Bowl / Hollow Form steady rest

[Mark Hepburn]

Sorry if this is an old, worn out question but I'm not seeing many answers in the old threads:

Can anyone recommend a good method to steady a hollow form for my Jet 1642? I'm turning an item (and plan to turn more) about 16" long or deep, with diameters ranging from 6 to 9 inches.

I looked at the Oneway, which is the two-wheel setup and while they're listed on Amazon and elsewhere for a number of lathes, I don't see the Jet. And I wonder how well it works as it only hugs one side (on the other hand it is a Oneway product).

There is also the Carter multi rest but it's nearly $400!

Amazon also lists a product called the RMWoodco rest. Here's a photo:



I'm sure I can make one and have looked around at lots of plans, but in truth I'd rather be turning than making jigs.

Can anyone recommend something? I expect to do quite a few projects over time so your comments would be a great help.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Jerry Bailey]

I have the Carter Multi Rest, and bought an extra wheel/support so that I have 4 total holding points
have used it 1/2 dozen times so far and am very happy with the system.
It has resolved all fears I had about turning interiors of longer pieces and have so far turned insides of 11" with no issues
The bottom is completely adjustable, so presume it will work with any lathe that has a "track" type bed.

As you say, it's a tad more expensive, but I also believe the old adage, you get what you pay for .........
I'll spend extra $ in beginning, just to save frustration of having to buy better quality later on when original purchase doesn't meet expectations .....

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I have the Carter Multi Rest, and bought an extra wheel/support so that I have 4 total holding points
have used it 1/2 dozen times so far and am very happy with the system.
It has resolved all fears I had about turning interiors of longer pieces and have so far turned insides of 11" with no issues
The bottom is completely adjustable, so presume it will work with any lathe that has a "track" type bed.

As you say, it's a tad more expensive, but I also believe the old adage, you get what you pay for .........
I'll spend extra $ in beginning, just to save frustration of having to buy better quality later on when original purchase doesn't meet expectations .....

Thanks Jerry,

I do agree with you that you get what you pay for and by golly, we certainly can expect to pay for the privilege of turning, can't we? And I confess that the Carter caught my eye for sure. And if I turn a hundred forms, that's only 4 bucks per item.

11" diameter is probably on the max end of what I would be interested in for the Jet. Where did you get yours (I'm thinking about that extra wheel too).

Mark

 

[Jerry Bailey]

And if I turn a hundred forms, that's only 4 bucks per item.

11" diameter is probably on the max end of what I would be interested in for the Jet. Where did you get yours (I'm thinking about that extra wheel too).

Mark

Breaking down into how many forms you do is a perfect way of determining overall price and value, I never even thought about it that way
and the 11" is depth , I did a vase out of Sumac that was 5" diameter and 11" deep/tall , without the Carter, I would never consider turning a vessel that deep .......

I got mine thru Craft USA, had a bunch of frequent buyer points saved up, so was a steal for me (got it all @ almost 1/2 price)

Carter Multi Rest:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/6/1/25/110/-/5748/Carter-MultiRest-Work-Support-System

Carter MultiRest Support Arm:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/6/1/25/110/-/5749/Carter-MultiRest-Support-Arm

I too had thought about making my own, have seen several different plans out there
but also wanted to just turn instead, and the Carter has a warranty, whereas a home made one doesn't

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Breaking down into how many forms you do is a perfect way of determining overall price and value, I never even thought about it that way
and the 11" is depth , I did a vase out of Sumac that was 5" diameter and 11" deep/tall , without the Carter, I would never consider turning a vessel that deep .......

I got mine thru Craft USA, had a bunch of frequent buyer points saved up, so was a steal for me (got it all @ almost 1/2 price)

Carter Multi Rest:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/6/1/25/110/-/5748/Carter-MultiRest-Work-Support-System

Carter MultiRest Support Arm:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/6/1/25/110/-/5749/Carter-MultiRest-Support-Arm

I too had thought about making my own, have seen several different plans out there
but also wanted to just turn instead, and the Carter has a warranty, whereas a home made one doesn't

Yep, amortization is a great rationalization tool. If I hit 1000 forms, then that's only .40 each.

I just used up every last frequent buyer point I had at Craft Supplies :-( . Got the Malcolm Tibbets book, among other things. Well I may have to bite the bullet...

And about that home warranty. I absolutely guarantee that if it breaks, I'll have to repair it. I stand by my work for myself.


Thanks again,

Mark

 

[hockenbery]

The math is more like.
Sell one HF for $500 and it is paid for.......

 

[Mark Hepburn]

The math is more like.
Sell one HF for $500 and it is paid for.......

My work is so good that my family will take it all ---- for free. But I get I couldn't get a dollar for my work now.

But yes, one of these days.

 

[Lee Tourtelotte]

Steady Rest -- Home Made Version

Hi Mark -- Looks like you are already leaning towards buying one of the several very well made steady rests. However, if you are looking for a good ($ money saving) plan, there is an excellent one, made of Baltic Birch plywood, in an article by David Campbell that appeared in the fall 2009, Issue #23, Woodturning Design magazine, page 66 to 71. I built one that is 12" diameter from that plan and it is rock solid.
I now use it regularly and enjoy the fact that it is every bit as "steady" as the commercial versions I had looked at. My total out of pocket cost was less than $25., including the nylon, ball bearing wheels that I picked up for $4.00 at a garage sale, from some once very expensive roller blade skates. It was a fun, quick & easy project that ended well for me. Several of my MN woodturning club friends used the same article to build theirs with similar success. Woodturning Design is a great magazine and they can provide back issues for project referenced articles at minimum cost. You will enjoy the convenience of owning a rest, no matter which way you decide to go.

Lee Tourtelotte
Minnesota Woodturners Assoc.
www.mnwoodturners.com

 

[john lucas]

Do a couple of google searches for wood lathe steady rest, homemade steady rest, steady rest. It will bring up a bunch of good solutions that others have built

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Hi Mark -- Looks like you are already leaning towards buying one of the several very well made steady rests. However, if you are looking for a good ($ money saving) plan, there is an excellent one, made of Baltic Birch plywood, in an article by David Campbell that appeared in the fall 2009, Issue #23, Woodturning Design magazine, page 66 to 71. I built one that is 12" diameter from that plan and it is rock solid.
I now use it regularly and enjoy the fact that it is every bit as "steady" as the commercial versions I had looked at. My total out of pocket cost was less than $25., including the nylon, ball bearing wheels that I picked up for $4.00 at a garage sale, from some once very expensive roller blade skates. It was a fun, quick & easy project that ended well for me. Several of my MN woodturning club friends used the same article to build theirs with similar success. Woodturning Design is a great magazine and they can provide back issues for project referenced articles at minimum cost. You will enjoy the convenience of owning a rest, no matter which way you decide to go.

Lee Tourtelotte
Minnesota Woodturners Assoc.
www.mnwoodturners.com

Hi Lee. Thanks for the info. If I'm to bite the bullet I'd rather be sure before I do. I just ordered the back issue. So for less than ten bucks for a magazine I may be able to make one. I don't mind spending a few hours on a money-saving project right now. And since I actually have some old -good - skate wheels and half a sheet of birch collecting dust I my be in business.

But I really do like that carter

And I had no idea the magazine existed. Just subscribed so many thanks for pointing me there!

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Do a couple of google searches for wood lathe steady rest, homemade steady rest, steady rest. It will bring up a bunch of good solutions that others have built

Thanks John. I will do that. I did a search but just browsed images. I ordered a back issue Lee suggested and going to check that out also.

I was almost dead set on buying the carter that Jerry has. But having just gotten a new lathe and chuck am hesitant to keep spending. Hopefully I can learn to turn to earn since it looks like I'm squandering my retirement!

 

[Douglas Ladendorf]

Keeping an eye on what you choose Mark. I may make one at some point.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Keeping an eye on what you choose Mark. I may make one at some point.

I'll be sure to follow up when I figure it out

 

[Bill Boehme]

You can start with an HVAC angle ring from McMaster-Carr as the central part of building your own steady rest.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

You can start with an HVAC angle ring from McMaster-Carr as the central part of building your own steady rest.

Bill, thank you for the link. So without really thinking this through, it seems that one could drill holes for the arms, fab some arms and a base and be done with the building?

Basic jig hardware might work. I wonder if some T-track, cut to length would work for the arms with T nuts and knobs to hold the arms in place on the ring?

 

[Bill Boehme]

It helps if you can weld or know somebody who does. The ideal way to do it is to saw off a slice of the flange so that the inner hole will just touch the top of the bed. Weld the cut part to a flat plate that sits on the lathe bed. Have another piece on the bottom the plate that fits snugly between the ways. drill a hole for a bolt and clamping plate that goes underneath the ways. Weld or bolt three or four guides to the flange equally spaced around the perimeter. They could be made from square tubular stock. have square bars that fit inside the square tubes. Of course there are various other schemes for making the arms. There is a guy on Sawmill Creek that built one like this nd hs detailed plans. I will try to locate the source of that information.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Here it is

I found the article. The original design was done by Jeff Nicol. Here is a recent thread by Jim Underwood who posted pictures of the process as he built one.

James Combs is the person who built a steady rest similar to the Jeff Nicol design and then shortly after that provided a very detailed documentation. First, this thread shows the steady rest that James Combs designed along with some useful information about building it.

Finally, the zip file that contains the PDF document is linked in post #21 of this thread. I linked directly to the post since the first 20 posts are mostly extraneous mish-mash. Just click save file when the dialog asks what you want to do. Go to the location where the zip file is saved and double click it. Choose where to extract the PDF file. Once the file has been extracted, open read and enjoy.

I thought about building one like this, but wound up getting the one from Robust since it fits my Robust American Beauty lathe and is very very heavy duty.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I found the article. The original design was done by Jeff Nicol. Here is a recent thread by Jim Underwood who posted pictures of the process as he built one.

James Combs is the person who built a steady rest similar to the Jeff Nicol design and then shortly after that provided a very detailed documentation. First, this thread shows the steady rest that James Combs designed along with some useful information about building it.

Finally, the zip file that contains the PDF document is linked in post #21 of this thread. I linked directly to the post since the first 20 posts are mostly extraneous mish-mash. Just click save file when the dialog asks what you want to do. Go to the location where the zip file is saved and double click it. Choose where to extract the PDF file. Once the file has been extracted, open read and enjoy.

I thought about building one like this, but wound up getting the one from Robust since it fits my Robust American Beauty lathe and is very very heavy duty.

Bill. Thank you for the info! As it happens, I know at least six people who weld and some for a living. In fact, one of them asked me this morning if I could turn a bat for his nephew.

The town I live in is a significant oilfield support hub and I could almost throw a rock anywhere and hit a fab shop or ship yard. Three or four feet of square tubing is a scrap.

So it looks as though if I go this route I may end up getting a free rest in exchange for a bowl or vase for someone's wife. And a bat for a buddy's nephew. And turning instead of jig building :-D

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Link to plans

Bill, I'm not a member of sawmill creek and didn't have access to pics or downloads, but your details helped me find the .pdf elsewhere. It's a 20 page illustrated guide. Very we'll done if anyone else is interested. Here's the link:

www.tnvalleywoodclub.org/plans/Steadyrest by JDC.pdf

Looks very promising.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Plywood

I made one in plywood and works fine just a pain when doing spindles to move from one side of banjo to other.
Right now sitting in friends den in Thibodeaux. Wish I had the metal access there is down here. But I do not use the steady that much and could not justify a lot of expense. The used skate wheels work well and were not difficult to find.
Good luck

 

[Steve Doerr]

Mark, I made the metal bowl rest and have been very, very happy with it. I did all of the cutting, drilling and grinding and then had a local welder do the welding. I have a Jet 1642 EVS2 and use it all the time.

Good luck on the decision making process.

 

[JeffSmith]

Mark - I built a variant of this with the instructions john Combs put up on Sawmill Creek. I've attached the file here. It's a pretty easy build, even resurrected long dormant welding skills. Best of all, it's a sturdy piece of equipment and works well. I modified the plans for only three wheels, and tilted them about 7 degrees to starboard so they're out the way of the top of the vessel...thinking about adding the bowl steady bracket.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Mark, the two most critical parts of building a steady rest are getting the ring perfectly perpendicular to the bed and not having any canting in the skate wheels. The second part is more of a challenge and it means that the tubes welded to the ring must be perfectly flat and that they do not have anything that causes the arms to not be square to the ring. Also the surface where the wheels are attached must be flat. It would be worth getting good quality steel tubing. If the wheels do not track true, they will continually try to pull the arm to one side or the other and this is not the best situation to have because it won't be doing the best possible job.

When you are using the steady rest, the wheels are supposed to make contact with the wood, but not be applying force to it. If the wheels are pushing against the wood, it will actually make things worse because the wood will flex slightly under the pressure which leads to vibration.

 

[john lucas]

I've built 2 wooden ones and now have an 87lb metal one I bought from an estate. They work but I've also played with the Carter and it works better. I really like the thin support rails because I use a laser to hollow and it doesn't block the laser as much. It's very solid and works perfectly. A lot of money but I guess it goes back to the old you get what you pay for adage. My wooden ones always wobbles a little. didn't seem to hurt the turning but bothered me. I don't know if it's wheel tracking, type of wheels, or some other problem. I made them as accurately as I could.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Mark, I made the metal bowl rest and have been very, very happy with it. I did all of the cutting, drilling and grinding and then had a local welder do the welding. I have a Jet 1642 EVS2 and use it all the time.

Good luck on the decision making process.

Thanks Steve. I hadn't considered doing the work up to the welding. I have never welded but can easily have it done. And with a near zero cost for materials it becomes a simpler decision. I have that same jet lathe. I'll probably keep that lathe until my grandson is ready for his own, so a good rest that'll last is a must.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I made one in plywood and works fine just a pain when doing spindles to move from one side of banjo to other.
Right now sitting in friends den in Thibodeaux. Wish I had the metal access there is down here. But I do not use the steady that much and could not justify a lot of expense. The used skate wheels work well and were not difficult to find.
Good luck[/]

Hey neighbor. I used to live in Jackson on county line road - back when it was an old road to the reservoir
Drove east on 20 a while back and boy has that area grown!

The skate wheels I have, I find are pretty rough and would mar my work so I need to get some. I'm thinking the Salvation Army store or maybe goodwill. Where did you find yours? No way will I beat the early birds to a yard sale around here.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Mark - I built a variant of this with the instructions john Combs put up on Sawmill Creek. I've attached the file here. It's a pretty easy build, even resurrected long dormant welding skills. Best of all, it's a sturdy piece of equipment and works well. I modified the plans for only three wheels, and tilted them about 7 degrees to starboard so they're out the way of the top of the vessel...thinking about adding the bowl steady bracket.

Jeff, thanks very much for he link. That is a really good set of plans and, the more I look, the more I realize that this is not a huge undertaking. And he gives good info on the right skate wheels to get, which was a concern.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Mark, the two most critical parts of building a steady rest are getting the ring perfectly perpendicular to the bed and not having any canting in the skate wheels. The second part is more of a challenge and it means that the tubes welded to the ring must be perfectly flat and that they do not have anything that causes the arms to not be square to the ring. Also the surface where the wheels are attached must be flat. It would be worth getting good quality steel tubing. If the wheels do not track true, they will continually try to pull the arm to one side or the other and this is not the best situation to have because it won't be doing the best possible job.

When you are using the steady rest, the wheels are supposed to make contact with the wood, but not be applying force to it. If the wheels are pushing against the wood, it will actually make things worse because the wood will flex slightly under the pressure which leads to vibration.

Bill. A buddy of mine I showed the plans to also said that it must be absolutely vertical, and also suggested a guide at the base that let's it track along the bed ways so the rest is perpendicular to the axis of the workpiece. He thinks a piece of tubing inside the base will help alignment. I think it t makes sense and will probably do this.

I know some guys at a local fab yard who do high precision machining for ultra high pressure oilfield applications, so having it true should be no problem

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I've built 2 wooden ones and now have an 87lb metal one I bought from an estate. They work but I've also played with the Carter and it works better. I really like the thin support rails because I use a laser to hollow and it doesn't block the laser as much. It's very solid and works perfectly. A lot of money but I guess it goes back to the old you get what you pay for adage. My wooden ones always wobbles a little. didn't seem to hurt the turning but bothered me. I don't know if it's wheel tracking, type of wheels, or some other problem. I made them as accurately as I could.

John, that wobbling is one if the things that sort of makes me lean toward buying. On the other hand, saving a bunch of money is tempting especially with my good access to skilled machinists.

One of the guys I spoke to suggested heavy aluminum, and he happens to be a very good welder who does a lot of aluminum. I wonder what your thought are on maybe going that route? 87 pounds is one heckuva rest. No doubt it's stable

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Goodwill

I made one in plywood and works fine just a pain when doing spindles to move from one side of banjo to other.
Right now sitting in friends den in Thibodeaux. Wish I had the metal access there is down here. But I do not use the steady that much and could not justify a lot of expense. The used skate wheels work well and were not difficult to find.
Good luck[/]

Hey neighbor. I used to live in Jackson on county line road - back when it was an old road to the reservoir
Drove east on 20 a while back and boy has that area grown!

The skate wheels I have, I find are pretty rough and would mar my work so I need to get some. I'm thinking the Salvation Army store or maybe goodwill. Where did you find yours? No way will I beat the early birds to a yard sale around here.

Found 1 pair at Goodwill for $3. Some of the wheels were pretty rough, but only needed 3. I have only used this steady for spindles and bedposts (4 inch diameter) so cannot say about the vibration John got with his. I do know it is kind of like setting up bering on bandsaw, that is only touch not necessary to push against the turning.

 

[JeffSmith]

Mark - believe me, if getting the ring square and the base secure to the bed was at all challenging, I would not have wound up with one that works well. The fact is, following the plans by Combs, if you take your time cutting the base of the ring, mark everything true and square then clamp before you weld, it's pretty simple. The brackets are secured with bolts until welded. The base has a plate that fits between the ways to keep it square. I also don't have a lot of metal working tools; just used an angle grinder, drill press and hand tools. Sanded all parts on a small benchtop belt sander.
If you do it, get a ring that matches the swing of your lathe, or larger if the exact size isn't available. I used a 26" ring for my 25" AB and it works fine. Just had to extend the base slightly for the extra width. Mine weighs in about 20 or 25 pounds I'd guess and is very stable in use.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Mark, I agree with Jeff that it certainly is feasible to build your own steady rest. I was mainly wanting to point out that one needs to build it with care and as much precision as you can and not just throw something together. The better it is built, the better it will work.

It needs to be sturdy so it won't move around or shake. With all of the effort going into making one, I would't cheap out on the wheels. Sinner and Robust do not use skate wheels. The ones used by Robust are industrial wheels that look like oversized skate wheels but have harder rubber and more rugged bearings. The Sinner steady rest uses a different type of wheel. A lot of people use skate wheels with success and I think tha"t it would be worth getting some that are high quality.

The cost of buying a steady rest seems high, but after I got an idea of the cost and time involved in making my own, buying one didn't seem so bad after all. I bought the Robust and it is very heavy and solid -- probably the most sturdy and solid out there.

A feature that I have seen on some of the steady rests including my Robust is a safety feature that prevents a finger or tool from getting pinched between the wheel and turning. On the Robust it is a roll pin on each side of the wheel that just clears the surface of the wood.

Here is another tip: always have the steadyrest wheels running at the largest diameter of the hollowform. The reason is that the wheels will want to climb uphill. By being at the highest point, they will run straighter. Also, have a slightly raised rim where the wheels will run. The reason is that the wheels will mar the surface slightly. After you finish hollowing, you can san the raised rim away. A thickness of 1/16 inch is sufficient.

 

[JeffSmith]

Amen to what Bill said above. I priced out what I needed to build rather than buy, and at less than $100, the build won. The wheels are skate wheels, but heavier duty ones with larger bearings and larger diameter. It is not as elegant as the Robust version, but still works well, doesn't vibrate at all (so far).
Here's a couple of small pics I shared with another guy building it...I haven't painted it yet - it's still in 'proof of concept' mode. Haven't figured out why iPhone images want to rotate to horizontal when they preview fine...

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Bill and Jeff,

Thanks very much for your thoughtful input. It has helped clarify my thinking. So the plan is for me to build a rest with the help of a friend who welds. As it happens, I have several feet of square tubing in 1" and 3/4". Heavy gauge. Also some C channel that I could use as the base.

So what do you gents think of using a square or octagonal frame as opposed to a round flange? I'm thinking of putting a metal blade on a small spare miter saw to cut the parts and dry fit. Then off to welding.

This would allow me to use the plans you both provided almost exactly as they are.

And Bill. Thanks for the tips on how to use it. The extra ridge is a gat idea. I'm working on my second segmented firm now. Mothers day gift for LOML, it's a sort of elongated ginger jar and already has that ridge.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Mark, I made the metal bowl rest and have been very, very happy with it. I did all of the cutting, drilling and grinding and then had a local welder do the welding. I have a Jet 1642 EVS2 and use it all the time.

Good luck on the decision making process.

Steve, thanks for that. I'm convinced and going to make my own. And as you did, outsource the welding to a pal who wants a baseball bat for his nephew. I have the same Jet and love it.

 

[Bill Boehme]

..... So what do you gents think of using a square or octagonal frame as opposed to a round flange? I'm thinking of putting a metal blade on a small spare miter saw to cut the parts and dry fit. Then off to welding......

If the metal is thick -- maybe a half inch. The Steve Sinner steady rest is flat and really thick. I'm not positive if it is a half inch, but it appears to be. That would make it very heavy. The round right angle flange is inherently stiff without the need to be heavy. Welding up flat assembly and keeping it flat will require some work. The flange is easier, but more expensive.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

If the metal is thick -- maybe a half inch. The Steve Sinner steady rest is flat and really thick. I'm not positive if it is a half inch, but it appears to be. That would make it very heavy. The round right angle flange is inherently stiff without the need to be heavy. Welding up flat assembly and keeping it flat will require some work. The flange is easier, but more expensive.

Bill,
I'm thinking half an inch is way beyond necessary. We ship containers into the gulf if Mexico daily. They're lifted by crane onto boats and tare weights are just under 10,000 lbs and the total probably nearly double that. the pad eyes that are welded are about .5 thick plate. As I recall, the safe load test on them is 5x the safe working load so that's pretty strong.

Bit I take your point. I know a bunch of engineers who design oil platforms and components. They must have some tables or maybe a cad app that can give me the strength and load capacities do you think? I personally wouldn't know how to approach that question, but the answer is the difference between making all my cuts today or ordering that ring.

And thanks again; I've learned a ton from all your replies to my posts and appreciate that!

 

[Bill Boehme]

We're talking apples and oranges. You're talking about structural integrity. I'm talking about flexing a tiny amount. Any flex that puts the wheel out of plane gets amplified by the arm length to the wheel as well as allowing vibration (which a steady rest is meant to snub out). Things like wide flange beams, box beams, hollow tubing, and even the lowly 3/16" thick angle stock used to make the round flange provides a very large stiffness advantage over flat stock of the same thickness. A half inch is overkill, but is 1/4" stiff enough? Depends in a lot of things like how wide the material is and the diameter. Maybe one of your engineer associates could look at your design and give you an assessment. Tell him/her how it will be used, lathe speed, and that no discernible vibration or deflection of the wheels are the design goals. The point being that the name "steady rest" is also it's purpose. There's not much market demand for a flimsy rest. While a steady rest that flexes and vibrates a small amount is usable I would be disappointed if I made one that didn't quite live up to my expectations. Not being a mechanical engineer, I wouldn't be able to provide a highly qualified assessment on how well your design will work, but I mainly wanted to point out the difference between using flat stock and other options that save weight and improve stiffness.

If you don't want to buy an angle ring, another idea is to use straight angle stock to make a six or eight sided "ring". That ought to be no more difficult to fab than flat stock, but would be significantly stiffer.

 

[Dwight R Rutherford]

The 16"steel flange I got from McMaster-Carr for my Jet 1642 was only $21.50. I agree with Bill about the structural advantage this has over using flat stock. Mine is "steady" and quiet.

 

[Steve Doerr]

Mark, a couple of things that I might suggest based on what I made. 1. Put five or six brackets on the rim to hold the armature for the wheels. Three on the left half and three on the right half. I spaced them so that four of them are 90 degrees to each other and then offset 45 degrees from vertical. The other two bisect the 45's and are horizontal. This allows you to use four wheels for bowls, three wheels for hollowing (plenty of room for my laser rod on my monster hollowing tool. 2. When mounting the system on your lathe, have the tightening screws for the armatures to be on the head side of the lathe. That way, you can move close to the jig without having to worry about the screws being in the way, (This is the opposite of what is shown in Jeff's pictures above.)