Correct Performance of Fixed Steadies

Hello Martin with an 'i'

I never supposed that steadies were anything to do with centering work.

I thought they were to resist the deflection of long thin work under the pressure of the cutting tool; either, in the case of a fixed steady, while one performed an operation on a relatively short section of the work, or, in the case of a travelling steady, if one was transversing a much longer section with the tool.

What I didn't know was that you needed to machine an accurate bearing surface (a journal, if you like) on which the steady could bear. I assumed that if you bought a piece of bar from the likes of Noggin End or Mallard or whoever, its diameter and parallelism would be within sufficient limits of accuracy for you to attach the steady and turn whatever was needed.

Thanks for that enlightenment.

Martyn with a 'y'.

The comments about paint on mating surfaces are very pertinent.

Recently I had dealings with a Chester Conquest, and found that the surfaces that mate with the bed on both the Tailstock, and the Fixed Steady were covered in overspray. A little rubbing, with some Emery removed the overspray

And Yes, I did wipe off the dust (Hopefully all of it). The plates that clamp the tailstock, and steady to the bed look a bit flimsy, to my mind, but that can be remedied in time. Other jobs intervene, currently.

The Model B does have a fairly large centre height so, don't be overambitious when turning the longer length of the work. Better to take smaller cuts without deflecting the steady than to rush and make a scrapper.

a) you do need to clamp the work with just a short piece protruding from the chuck, and turn to finish diameter, for a length that will allow clearance for the tool behind the steady, to turn the rest of the length.

b) Set up the steady to this diameter.

c)The work should then be pulled out of the chuck far enough to to turn the length required, as the steady is moved back towards the tailstock.

d) When all is ready to start turning, clamp the steady, and then tighten the chuck.

e) Oil the fingers of the steady, and then start turning. Don't let the fingers run dry!

With a bit of care and luck, you will achieve the required result.

Howard

The above only really works if the material is short and slender enough to fit within the chuck body or very slender so it will pass down the spindle bore. Andrews example would not fit any further into the chuck and my example simply won't fit in a chuck, in these cases you need to get a bit more inventive

I've not had problems running "as supplied" bright mild steel in the steady, probably could not cut a better bearing surface on it without using a steady anyway

That's a fair assumption, but it is important the steady is accurately centred because if teh steady forces the work off centre bad things will happen.

For long cylindrical work I set the steady close to the chuck, then slide t along to the end.

Not possible with Jason's hopper engine so you would need to set the bearing surface running true with a dial indicator or more likely he took a skim off it before applying the steady.

Neil

Denford steady in use, nylon collar fitted over work and clamped on with a Jubilee clip, saves running steel fingers on the aluminium tube of the tuned pipe.

Emgee

A dial indicator may not show true, you could quite happily set the work up in the steady but 1/4" too low and the DTI needle would not move. Something like a co-axial indicator held in teh tailstock and rotated by hand would give a better indication if your work is set to the lathe axis.

Half right Neil, I did skim the casting but not with the piece set up as it was for boring, so the skimmed surface had to be clocked true.

Oh and you sometimes need machine the steady to suit the job

Edited By JasonB on 17/12/2015 17:32:17

I think I'm grasping this. Go for solid. Turn a 'journal' on which the steady fingers can bear. Etcetera.

However, I got the Chester contraption solid(ish) tonight with much packing. I know that was against the advice, but 'no-way' was it going to firm up without.

Now I can see, without even taking a measurement, it's twisted and has been from 'new', or from the time Chester used it and then sold it to me as 'new'.

I think I'll be alright now if I get a decent steady. I rather fancy Neil's from Machine Mart and intend to investigate if it actually does fit a Super B.

Thanks to everyone. Have learnt a lot.

Martyn (Merry Kissmuss)

It will be about 60mm too low as the CL500 is 305mm ctr height

Steady & tapping grade tallow available on ebay, { google tallow} Have not tried it, bodge

If using a fixed steady with chuck mounted work if the steady fingers are not truly holding the job on centre there is a strong possibility of the job "walking" out of the chuck.

This action will be apparent when facing, the cuts get increasingly heavier until you realise what's happening and too much has been removed.

Steadies that hinge open are normally stiffer than open sided ones but this may not always be the case.

Emgee

Mornin' All

Denouement?

Have just run Super B lathe expirementally with Chester fixed steady and a piece of approximately 10 inch long EN24T in a 16mm collet chuck. No machined surface for the fingers for this purpose.

Everything rock solid, no movement on steady, no movement on 'work', no loosening, no heat, no perceptible run out. Kept lathe going for about four minutes with no change.

What I've done is position the fingers first so they bear squarely on the work and initially tightened them up. Located the fixed gyb (operator side of the lathe) hard against the bed, then I've slewed the gyb on the far side at an angle to the bed, wedged it with a piece of packing and tightened that up hard. Then finally tightened the fingers up hard. I also have a packing piece between the foot of the steady and centre of the bed which eliminates any axial rock.

Not elegant, but it's working.

Martyn

All this talk of steadies reminds me that I bought the one in the picture many years ago intending to adapt it to fit my Myford 254S, but then I found a much better one, so this has been in a cupboard ever since. If anyone wants it it's yours for the cost of the postage, or pick up in north Cheshire

My mistake - I thought they were the same basic machine.

Neil