# Shop Made Steady Rests



## Cactus Farmer (May 8, 2015)

The hinged one was first, made from a blind flange. Tough steel, maybe 4140. I had to make a toolpost grinder to modify the pulley tap to thread the deep holes. The large solid model is for using my spiders to thread cast rifle actions. It has rollers instead of brass wear pads. both are great tools for my purposes. I just couldn't find any to fit my 11" Rockwell.......these were a good exercise for me and saved me some $$$.  They share the same lower clamp.


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## itsme_Bernie (May 8, 2015)

Wow cool!  I should make a follow rest like that!


Bernie


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## randyc (May 8, 2015)

Nice work !  I hesitate to even post the crude thing that I made decades ago for the little Emco 8 x 18.  Fortunately, I have a factory steady for the old Sheldon 

I heavily tinned the jaws with bronze brazing rod then put an end mill in the spindle.  Snugging up the mounting bolts, I slowly pushed the steady, by hand, into the rotating end mill to radius the jaws.  It's a butt-ugly thing but has been working well for over twenty years !


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## roadie33 (May 8, 2015)

Looks good Cactus.
I need to make one for mine too.
Just trying to decide on Steel or Aluminum.
I can machine Aluminum easier than steel as I don't have a mill, yet.


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## Ulma Doctor (May 9, 2015)

Nice Work, Cactus Farmer!!!
finding anything for a Rockwell lathe must be a nightmare.
i like your ingenuity and execution!


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## kingmt01 (May 9, 2015)

Nice work. I like Randyc's also. I've never even had my steady mounted. My lathe came with one & a follower. I've seen a YouTube that one guy had to rebuild his from Grizzly before it worked well so I may have to also. I just doesn't $750 on tooling from Grizzly & all of it was junk so I'm not sure I'll get anything else from them. I was wanting a band saw but I'm not so sure anymore.


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## Cactus Farmer (May 9, 2015)

Thanks guys. The first one was a tool I needed to thread the breech on my cannon barrel. I do like making tools. the tool companies help me see things when they print good pictures. I then build one to suit myself with "improvements" to better deal with my specific needs. I think some of my changes are things the original maker should include in their tools.
The big solid one is used quite often for large sleeves a local companies shaved apes foul up that has internal threads. I won't name to company but to say they are a world wide outfit and it is a big feather to have a vendor number with them. You can't buy a number! They want you to have it, hopefully because of your good work.  I've been a vendor for 20+ years with them.
The rollers on the big one need to be redone to make them  square with the imaginary cylinder. I missed them by a "skoch" when I made them. It seems like I remember being in a hurry, so now I get to redo them. Hopefully with a great deal more care in making everything true and square.
 Ulma Dr. is right, Rockwell stuff is scarcer than chicken lips. I did buy a spare set of belts for the speed adjuster portion just because they are "odd ducks". I'm in the middle of the oilfields and we have a plethora of supply stores, so I went to a friends place and we researched the belts. They came from to different places complete with a few years of dust attached. I'm just glad to have them for when the ones I'm running now go "poof".


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