# 3" steady rest for 7x12 lathe



## MCRIPPPer (Jun 8, 2014)

here is my build of a steady rest for my lathe. i have wanted to make one for a while now. making it out of 1" thick steel flat bar. it is mostly a bandsaw and milling project.


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## MCRIPPPer (Jun 20, 2014)

heres where im at now.


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## Swifty (Jun 21, 2014)

You certainly had to remove a lot of material. I like the way you milled the outside radius.

Paul.


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## chucketn (Jun 21, 2014)

Very nice work, MCRIPPer. I have made patterns in wood for a steady and follower rest, intending to cast them in Aluminum. They are definitly not as nice as yours. If you have CAD abilities it would be a great service to your fellow Mini lathe owners if you draw up your creation and share it.


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## gus (Jun 21, 2014)

Very well made to last forever. A fixed steady is so useful when you have jobs that a not too long and not short. 

DIY my own too but I took short cut with left-overs.


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## MCRIPPPer (Jun 21, 2014)

Swifty said:


> You certainly had to remove a lot of material. I like the way you milled the outside radius.
> 
> since i dont have a rotary table(havn't made one yet), i decided to use a plastic wheel from my harbor freight bandsaw stand. just turned the od about 10-20 thousandths bigger than the id of the steady and bored the center in the same setup for a pivot. worked well and no real chatter from the small end mill.
> 
> Paul.





chucketn said:


> Very nice work, MCRIPPer. I have made patterns in wood for a steady and follower rest, intending to cast them in Aluminum. They are definitly not as nice as yours. If you have CAD abilities it would be a great service to your fellow Mini lathe owners if you draw up your creation and share it.




i have freecad and google sketchup. how do i post cad to the internet? i can draw it up now that its almost done 

are there any other good free cad things out there that are better?

i wonder how much it would cost to get one lazer cut?



gus said:


> Very well made to last forever. A fixed steady is so useful when you have jobs that a not too long and not short.
> 
> DIY my own too but I took short cut with left-overs.



nice steady rest. it looks like its got a few bucks worth of brass on it!


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## chucketn (Jun 21, 2014)

MCRIPPer, at the bottom of the reply box, there is a button labled 'Manage Attachments'. Click that and navagate to where you saved the file. The rest is like attaching a  file to an e-mail.

Chuck


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## MCRIPPPer (Jun 21, 2014)

i have a drawing from freecad but cant upload it. im guessing its the wrong format. (or else anyone wanting to view it would need freecad probably)


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## Tin Falcon (Jun 21, 2014)

You should be able to export you freecad file as a pdf then upload as an
attachment or a upload to the download section.

Tin


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## MCRIPPPer (Jun 25, 2014)

reamed out the holes today. i still need my material for the fingers, but i cut some old 5/8 rod to see what it looks like.


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## MCRIPPPer (Jun 30, 2014)

making the support fingers/ quill.


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## MCRIPPPer (Jul 3, 2014)

here it is now still need to make a few more bits bit it is in usable condition.


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## MCRIPPPer (Jul 5, 2014)

its almost there. i just need to make some knobs for the lead screws.


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## gus (Jul 6, 2014)

This is one World Best  ''Steady Rest'' money cannot buy.

But I am too lazy to upgrade mine made out of scrap bin and surplus. But when a critical job comes up,I would have to make one
very good looking and robust Steady.


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## MCRIPPPer (Jul 6, 2014)

thanks gus. 



here it is facing a 3" dia. aluminum rod. otherwise impossible to do on a mini lathe.


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## gus (Jul 7, 2014)

W/o a steady rest when turning a long bar stock on a mini lathe,the job will fly out and usually with the last cut.

Gus was turning the American PopCorn Steam Engine Frame and was forced to come up with a steady rest in two days.
The Over-hung was a wee bitty to much.Facing and OD reduction very risky.

Will find time to finish up the steady rest with support rollers. Meanwhile I had to put lotsa grease to support job.The frame was a surplus from PopCorn Engine for the spoked flywheel.


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