• October 2025 Turning Challenge: Natural Edge Bowl! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Kalia Kliban for "Painted Salad Bowls" being selected as Turning of the Week for October 20, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Steady Rest

V

Vincent Vogel

Joined
Aug 16, 2022
Messages
472
Likes
1,470
Location
Butler, PA
I'm going to build a steady rest for my new lathe, looking for suggestions. I'm going to build a metal steady rest similar to the Jeff Nicol or Robust style, I've studied the threads on building one. I would make the base plate from 1/2" thick steel and looking to use one of the rolled duct rings from mcmaster carr. The duct ring is 3/16" thick, is this heavy enough or should I buy a piece of 1/4" thick angle and have it rolled? Also, I would like to duplicate the Robust style arms, how thick of steel should I use for that.
Thanks in advance.
 
Brent@TurnRobust said:
Hi Vincent, Brent from Robust here. A 3/16 thick duct ring from McMaster Carr should be fine. We use 3/16" rolled angle iron for our rings and 5/16" steel for our arms. Your 1/2" base is more than enough. Good luck with your build !
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information Brent. I will post a picture when done probably will take several weeks to gather everything and build it.
 
john lucas said:
Be aware that you have to pick this thing up to install it on the lathe. I have one a retired Dr. Built out of 1/2" steel. It weighs 87lbs. It's all I can do to put it on the lathe.
Click to expand...
Thanks John, I saw a picture of yours when I did a search on this site for steadyrests. I'm not planning on building one as heavy as yours but I will probably put some sort of lift assist device in the ceiling.
 
Pat Wisniewski said:
Vincent,
I have a whole box of Rollerblade wheels, axles, etcetera if you need some. (😬 - now I better go find it 🤣)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer Pat, but I already ordered wheels and an arm from Robust. I'm building one similar to the Robust and I'm going to put a pulley in the ceiling above the lathe to lift things like steady, tailstock, and heavy wood blanks.
 
I built the Nichols steady rest for my 18-36 laguna lathe. You are right on using 1/2” steel for the base. The plan I had called for 1/4” and I ended up doubling it. The other thing was I had a resonance at a speed. It may have been the Laguna lathe. I welded some gussets around it and that fixed it. When I got my Robust I just raised the base up to use with the Robust. Also as John pointed out, metal steady rest are heavy. I don’t think mine is 87 pounds, but I have a hoist over the lathe to pick it up. I ended up buying the flange ring from a company in Illinois cheaper than MC.
 
William Rogers said:
I built the Nichols steady rest for my 18-36 laguna lathe. You are right on using 1/2” steel for the base. The plan I had called for 1/4” and I ended up doubling it. The other thing was I had a resonance at a speed. It may have been the Laguna lathe. I welded some gussets around it and that fixed it. When I got my Robust I just raised the base up to use with the Robust. Also as John pointed out, metal steady rest are heavy. I don’t think mine is 87 pounds, but I have a hoist over the lathe to pick it up. I ended up buying the flange ring from a company in Illinois cheaper than MC.
Click to expand...
Thanks William, I saw one of your posts when I was researching this project and that's one reason for the 1/2" plate, the other reason is that's what I had laying in the shop. I got the ring and hardware from MC. I'll post a picture and weigh it when done. It's still probably going to be a couple weeks out because a friend is going to cut the slots in the arm steel with his milling machine. I've only used two home built wood ones so far and just decided to build a metal one this time.
 
Vincent Vogel said:
Thanks for the offer Pat, but I already ordered wheels and an arm from Robust. I'm building one similar to the Robust and I'm going to put a pulley in the ceiling above the lathe to lift things like steady, tailstock, and heavy wood blanks.
Click to expand...
IMG_0511[1].JPG I put a Unistrut rail with slide above the lathe. Convenient to pick up heavy blanks from the floor and then slide over onto the lathe. This setup will handle about 350lbs. With additional bracing it would handle much more.
 
Darryn Achall said:
View attachment 66298 I put a Unistrut rail with slide above the lathe. Convenient to pick up heavy blanks from the floor and then slide over onto the lathe. This setup will handle about 350lbs. With additional bracing it would handle much more.
Click to expand...
I like your setup Darryn, what size unistrut did you use and what about wheels to make your chainblock travel. Thats plenty strong for what I want.
 
Vincent Vogel said:
I like your setup Darryn, what size unistrut did you use and what about wheels to make your chainblock travel. Thats plenty strong for what I want.
Click to expand...
Standard 1 5/8" square unistrut. The unistrut wheel trolley is a six-wheel rated at 690#. I already had a 2 ton chain hoist so it is overkill. I found a chart somewhere that stated what weight unistrut will bear without a big deflection, depending on how far apart the bracing is placed. For my application the unistrut will deflect noticeably at about 400# so I decided my limit is 350#.
 
Be careful about what you are attaching the rail to. I have some barn door track attached with Timberlock screws to my 2nd floor joists and can pick up my Oneway with it and a chain hoist, but beware tying into trusses unless you have an engineer look at the structure. I recently got hold of a wheeled 100kg material lift which I find more handy than the overhead setup.
 
Kevin Jenness said:
Be careful about what you are attaching the rail to. I have some barn door track attached with Timberlock screws to my 2nd floor joists and can pick up my Oneway with it and a chain hoist, but beware tying into trusses unless you have an engineer look at the structure. I recently got hold of a wheeled 100kg material lift which I find more handy than the overhead setup.
Click to expand...
Yes, my setup sits on the top plate for the walls, not attached to any trusses. I have looked at using an engine hoist or something similar. I don't have any spare floor space in my very small shop.
 
Finally got it done. Had to wait on a friend to mill the slots in the arms so they would slide on the mounting bolts. I bought the wheels from Robust and one arm. The ring and bolts/hardware came from McMaster. Bottom plate is 1/2" thick, ring is 3/16" thick, arms are made from 5/16" thick steel . It weighs 36# complete so it's managable to lift onto the lathe. I'm going to put a unistrut and trolley above the lathe with a rope block for lifting heavy items like @Darryn Achall did in the above post. I want to thank all of you for advice and Brent from Robust for his help.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2553 Steel Steady.jpg
    IMG_2553 Steel Steady.jpg
    437.8 KB · Views: 42
  • IMG_2554 Other Side.jpg
    IMG_2554 Other Side.jpg
    564.9 KB · Views: 42
Vincent Vogel said:
Finally got it done. Had to wait on a friend to mill the slots in the arms so they would slide on the mounting bolts. I bought the wheels from Robust and one arm. The ring and bolts/hardware came from McMaster. Bottom plate is 1/2" thick, ring is 3/16" thick, arms are made from 5/16" thick steel . It weighs 36# complete so it's managable to lift onto the lathe. I'm going to put a unistrut and trolley above the lathe with a rope block for lifting heavy items like @Darryn Achall did in the above post. I want to thank all of you for advice and Brent from Robust for his help.
Click to expand...
What was the final cost?
 
Vincent Vogel said:
Finally got it done. Had to wait on a friend to mill the slots in the arms so they would slide on the mounting bolts. I bought the wheels from Robust and one arm. The ring and bolts/hardware came from McMaster. Bottom plate is 1/2" thick, ring is 3/16" thick, arms are made from 5/16" thick steel . It weighs 36# complete so it's managable to lift onto the lathe. I'm going to put a unistrut and trolley above the lathe with a rope block for lifting heavy items like @Darryn Achall did in the above post. I want to thank all of you for advice and Brent from Robust for his help.
Click to expand...
Looks great. Curious why most have only 3 wheels and not more when doing a custom design. I’d think 4 or 5 might be more stable.
 
Final cost was $300. I did buy enough wheels and hardware to make 4 arms if I decide I need another one. I only drilled enough holes in the ring to mount the three arms and move the top one to the side if I want to use the lazer for hollowing. Also I had the flat steel needed so I didn't have to buy it. This isn't a project for someone that doesn't enjoy building things and you have to be able to weld, have access to a milling machine, drill press and tap set. I probably have about 8 hours of time invested in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top