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My old shop-made 4-wheel bowl steady rest was too small for the new lathe, so it stayed with the old lathe when I sold it. I had already decided I wanted a steel one instead of a wooden one for the new lathe. Following the advice of some old guy I know on the Internet, I ended up getting two steadies instead of one.
By the time I paid any of my welding friends for materials, time, and shipping to build a "hoop style" steady rest, I would have spent about the same amount as I did on these. They are the Oneway version, and I gotta say I'm very impressed with everything about them. They are VERY substantial, and "steady" isn't just part of the product name. I'm guessing a whole lathe built to these standards must be very nice indeed. I was impressed during the first test drive as I finish turned a dried ambrosia maple vase, about 12" long. Here's the full kit:
I had roughed this piece out on my old rig, and even with the old wooden steady rest, there was so much tool chatter roughing the inside, it looked like I'd used a texturing tool. Between the Oneway steadies and the articulating hollowing tool, I was able to get reasonably good cuts as I finished it up. I still used more of the 80 grit gouge than I'd have liked, but once I get 8 or 9 inches beyond the tool rest, things get a bit bouncy. The piece still thinned up nicely:
I'll post pics of this one when it's done.
By the time I paid any of my welding friends for materials, time, and shipping to build a "hoop style" steady rest, I would have spent about the same amount as I did on these. They are the Oneway version, and I gotta say I'm very impressed with everything about them. They are VERY substantial, and "steady" isn't just part of the product name. I'm guessing a whole lathe built to these standards must be very nice indeed. I was impressed during the first test drive as I finish turned a dried ambrosia maple vase, about 12" long. Here's the full kit:
I had roughed this piece out on my old rig, and even with the old wooden steady rest, there was so much tool chatter roughing the inside, it looked like I'd used a texturing tool. Between the Oneway steadies and the articulating hollowing tool, I was able to get reasonably good cuts as I finished it up. I still used more of the 80 grit gouge than I'd have liked, but once I get 8 or 9 inches beyond the tool rest, things get a bit bouncy. The piece still thinned up nicely:
I'll post pics of this one when it's done.