The right way to setup a steady rest

I'm fairly new to machining, I've been playing with lathes in a hobby capacity for about a year now. I'm having trouble setting up a fixed steady rest. I'm usually good with the spacial relationship puzzles but I'm hitting a circular dependancy. The steady wants a nice clean true surface to run best, right? But you can't make a nice clean true surface if the piece is too long for you to cut without chattering like crazy, you need a steady rest to cut a surface on something that long.

I'm trying to face the end of a long thing so I can center drill and stick the tailstock there for support, but the long thing is too flexible to face. Also, the long thing is too flexible to take a cleanup pass to put the steady on, even light cuts. (Taig lathe with the 4 jaw holding a 5" long 1" dia piece). It will also not fit through the spindle. I've been using the 4 jaw, indicating in the far end as close as I can, then setting up the steady. This usually puts the chuck end off-axis, but if I use a larger diameter than I need I can take care of the wobble once I've got both ends drilled and in centers. This works ok, but the steady makes noises till I've got the center supporting that end, at which point I can make a cleanup pass and reset the steady on that, but by then I don't need the steady anymore!

Is there a way to get a safe cleanup pass before setting up the steady? Or is it as hard as I'm making it?

if it were me i would sand the piece smooth with sandpaper set the steady as close as possible center drill then remove the steady and use the tail stock to hold the part true.
ricky

if your holding a round bar, then i suppose that the surface is rusty and iregular, if even lights cuts dont work i will recomend a sand paper work to clean the surface, with no much streng and a lot of patience you will get a good and almost true surface for the steady rest

if the workpiece is too flexible, like plastic, try to run on low speed, i imagine that more speed you put on it (without the steady rest) more dancing you have

and if are plastic the thing that you are trying to machine, then just plug the tailstock center on the piece, tool steel and hss will not suffer from plastic, then you get the cut done, put the steady, face the plugged face, and center drill.

i never have used a steady rest before, its just a idea

Saludos

I am by no mean a expert when it comes to a steady rest or follow rest. Not totally sure what you are trying to do.
If it is a real thin piece (relative) a follow rest may be a better choice.
As far as a center hole there i no law saying you have to hold the piece in the lathe jaws or collet and hold the drill bit in the tail stock to drill. this is the most used method and when convenient. but you can lay out by hand and drill with a drill press or event place the drill bit in the headstock collet hold by hand and a lathe dog and push with the tail stock. as far as the rough surface yo can st an adjustable collar on the piece for a clean up pass then set up the SR on the clean cut. there is a shop built tool called a cats paw that may help. there are many workarounds in this trade. sometime you need to think outside the box. be safe.
Tin

You can indicate the chuck end of the shaft, then lightly tap the outboard end of the shaft to bring it in to a reasonable TIR. You may have to do this a couple of times to get the TIR where you want it on the inboard and outboard ends of the shaft. Then gently use a center drill in the tail stock to drill a small center hole in the end of the shaft. Then put the steady rest on the lathe with the arms not touching the shaft. Put a center in the tail stock and run it up into the newly drilled center hole 9make sure the hole is free of chips). Turn an area on the shaft for the steady rest arms. Then moved the steady rest arms onto the shaft, making sure you have equal pressure on each arm. Back the tail stock away from the shaft and then you can face the shaft and drill a new center hole. Remove the steady rest and you are in business.

Kevin O.

ah, I looked up cats paw. That solves 2 problems for me: irregular surfaces, and keeping stuff from walking out of the chuck if it doesn't want to run true at the floppy end but forcing it to do so so it plays nice in the steady contacts. Might not fit in the steady with some of the stuff I'm interested in working on. I havn't had much luck tapping the other end in, maybe I need to use a more solid hammer? It seems like my plastic hammer needs a lot of force to get it to move, or I've gotta loosen up the chuck so much I lose my 0.001" centering job at the chuck. It's such a little lathe I'm scared about belting on it.

I'm playing with 1" CRS, 8" long, in a taig microlathe. It's coming off of a bandsaw that doesn't cut straight, so the end to center drill is at an angle. I can center drill accurately enough to satisfy me by clocking it free-hanging out of the chuck then running it slow and drilling, if the face was flat, otherwise the drill gets pushed off center slightly. (or maybe it doesnt, being the work that's spinning. am I imagining things?) To get the face flat, I've gotta face it in the steady, as the lathe has too much flex to deal with that without major chatter. The part I'm ending up with is sufficiently close to 1" that I need to get that center hole drilled as close as possible, while having the chuck end as close as possible. I'm also paranoid that the raw material isn't round enough to have a good surface to ride on in the steady.

In short, I'm such a newbie that I don't know what questions to ask! Maybe I'm just needing more experience. You've all gave me a bunch more ideas, so I think I can call this problem solved for now, thanks!

If you want a really of the wall idea, how about drilling through the head stock.
If you have a hollow headstock spindle ( not sure on your lathe) you can make yourself an extended centre drill that will just slide in your headstock. To centre drill, hold the piece in a chuck, run the lathe backwards and push the extended drill through from the outside. I know it works 'coz I have done it on 40 inch pieces of stainless, in a 20inch centres lathe. I will admit that I had the lathe running slowly and used a steady to stop the end flopping about, but needs must as they say.
Ned
PS if the centre drill is a reasonable fit in the spindle you wont need to flatten the sawn end.

that just blew my mind! Thanks for the idea!

You're welcome, remember there are always alternatives to be found by an open mind.
Ned

Army TCTO 9-524
http://www.metalworking.com/tutorials/army-tc-9-524/ch7.pdf
Tin