Steady rest material

[GeneT45]

I watched that video....the Micarta worked a lot better than I would have expected. Now that I think of it, 3D printing an add-on tip with a heavy infill would probably work halfway decent as well.

PLA would be terrible, but nylon might work.

GsT

 

[ChazzC]

PLA would be terrible, but nylon might work.

GsT

Just don’t try glass or carbon fiber

When I print (seldom these days) I use HIPS (High Impact Poly Styrene), still available but I don’t hear about many using it.

 

[G-ManBart]

PLA would be terrible, but nylon might work.

GsT

I was thinking PETG, but I don't think PLA would be all that terrible at a heavy infill. I've made PLA gears for lathes that ran for years with no obvious wear. Even if they didn't last long they would be so easy and cheap to make you could have half a dozen on hand and not have $1 in them so even if they only lasted a couple of uses it wouldn't be a problem.

 

[pontiac428]

Boy, the delrin sounds like a neat idea for a non-marring material. I think the need for something non-embedding for chips and also non-abrasive kind of leads back to bronze in my mind. I think preserving finish is particularly important if you're working on parts with a finish already applied (which may or may not be relevant to your work). Using a wrap of 10 mil tape on the workpiece works okay but isn't always ideal. One place I use the steady every time is crowning barrels, often with a finish, and the delrin idea sounds great. It's not a job that makes a lot of chips. Maybe I'll make a set of bearing sleeves to fit reduced OD bearings for my steady that I can swap in as needed. That should go on my to-do list, I have seven barrel blanks on my bench for this winter...