Steady rest for 19"x5/8" chair spindles

[Bob Howell]

I am making chair spindles and think it would be faster with a steady rest. I have a Delta 46-204 12" lathe and all the steady rest seem to be for other brands. On Amazon I see getting a match is a big potential problem so I want to check out what works. Grizzly has a nice cast iron model but can I adapt it to my Delta bed? Anyone worked this out?

Thanks
Bob

 

[Rob Wallace]

Hi Bob!

"I don't turn lots of spindles, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis......I mean the Oneway Spindle Steady...."

I have been using the Oneway 3-wheel spindle steady which is very well-built and works well to dampen the "whip" sometimes generated by long, thin spindles. It is easily adjustable, and will accommodate lathes from 12" to 20+ inches, in case you ever move to a larger lathe.

Mine has given very reliable service for years, and I've been very happy with its adjustability and ease of use.

Have a look at: http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/5/-/25/110/-/4111/Oneway-Spindle-Steady?term=spindle steady

Rob

 

[Syd Sellers]

Home Made Steady

Hi Bob, a steady isn't that hard to make! If you make it for your lathe size then you are set. There are plans around to help you out and a set of roller blade wheels will do the trick. Have a look. http://azwoodturners.org/SteadyRest.pdf

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi

Finally a spindle turning thread!! Right up my street!

I use a home made steady based on a design 'borrowed' from a time served production turner. This design is solid and offers great support to the work. It locks down onto the lathe bed wherever suits the job best. The replaceable birch ply section has a semi-circular cut out - slightly deeper than half the diameter so it really cradles the work. I have a number of these which suit various jobs and they are easy to make as required.

There is a little extra noise but no more than roller blade wheels. A touch with a candle to the area in the steady helps. On softwood there is no burning but on denser timbers there can be a little, but as the section supported by the steady is over sized, this isn't a problem.



The problem with many commercial steadies, is that they are big hoops designed for supporting large hollow forms and so are unsuitable for spindle work. My steady sits at the back of the work and is ideal for use with a long tool rest, which can also be home made from wood.

I will be demonstrating long thin spindle turning (among other things) at the symposium in June. I hope to meet some of you there!

Cheers

Richard

 

[Bill Boehme]

The one that Rob uses is very good if you are not interested in making your own. However, a steadyrest is for solving problem with flexing of long thin spindles and will definitely NOT speed up your work. It will add extra time for positioning it, adjusting the wheels, then moving it again and readjusting the wheels, ad nauseum. Chair rungs need to be substantial enough that they do not flex in use or else they won't last very long. If you are making a Windsor chair then that is another matter.

For 19 inch long rungs, there shouldn't be any discernible flex and if there is -- it might be that you are seeing warping and not flexing. If there is flexing, a much simpler solution is to wrap the finger of your left hand behind the spindle to balance out any force from the tool.

 

[Bob Howell]

Now I am chucking the blank and turning the 1/2" base tendon and the lower 2-3" to 5/8" or so. then I chuck it into my chuck and bring up the tailstock. Then start in the middle and work out both ways. till finished. I have 6 sets of 9 each bamboo spindles for birdcage Windsor's, but it is slow.

I hear the steady rest is a challenge to master but was thinking it might be time.

Bob

Just saw this and it fits my Delta.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/5/-/25/110/-/4490/Apprentice-Spindle-Steady













http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/5/-/25/110/-/4490/Apprentice-Spindle-Steady

 

[Owen Lowe]

I use a home made steady based on a design 'borrowed' from a time served production turner. This design is solid and offers great support to the work. It locks down onto the lathe bed wherever suits the job best.

View attachment 7248

The problem with many commercial steadies, is that they are big hoops designed for supporting large hollow forms and so are unsuitable for spindle work. My steady sits at the back of the work and is ideal for use with a long tool rest, which can also be home made from wood.

Bob, The problem with the wheeled steadies is that the minimum diameter may be too large to support 5/8”. Make sure you check that out before buying or, if making, design it to accommodate small wheels. I made a steady very similar to Richard’s (up there ^) to turn 3/16” x 12” spindles. The “bearing” surface for my steady is UHMW plastic. Worked very well.

 

[hockenbery]

Bob
you will have a lot less vibration if you leave the spindle thick from the drive side.

Turn your tenon an maybe the element that joins to the tenon if you are unable to turn that part while it is in the chuck.
Then work from the tailstock to the headstock. Use the tailstock center for support but just snug it up.

Too much pressure will cause the spindle to bow and whip around.
You should be able to work in 4-5 inch sections from tailstock to headstock. Finish each section before taking any wood off the next section. As long as you have wood mass between the drive and where you are working you will have little vibration.
A steady like Richard showed will do the trick if you need it and give you room to work. Each spindle will be a bit different.
My prediction is you use Richard's rest on the first five and won't need after that and then you will throw away the first one you turned.

Al

 

[John Lawson]

In the first turning book I ever had, Frank Pain's The Practical Wood Turner, 1956, he shows a spindle steady similar to Richard's but with a pivot and wedge such that it automatically adjusts as the spindle diameter decreases.

 

[Richard Findley]

In the first turning book I ever had, Frank Pain's The Practical Wood Turner, 1956, he shows a spindle steady similar to Richard's but with a pivot and wedge such that it automatically adjusts as the spindle diameter decreases.

The problem I've found with this type of v shaped support is that, if you're not careful, they actually deflect the spindle, forming a slightly square shape rather than nice and round. The advantage of my u shaped cradle is that it gives excellent support in all directions.

Richard

 

[John Lawson]

That makes sense. With a mini-lathe, I don't have a lot of personal experience with steady rests.

 

[R Henrickson]

Production turners, when discussing turning long and slender spindles such as balusters (NOT finials), recommend first turning at the center, then working from there toward the tailstock, and finally from the center to the headstock (e.g., Darlow "Slender Turning" in Practice of Woodturning, Knudsen "Production Tips from an Architectural Turner" in Fine Woodworking).

In my experience turning long and skinny spindles, I've tried various sequences and found that indeed I had better results beginning at the center, then toward the tailstock, and finally toward the headstock (working with blanks initially 1x1x17, with minimum final diameters 1/4" or less). It also helps considerably if the headstock end is gripped in chuck jaws. There will be some flexing or chatter, but I have yet to require a steady -- just damping vibration with my left hand. I have rarely broken a spindle, although their profiles are often complex).

 

[Bob Howell]

THE FIRST 2 SETS OF spindles were of dried walnut. Then I got a walnut log and cut it up on band saw to 1" sgs. and stickered and dried them for a month in hot area. They for some reason turned much better and I had 100% success rate.

4 months has passed and I am back to it. Wondering how a steady rest would help.

After this discussion I am not sure it will.

The top is taken down to 5/16 for the last 3 " and I have found it best to finish last.

By this time the center is out of balance and can't be touched; but the base can still be finished up.

The last step is back to between centers and finial sanding but no cutting.

I have had good luck finishing up with 120 sp sanding along the grain by hand so hand work can cure imperfections

Thanks,

Bob

 

[john lucas]

I went through the same dilemma a bunch of years ago. Steady rests were a pain. I just learned to steady them by hand. As was mentioned leave them protest full thickness at first. Depends on the shape whether I start in the middle or at the tailstock end. Reduce the tailstock pressure and if you can church the other end up so you don't have that pressure. Don't ride the bevel ,glide the bevel. You want as little pressure against the spindle as possible. I have my lead hand on the tool lightly and wrap your fingers around the spindle. If you don't put much pressure on the spindle it won't take much finger pressure to counter it. I also find you may have to play with the cutting angle just a little to see what makes the least chatter. If you do get chatter change the angle of the tool
Slight and then just try and cut the tops off the chatter marks for the next pass. I haven't used a spindle steady in years now

 

[Bill Boehme]

I went through the same dilemma a bunch of years ago. Steady rests were a pain. I just learned to steady them by hand. As was mentioned leave them protest full thickness at first. Depends on the shape whether I start in the middle or at the tailstock end. Reduce the tailstock pressure and if you can church the other end up so you don't have that pressure. Don't ride the bevel ,glide the bevel. You want as little pressure against the spindle as possible. I have my lead hand on the tool lightly and wrap your fingers around the spindle. If you don't put much pressure on the spindle it won't take much finger pressure to counter it. I also find you may have to play with the cutting angle just a little to see what makes the least chatter. If you do get chatter change the angle of the tool
Slight and then just try and cut the tops off the chatter marks for the next pass. I haven't used a spindle steady in years now

John, my Tennesseian to Texian dictionary has let me down and my wife who is from Tennessee couldn't help either -- guess that she has been away for too long. Here's here best guess:

• Protest -- what you are if you ain't Catholic
• church the other end up -- she said that she's heard of gettin' liquored up and figures that gettin' churched up is the opposite.

Maybe you could give us a translation if you can find somebody there who is bilingual and speaks Texian.

 

[Gretch Flo]

John, my Tennesseian to Texian dictionary has let me down and my wife who is from Tennessee couldn't help either -- guess that she has been away for too long. Here's here best guess:

• Protest -- what you are if you ain't Catholic
• church the other end up -- she said that she's heard of gettin' liquored up and figures that gettin' churched up is the opposite.

Maybe you could give us a translation if you can find somebody there who is bilingual and speaks Texian.

I think he's turned hillbilly on us!!!!🙂 Gretch

 

[hockenbery]

John, my Tennesseian to Texian dictionary has let me down and my wife who is from Tennessee couldn't help either -- guess that she has been away for too long. Here's here best guess: [*]Protest -- what you are if you ain't Catholic [*]church the other end up -- she said that she's heard of gettin' liquored up and figures that gettin' churched up is the opposite. Maybe you could give us a translation if you can find somebody there who is bilingual and speaks Texian.

Churched up: Verb - protecting our treasures. 🙂
derived from Frank Church, 1924-1984, US Senator, instrumental in establishing our national wilderness areas.