Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Want to make a steady rest.....
roger lance
Just seeking advice/input on making a steady rest.....readily available plans??.....hardware sources??......etc.
LV sells some nice looking wheels....12K7985.....but them seems a little large at 3-7/8"......any source for a smaller wheel??
Also, LV sells clamp blocks which look like they'll work well.....66B1413.....are they Imperial treaded or metric??
Thanks for any help.
Re: Want to make a steady rest.....
Dwight Rutherford
I think these plans are the best I have seen and used. Jeff Nicol’.
http://www.tnvalleywoodclub.org/plans/Steadyrest%20by%20JDC.pdf
Re: Want to make a steady rest.....
John lucas
Do a youtube search. There are some great designs out there.
Re: Want to make a steady rest.....
Peter Hyde
highly recommend the LV wheels. Tried the rest but they are the best, smooth and quiet and not too hard.
Re: Want to make a steady rest.....
Dick Coers
I used plywood and roller blade wheels. Really the only mistake I made was putting one wheel on the vertical centerline. It gets in the way of my camera when hollowing. Otherwise cheap and easy. Steve Sinner from the Quad Cities recommends hard wheels. He doesn't want any give in the wheels for vibration. I preload my roller blade wheels, but they still have some give.
Re: Want to make a steady rest.....
Peter Hyde
I have to disagree about hard wheels. On wood like ash they actually cause vibration because of the hard and soft grain. All the skateboard wheels I've tried left a track around the piece after a minute or so of use and had vibration issues as well as noise. So I tried the LV. The profile is very small at point of contact and the wheels are soft enough to ride out irregularities but still provide support. Noise is at a minimum and so are the track marks. The only negative with the LV wheels is the bigger diameter means you can't use them on small diameter turnings like spindles unless you stagger the wheels or put a sleeve over the turning.
I eliminated the wheel track problem by........
JamieDonaldson
....applying a band of masking tape/painters tape, which comes off later without leaving adhesive on the turning.
Re: I eliminated the wheel track problem by.......
Dick Hines
By the time you get all the parts ad build a steady rest you can have one shipped from Carter. not cheap but run true and hold your work very securely.
Re: I eliminated the wheel track problem by.......
rch
It took me about two hours total, and scrap wood and plywood, to complete a steady which will accommodate up to roughly 12" diameter.