Wrong Steady Rest

Fred

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Hi, I bought a steady rest that was supposed to fit my 1936 15 inch South Bend lathe. But the center line of the rest is about three quarters of an inch higher than the center line of the chuck. I have enough stock on the bottom of the rest to take enough off so the center lines will line up. But I really don't want to do that if I don't have to. How close to the center line of the chuck have to be to the center line of the steady rest.?
Also, is there any way to know for sure if the steady rest will fit my lathe before buying it.? thank you in advance. Fred
 
Consider the principle of three point contact, and how much effect the 3/4" will have. It will make the normal 120° separation irregular. The spacing will be greater than 120° on the lower two support fingers. On larger size stock, this isn't a biggie, but as the stock gets smaller, it may be an issue.

Other fit considerations would be the front-back alignment. The bed width and vee should be close to bringing the top contact finger the vertical centerline. This is a little more critical than the height. It's also a little awkward to evaluate apart from simply setting the rest on the bed. A square, and a few measurements should be possible to confirm the alignment.
 
Morning Fred,
I myself have not seen a steady rest that was not ajustable.Maybe a picture would help us slove your problem.
********Just Saying*************Gator**************
 
They aren't adjustable for height. Listen to Tony on this issue. He is exactly correct. You'll have trouble supporting small diameters.
 
Well mine might be on the large side but it is ajustable.
hack saw steady rest 007.jpghack saw steady rest 009.jpg


hack saw steady rest 007.jpg hack saw steady rest 009.jpg
 
Is that a lathe dog?

Grumpygator's from the southeast where they use dogs to track. You've heard of bloodhounds? Well that there is one of them highly trained iron-hounds. He can sniff out an old lathe buried in a barn, or parts of a mill hidden in the trunk of that 57 chevy rusting away on the blocks in your neighbor's frontyard... :rofl: But seriously, I don't think they were talking about the normal 3-arms being adjustable. They meant that the body itself wasn't adjustable. You put it on your lathe and if it's the right one then the center of the rest's hole is inline with the center of the lathe. If you put a rest for a 12" lathe on a 14" lathe it will sit too low and there isn't any adjustment on the rest itself to move the entire body up a couple of inches. And if if you've got a rest made for a lathe with a big gap, and you put it on one with a medium gap then it won't line up front-back and no matter how much you move that top arm, it's not going to line up with the centerline of the lathe so you might get it to make contact on a big fat piece of turning, but if you're trying to hold something skinny it won't work.

That's how I understood it. Having said that, Tools4cheap is selling some southbend and other rests that are close to matching my Leblond but not quite. I'm saving up to buy the one that he has with the separate adapter for the bottom, and when then I can make my own adapter so it mounts correctly on the lathe. If Fred has room to machine off some of his rest to make it line up top/bottom, and can make it centered front/back, then I don't see why that shouldn't work.
 
Yes,I repeat,I mean HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE. The arms are obviously adjustable. This isn't complicated. If the arms don't converge properly on the centerline of the lathe spindle,they won't be inline enough to support smaller diameter work. Think about it.
 
Good one Rafe. That is Jethro and he is in charge of anything he can drag off. Looking for that tool you just put down go find the dog. Cut off six pices of stock and only find five,look for the dog. And he is only 18 weeks old.I am going to get him his own tool box so he will leave mine alone.
OK Joe I get it now I was not thinking of the wrong steady rest for the lathe.
Fred post some pictures and maybe we can find a work arround solution for you.
**********Just Saying*****************Jethro*******************:eek:uch:
 
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