digiex-chris
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- Dec 6, 2010
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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?
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?