Roller Fingers On A 10f Steady Rest...

cdhknives

cdhknives

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It seems to me like 6061-T6 aluminum would be strong enough for the rare usage I'd give a steady...nearly as strong as brass and less force due to the lowered friction...what do y'all think? I have a bunch of aluminum and not much square stock, and the brass fingers of my steady and follower are chewed up pretty badly. Eventually I have a fun project requiring me to turn 1.5-2" (not sure of final dims) diameter 1/16" tubing and thread it, so a steady is my only option and a gentle touch would be nice. SO, I want to build the roller fingers as practice. I have a milling attachment and aluminum would machine a whole lot easier in this lightweight setup...

6061 aluminum for steady rest roller fingers. yea or nay?
 
Brass has a lower coefficient of friction with most materials (especially aluminum) than aluminum does. Can't you just remachine the fingers?
 
By rollers, I assume you mean ball bearing rollers?

Most of them I've seen have the ball bearing attached to the finger (usually in a notch) with a single screw that serves as an axle. They were only supported on one side. I'd have concerns that aluminum would be up to that. Shearing forces on the screws could enlarge the hole and make them loose.

If you could put the bearings between two legs by milling a fork in the end, so the axle is supported on both sides of the bearing, aluminum would have a better chance of holding up.
 
If your steady rest has rectangular cross-section fingers, buy the ones on eBay. I have a set and they seem quite well made.

Unfortunately, I hadn't used my steady rest in a couple of years and didn't remember that on the final 12" version, the fingers are cylindrical. However, they do fit my follow rest so I kept them. Flustered
 
Yes it's false economy but it gives me a project to practice my skills upon...and I need practice.

Yes I'm talking about ball bearing rollers, and yes I have the rectangular cross section fingers.

Yes I was looking to build a forked end. I may have to have a Y shaped bearing end to give me enough metal for atrength, which could reduce the capacity of my steady a good bit...I guess I need to take some measurements and sketch this up.
 
You're right - there are many ways to determine the value of a thing, money being only one of them and a lesser one at that. Show us what you come up with!
 
OK. It isn't necessary to make them Y-shaped. That will, as you already said, seriously cut into the steady rest diameter capacity. Go to the eBay ad and see how those look, and make them like that. And don't use aluminum. Easy to cut but won't last very long.
 
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