Steady rest for a Sheldon

[WesPete66]

The Sheldon EXL 10" lathe I now own came to me without a proper steady rest. So... I don't have a steady rest, but I do have a long piece of aluminum extrusion. What's a guy to do? Make one!
What do you guys think about the steady that I've modeled up using this aluminum? Is that a reasonable design, and what would you do differently? (fyi- the thru hole is 4" dia, the extrusion is 5.20" wide across flats, adjusters are 1/2-20UNF)

 

[Nutfarmer]

Looks good to me. When you start the build pictures please. We all love tool pictures.

 

[cathead]

I would make it from steel as a weldment because it has a lot more mass than aluminum would have.
A good starting point would be a slice of heavy DOM(drawn over mandrel) if I were to build another one.
if interested, look in my photo albums for steadys I have made.

 

[T Bredehoft]

Were I to make one from your material I'd aim at a smaller through hole, Your 10" lathe, while it can work on 4"OD, is more comfortable on smaller stock, especially on longer work needing the steady rest. Just think how beefy the steady rest would be on 2 1/2" material with a three inch through hole. You might not need steel.