Which steady first

am planning on getting a steady for my Clarke lathe.

which one should I get first travelling or fixed steady?

For me it would be a fixed steady, in fact I have two fixed steadies (different capacity) for my new lathe and wouldn't be without them. I rarely use the travelling steady that came with the lathe.

Thor

Fixed for me as well, I've never used my Myford travelling steady.

John

I've used the fixed steady that came with the lathe quite a lot:

As yet I've never used my travelling steady, other than to check that it fitted as it was bought separately.

Andrew

My fixed steady is used regularly. I have only used the travelling steady when cutting long screws.

Fixed steady always first, unless your cutting a long thread.

George.

I've had a lathe for 40 years now, and only used a fixed steady about half a dozen times. Used travelling steady even less. When you actually need one you'll know, until then unless the supply is going to dry up I'd spend my money on something else!

My story correlates very much so with the above, use the fixed not very often and the traveler hardly ever.

Consider what you might use it for would be my advice, are you going to be turning long thin stock quite a bit? Or you might have a very large piece of stock, say bigger than an inch dia. so it wont fit through the chuck but you don't want to use a shorter length and need a way to support it whilst turning, use a center of course, but how are you going to center it?

This is precisely the occasion it would be used for and many might not consider the fixed essential, but definitely important but the traveler could be considered for later.

Also, if you're going to use a different style tool post than the 4 way that comes with the clarke, your new toolpost may not correlate with the position that the traveler bolts to, so you'd need to do more moddery before that worked, but the fixed is pretty much timeless provided you dont change the bed!

Michael W

I agree with the above. I hardly ever use a travelling steady. The fixed on the other hand is used now and then. On lathes with small spindle holes they can be used for working on long bars that wont fit through the mandrel, which saves waste.

Regards.

David

You don't say why you want /need a steady, of whichever variety. When I started out with a lathe ( a mere 8 years ago) I wanted all the gubbins so I could cope with anything, but I soon learned that it's better to buy stuff as and when needed for a specific project. That way you build up tooling that you will actually use. So same as Duncan said. Plenty of other things to spend the hard-earned on!

But if you've go an irrestistble steady-buying urge, go with the fixed!

Regards, Rob.

Edited By Robin Graham on 12/06/2016 23:07:07

Hi, I agree with the majority and get a fixed steady if you feel you may need one. If you need a travelling steady, you may like to look at my Bespoke Travelling steady **LINK** and get some ideas of making one for any particular usage you may have.

Regards Nick.

I think Robin and Duncan are on the money. I bought both because they are often megabucks on epay and not always available for my obsolete lathe. Also, they are not eating anything and possibly have an appreciating value.

Unless your stock is perfectly round, it would need a bearing surface cut before using a fixed steady, so would need a centre as the first operation(?) and only needed for internal work on a long workpiece. If you turn long thin sections a travelling steady is good.

Get each as and when required. Especially if you are cash-strapped. There is plenty of other tooling, to use up your available funds!

I made both steadies for my lathe using castings I obtained HERE.

Useful exercise but seldom used items.

Norman

If the stock isn't completely round and you can't think of a way of centering it (usual way is centre square, punch and drill a centre by hand) you can make up a tube with two sets of 4 radial screws. Slip this over the component and adjust the screws so it runs true, then put the steady on that. Yes it's a right faff, but it might be all you can do if say you want the steady in the middle of a long forging

If you only have a single choice then the fixed steady is the one, in 64 years as an engineer I used a travelling steady once ! That was only because I had to demonstrate it's function.

Clive

hi thanks for replies, sorry it's taken while to reply but been away.

I regard a fixed steady as essential particularly when working with long bars that will not fit down the headstock spindle bore,the travelling steady is very useful on long thin work to stop deflection,but can take some job planning as the steady always gets in the way of either the chuck or a fixed part of the lathe.and not easy to use when working up to shoulders. I use my travelling steady occasionally when cutting long threads on my Colchester Triumph,particularly square and acme threads, full size traction engine brake shaft threads and a threaded shaft for a sluice gate come to mind in recent years.my work covers agricultural , full size steam and stationary engines plus some models so my machines must be well equipped to cover a variety of work

If you only need a fixed steady for a one-off job, you can bodge one up from two-by four bolted to the lathe bed with studding.

Neil