be plenty stiff. The ring is also very rigid.

The wheels, bearings and axles were purchased on eBay. I read somewhere recommending the use of softer wheels (78a to 80a, with lower numbers being softer). These are 78a wheels and they do have a little "give" to them, which I believe is a good thing.

The upper left-hand arm and wheel do block the beam of the laser (but not the bar holding the laser), so I think I'll cut another slot at the 9 o'clock position for that arm and move it there when I'm getting down to the last bit of finishing the inside.

Here are a few pics and a sketch:

Front side:

Bowl Steady 1a 800.jpg

Back side:

Bowl Steady 1b 800.jpg

Base:

Bowl Steady 1c 800.jpg

And a sketch showing more clearly how the base is inserted into a slot in the ring, although I didn't bother rounding the corners of the ring as shown in the sketch:

Bowl Steady Sketch 800.jpg

So far, with a single use, the steady seems to be doing what it's supposed to be doing. ;) Now if I could only get the lathe back in business. (Parts have been ordered.) :rolleyes:
 
Very nice job, I need to make a better one, or get some better wheels, the ones I have "wobble" :bonkers: which don't work well with keeping things "Steady" :rolleyes:

How much did you pay for four wheels?

Cheers!
 
...How much did you pay for four wheels?

Cheers!
I got 16 wheels and bearings, with 8 axles, for $26.50 shipped. I'm planning to hang onto the remaining four axles and four of the wheels for potential future projects, but I'm considering selling the rest of the wheels and bearings.

I know a lot of guys have had good luck buying used rollerblades at thrift stores, but I dunno if Tokyo has much of that sort of thing. These run real smoothly, although I did use some CA glue to hold the wheel hub onto the bearing a bit better. It's a friction fit, and with a bit of sideways pressure on the wheels, they would get unseated and start to wobble. The CA sees to have fixed the problem, but I can still pop them out if need be with a well-placed tap from a hammer. I'll have a better feel for how it works after a few more miles of test driving.
 
Good looking set up, and apparently very effective. Wouldn't work on my Grizzly. The motor is mounted 'backwards' and doesn't allow anything larger than the 14" swing to be near the spindle.
 
Hey Vaughn great minds must think alike. I built one just like yours. I really like the way it works so I built a small one for the Rikon. I went to Target and bought 2 pair of skates cheaper than I could get them off ebay. Here are my pictures and all from scrap wood. The first 2 are the big one and the second 2 are the little one.

Vaughn how does that work with the laser? Does it interfer? Thanks.
 

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I Want One!

Hello Vaughn and Bernie,

Both of your steady rests look great! I need to build one, or two, or three. :D When you get a chance to use it, let us know if you have any problems with it marking the bearing spot. I know you can protect the area somewhat with tape, but I'm curious if any compression marks will show up, especially on soft hardwoods. Bernie, you may be able to answer this now??? Take care and all the best to you and yours!
 
Good-looking steady, Bernie. I like the t-track for the arms...great idea, especially when Rockler has their t-track on sale (like now).

Steve R, my experience is still very limited with these things, but from what I've been told, the main reason for buying the softer wheels (78a to 80a) is to avoid making compression marks on the piece. Soft is a relative term here, but the 78a rubber is about as resilient as a superball. (Remember those?) ;) Firm, but it definitely has some 'give'.
 
Hello Vaughn and Bernie,

Both of your steady rests look great! I need to build one, or two, or three. :D When you get a chance to use it, let us know if you have any problems with it marking the bearing spot. I know you can protect the area somewhat with tape, but I'm curious if any compression marks will show up, especially on soft hardwoods. Bernie, you may be able to answer this now??? Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Steve it does leave a mark but nothing that can't be taken care of with a little sand paper. I haven't had any problem on that regard.
 
So what actually happens? Does the bowl start to flex & when the tool is introduced even for a shallow cut very carefully done catches on the section that flexed outward toward the tool & bang explodes?

Bart, I've never been sure whether it's flex in the walls of a bowl or if it has something to do with how the tool cuts differently as it passes from side grain to end grain. But my experience is that the larger the bowl and the further you are from the point where the bowl is mounted securely in a chuck or on a faceplate, the more difficult it is to control the cut. And because the wood is traveling faster out near the edge of a bowl it amplifies the effect of any catches. Like I said, I've never used a bowl steady. But it sure would help knowing a little slip isn't going to send a nice bowl into orbit.
 
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