Spindle steady rest on the cheap.
Dave Smith
>Here is the steady rest I made this weekend so I could finish off a weed pot. The rest is made with 3/4" baltic birch plywood. I found a set of 76mm roller blade wheels marked down to $30 from $60 so I figured they must be pretty good. There were 8 wheels in the package so with tax it came to about $4 per wheel.
(Sorry about the blurry picture.)
A 3/4" oak cleat is glued and screwed to one end of the base. A second cleat is screwed on the other side of the steady rest. In the pictures you can see clamps holding the steady rest in place to see how well it worked before bolting it in place. My intent is to use the base for other applications such as a bowl steady so I wanted to be able to bolt different pieces to it. If the rest proves to be too flexible I can attach another piece of plywood and move the second cleat to accommodate it.
Holes are drill at 120 degree increments for attaching the T track with 3/8" x 1 1/4" bolts, fender washers, and a wing nuts. When the wheel is moved into position the arm is rotated in the direction of the spindle rotation in order to compensate for slop between the bolts and the T track.
The wheels are mounted on T track about 7" long. A 5/16" hole was drilled about 1" from the end to accept a 2" bolt. The 2 � bolt has 1" of unthreaded shaft that is perfect for mounting the wheel. The bolt has a raised ring on the head end that is a good match for the inside of the bearing. I found that 8mm washers have a smaller outside diameter than 5/16" washers which fit perfect between the bearing and the T track. The bolt is secured with an internal star washer between a washer and a cap nut. After mounting the wheels, high spots were removed by holding the wheel on my One Way chuck at low speed and sanding with 150 sandpaper.
Base to fit my Jet 1236 lathe.
The underside piece is 2 �" wide with a piece of laminate 1 �" wide glued on top to keep it centered. A 3/8" carriage bolt is inserted from the underside for attaching the base with a wing nut. The base is 6" x 12" with a 3/8" hole drilled 2" from the end on the center line. The base is aligned by the �" thick x 1 �" wide plywood cleat attached to the bottom.
The steady rest has exceeded my expectations in every respect. This addition will allow me to hollow tall vases and expand my capabilities. Now, what to do with 5 more wheels.
Dave Smith
Steady as she goes in Longview, WA.