Steady Rest dimension question

[Kirk Amidon]

Planning to construct a steady rest this weekend out of ¾” plywood. I’ve watched several videos and have determined how I will construct it.

The ring itself will be 2” wide and two layers of ¾” plywood laminated together. The plan is to trim the bottom of the ring so that the capacity through the rest is maximized. Seems best case is losing ¾” at the bottom of the circle to allow laminated to a base plate for sufficient strength over the ways.

My main question concerns the inner diameter of the ring itself. The lathe is a 12” model, and I’d like to maximize the capacity of the rest. My gut says that the minimum opening should be a 12” diameter, which means the outside diameter needs to be 16”.

Does one also need to account for any space for the wheels and their mounting? The goal is to ensure that it will allow for a 10” diameter vessel.

Open to thoughts on what you would do differently in making one of these.

 

[Tim Tucker]

So, if you over size it another 2”….. wouldnt that allow you to maximize the swing of your lathe as the extra 2” would allow for the wheels? Take a look at a Clark steady rest. It is the one I think of as dealing with the issue of not losing any diameter potential on your lathe. Maybe thst design can be adapteed to DIY with wood… dont know

 

[Curt Fuller]

Something to consider... Make the outside shape of the "ring" of your steady rest from a square instead of a circle. That way you have more surface area for the adjustable arms that the wheels are mounted to and you can have a couple positions at each corner to tighten down the arm. That makes a nice sturdy arm that can be drawn back to the maximum diameter of the inside circle.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

I recently made this steady rest using Doc Green’s book. It is also two layers of 3/4” ply. It is on a 20” diameter lathe, but you could easily scale it down to your 12” swing, and with recessed bolts securing the wheels, I’d imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to make the wheels able to retract all the way out so they are barely protruding beyond the inner edge of the rest body.

 

[Doug Freeman]

You are correct in being concerned with the wheels reducing the usable dia. How the bottom and the attachment to the lathe is constructed can also reduce the usable dia. Many good suggestions above.

Constructed with a removable section one can be used for thin bowls.

Something else to consider - turning a form in stages can negate or greatly reduce the need for a steady rest. I dont use mine very often anymore. Still needed for long thin spindles. Always good to have one just in case.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Planning to construct a steady rest this weekend out of ¾” plywood. I’ve watched several videos and have determined how I will construct it.

The ring itself will be 2” wide and two layers of ¾” plywood laminated together. The plan is to trim the bottom of the ring so that the capacity through the rest is maximized. Seems best case is losing ¾” at the bottom of the circle to allow laminated to a base plate for sufficient strength over the ways.

My main question concerns the inner diameter of the ring itself. The lathe is a 12” model, and I’d like to maximize the capacity of the rest. My gut says that the minimum opening should be a 12” diameter, which means the outside diameter needs to be 16”.

Does one also need to account for any space for the wheels and their mounting? The goal is to ensure that it will allow for a 10” diameter vessel.

Open to thoughts on what you would do differently in making one of these.

You are basically limited to the swing on the lathe. If you have a 12” swing you probably won’t want the bottom where it attaches to the lathe to be any thicker than 1.5” to be able to turn 10” inside of it. Also to get 10” you will need to do something custom with mounting the wheels to get them to go out that far.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

You are basically limited to the swing on the lathe. If you have a 12” swing you probably won’t want the bottom where it attaches to the lathe to be any thicker than 1.5” to be able to turn 10” inside of it. Also to get 10” you will need to do something custom with mounting the wheels to get them to go out that far.

Actually the baseplate thickness will deduct directly from the radius. With a 1.5" base on a 12" swing lathe the workpiece will be limited to <9".

The Clark wrap-around design is a good reference with a stout but thin steel base plate wrapping over the ways and a ring larger than the lathe swing to allow for wheels inside it. You could probably swing close to 11" inside that steady. https://www.theokspindoctor.com/category-s/1887.htm

Unless you are doing something quite large you might find the Oneway bowl steady adequate. Its base is 1/2" thick.https://oneway.ca/products-category/holding/Steady-Rest/Bowl Steady

John Tisdale, who does very large hollow forms, has said that he doesn't often use a steady but that he does use well-secured faceplates. "Steady rests are necessary when doing large work with chucks. I do hollow-forms up to 22"-dia and have never had a problem using a Oneway faceplate and no steadyrest. If I'm doing a smaller piece of 16" dia or less, I'll use the Oneway 4" - larger and I use their 6". I do about 20-pieces per year and have never had a problem."

I have done a 13" d. x 9" d. hollow form in a chuck without a steady (It would have been impossible to use a steady due to all the voids).

 

[Kirk Amidon]

Yes, effectively the baseplate thickness is doubled for determining the capacity. Right now, it is at 3/4", but that is prior to adding a knob to tighten the steady rest onto the lathe. 10" will be close, but should be feasible.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

You might put the knob on the underside of the ways?

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Actually the baseplate thickness will deduct directly from the radius. With a 1.5" base on a 12" swing lathe the workpiece will be limited to <9".

The Clark wrap-around design is a good reference with a stout but thin steel base plate wrapping over the ways and a ring larger than the lathe swing to allow for wheels inside it. You could probably swing close to 11" inside that steady. https://www.theokspindoctor.com/category-s/1887.htm

Unless you are doing something quite large you might find the Oneway bowl steady adequate. Its base is 1/2" thick.https://oneway.ca/products-category/holding/Steady-Rest/Bowl Steady

John Tisdale, who does very large hollow forms, has said that he doesn't often use a steady but that he does use well-secured faceplates. "Steady rests are necessary when doing large work with chucks. I do hollow-forms up to 22"-dia and have never had a problem using a Oneway faceplate and no steadyrest. If I'm doing a smaller piece of 16" dia or less, I'll use the Oneway 4" - larger and I use their 6". I do about 20-pieces per year and have never had a problem."

I have done a 13" d. x 9" d. hollow form in a chuck without a steady (It would have been impossible to use a steady due to all the voids).

Thanks for the catch. For some reason I subtracted the 1.5 from the diameter instead of the radius.

 

[Kirk Amidon]

Here is V1 of the steady rest. It worked fine on the 7" diameter vase on the lathe, but would not expand out much further. In case anyone is following along, or inspired to make one, there are three things I'll change over the weekend for V2. The slots in the movable pieces attached to the wheels will be extended about 3/4" towards the wheels, and a wider, shallower mortise will be added to allow the bolt head to get closer to wheels without stopping their motion. The holes in the rest itself, which currently are centered in the ring diameter, should have been offset to the outside a bit to allow more motion. This will be fixed as well.



Otherwise it made a big difference in vibration as I continued to work on the interior of the vase. Thanks to all for the help.

@Mark Jundanian - don't want to put the knob under the ways, as they cannot be accessed from the front, and it would be a hassle to constantly have to go behind.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Kirk, I you need more clearance inside, I’d think you could build a hump, for want of a better word, into the outside of the ring at the point where each slide attaches, and have your adjusting bolts further outboard, with the bolts countersunk so that the wheels could be retracted fully away from the center.