Another installment of my hack pseudo machining prowess
Last fall I picked up a 1947 Montgomery Ward (Logan) lathe. For it I also picked up a cheapo Asian made telescopic steady rest. It was made for a different machine, was a 1/4” short, and crudely made. Also, the bottom clamp was missing. So, this isn’t actually shop made, but sort of shop re-made.
To raise it up I first needed to clean up the original machining. It looked like someone shaped it with a hand held angle grinder. After flattening the bottom and milling out the crooked and rough V way, I went ahead and milled the sides of the base square so I’d have good reference surfaces. Then I milled some aluminum stock with a good V way to fit. Since it’s not a stressed piece I just JB Welded the parts together and dressed the edges up on the mill.
With that done I made a new bottom clamp plate so that it would capture the bolt to keep it from turning.
One problem with this rest is that the cylinder “fingers” are a sloppy fit in the casting bores. I‘m sure they would back out during use. There was no way to lock them in place. So I replaced the dog ended recessed set screws that keep the fingers from rotating. I made up brass knurled thumb screws with dog ends and knurled jamb nuts. I also had to mill flats in the casting at the lock screw locations for the jamb nuts to seat against. I know it’s not rocket science, but this was my first experience with knurling, and they seem to have turned out ok. And it even all works as planned.
Last fall I picked up a 1947 Montgomery Ward (Logan) lathe. For it I also picked up a cheapo Asian made telescopic steady rest. It was made for a different machine, was a 1/4” short, and crudely made. Also, the bottom clamp was missing. So, this isn’t actually shop made, but sort of shop re-made.
To raise it up I first needed to clean up the original machining. It looked like someone shaped it with a hand held angle grinder. After flattening the bottom and milling out the crooked and rough V way, I went ahead and milled the sides of the base square so I’d have good reference surfaces. Then I milled some aluminum stock with a good V way to fit. Since it’s not a stressed piece I just JB Welded the parts together and dressed the edges up on the mill.
With that done I made a new bottom clamp plate so that it would capture the bolt to keep it from turning.
One problem with this rest is that the cylinder “fingers” are a sloppy fit in the casting bores. I‘m sure they would back out during use. There was no way to lock them in place. So I replaced the dog ended recessed set screws that keep the fingers from rotating. I made up brass knurled thumb screws with dog ends and knurled jamb nuts. I also had to mill flats in the casting at the lock screw locations for the jamb nuts to seat against. I know it’s not rocket science, but this was my first experience with knurling, and they seem to have turned out ok. And it even all works as planned.
