Help to find a fixed steady

Hi i am looking for a fixed steady for an Axminster BV20 lathe. Does anyone know of one for sale as it is an obsolete model and Axminster has none. Is there a similar lathe as some Chinese made lathes may match.

David George

David,

I don't know if this one fits ??

Ax steady

Bob

I'd be wary of that one. The description says it's suitable for supporting long pieces of WOOD.

If you really get stuck, you can get a new one from the place I bought my lathe from: Worken.fr. Yeah, OK, it's in France, but I was living there at the time. They might deliver to the UK, but I doubt it. You could always get someone who lives in France (Speedy Builder5, perhaps) to have it delivered to them and send it on to you?

John.

Edited By John Hinkley on 21/08/2022 13:32:15

Edited By John Hinkley on 21/08/2022 13:32:47

I would consider making one from another lathe suit it. If you get something like the one for a Warco WM240 you can chop all or part of the supplied foot off and make a foot to suit your lathe then bolt the two parts together. A fixed steady is not high tech part. You can shut the fingers down on a large rotating drill or milling cutter to make sure the faces are aligned to the spindle centre line.

Martin C

Due to the very high prices of fixed steadies for Smart & Brown model A lathes, I bought 2 at different times on ebay, one small for up to 2" diameter and the other larger which can take about 3 1/2" and with a hinge. They were for Chinese lathes and having a mill at the museum, I cut the original bases off, and machined them to bolt on aluminium bases made to fit the lathe. The larger one has bronze fingers with screw adjusters and I made another set with sealed roller bearings to add versatility. If you have milling capacity, that is the best way to go. They both bolt to the side of the aluminium bases and can be bolted either side to suit the job in hand.

Another approach that may work is to post a dimensioned photo or sketch of the bed profile, so see if anyone can suggest an equivalent. Or of course may have a steady surplus to requirements!

A lot of these machine-tools seem so "badge engineered" it's possible a steady made for a similar lathe by another supplier would fit without recourse to a lot of metalworking.

As Nigel says, it is possible that a steady would be available intended for a lathe imported by someone else.

Try to find out if Warco or Chester imported the same machine under another name, and in a different colour scheme.

If that fails, a "Wanted" ad might bring one to light.

It may not be easy, but others have made a steady for their lathe, even if basically fabricated.

Howard

OK. So my suggestion for a source of a new one doesn't appeal. Fair enough. As my lathe is a clone of the BV20 and I have a fixed steady for it, here's an alternative. As David George 1 lives not a million miles from me, I'm happy to loan it to him, on condition that he comes up to pick it up. I am assuming that it is only required for a short while. I have owned the lathe for over 15 years and in that time have never used the steady! But you never know and when it goes to a new owner, I'd like to pass it on complete. PM me if you are interested, George.

John

I have two for my lathe - not this type of lathe, mind.

The first was carefully modified one from a different machine. Great care was needed to get it to precisely follow the ways (minimum slde-clearance to the rails). The second is a genuine part. Clearly only one gets used at a time but the first one is slightly larger than the genuine one, so it will stay. I’ve used mine several times.

I have only used a travelling steady once and do not have one, or particularly intend buying one, for my present lathe unless one comes up at the right price. After making this post, I shall likely need a travelling support in the very near future 🙁 (but I’ll cross that particular bridge if and when it arises).

I was very lucky and picked up a travelling steady on ebay for a price I could afford, it wasn't fully described and I took a chance and got away with it. It has been used once helping extend the thread on the X axis leadscrew for the Tom Senior mill.