# Has anyone made a shop built steady rest?



## HMF (Apr 5, 2011)

Hi Guys,


Has anyone crafted a shop made steady rest for their lathe?


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## Tony Wells (Apr 5, 2011)

I need to build one, how's that, Nelson? LOL

Back in 1975, our class built a rest for a L &amp; S 32" lathe that McEvoy ran. It had roughly S shaped arms that pivot in the middle and hydraulic cylinders to close them. It was self-centering. I wish I had some drawings or pictures of it. It was a nice project, and the students made a few bucks off it.

Seems like I ran across a set of plans for one recently. I'll dig around. It's not too difficult to design one.


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## terry_g (Apr 5, 2011)

I built this one from a slice off an old 6" hydraulic cylinder and some bits and pieces that I had lying around.
I needed one to make a drive shaft. I only used it once but it worked very well.

Terry


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## lrudd (May 29, 2011)

Nelson,
Here is one I made and it works very well, but one must not allow chips to get in the path of the rollers.
Larry


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## Tony Wells (May 29, 2011)

Take a plastic lid from a coffee can or such (Tuperware??). Put a hole in it to stretch just a little over the workpiece and slide it down right near the rollers and it will keep the chips out.


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