Steady rest, to build or buy?

[Joe Shinall]

Do you build your own steady rest or buy one for your lathe?

I have the Excelsior mini lathe and would like a steady rest for taller pieces and/or spindles. I have seen some people build them but is it cost efficient or just better off to buy? And if buying is better, any suggestions on which?

[Allen Neighbors]

Joe, I built my own. I have a pdf of it, if you want... email me so I'll have your address.
Several have bought an awesome steady, made by one of our own creekers, but for the life of me, I can't remember his name... John Keeton is one of them, I believe. Just from looking at photos of them, I don't think you could buy a better one.

[Jon Lanier]

I think whatever you enjoy doing. Building the jigs can be fun but if you just want to 'get to it.' Buying is good option. Creeker Jeff Nichol makes a really nice steady rest and what looks like a good value.

[Michael James]

Joe,
If you want the satisfaction of building your own and have the necessary tools and skills, go for it. Otherwise buy. I just ordererd one from our own Jeff N, and many here have one from him too. my .02
mj

[John Keeton]

...is it cost efficient or just better off to buy? And if buying is better, any suggestions on which?Joe, as Allen noted, I bought mine from Jeff Nicol, as did the others. Superb craftsmanship, and a good price.

I am not a tinkerer. There are a lot of things I want to accomplish before my time here is up, and making jigs isn't one of them! But, others enjoy that type of thing.

If you don't weld, then you are restricted to using plywood, etc. Several have made ones from plywood, and they function fine. But, I prefer the steel.

So, what is your time worth?? If you have the time and inclination to "tinker", then I think it is a fairly straight forward project.

[Paul Douglass]

I've seen one of Jeff's and they are really nice. I am going to build mine one of these days. I just don't see where it can be that hard. There is a good .pdf article on Woodturning Online by Jon Lanham on making one from wood. It is a spindle steady rest but I don't see why it couldn't be used for bowls also.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Made my own - works great!

[Joe Shinall]

Thanks guys, I emailed Allen to get the pdf from him just to try and see if it's something I can go with. I agree with you John, I definitely like steel when I can. Father is a welder and machinist so if I will see which is better. If it turns out like crap then I will give Jeff a shout and see what he can do for me. Thanks a bunch!

[Thomas Canfield]

There is a plan for a 10" lathe steady rest on our local woodturning club site under tips : http://www.easttexaswoodturners.org/

It is a plywood frame unit. I give a hardy recommendation for my Powermatic 3520 steady rest from Jeff Nicols for quality and price, but not sure about one for a mini.

[Mike Wenman]

I built my own steady rest from birch ply on my older jet 1236, but have yet to do one for the new PM3520B. Just a matter of getting some stock to cut out.

This question of to build or buy brings another question to mind on the build portion where many of you have made jigs and such to assist the turning world and do have a .pdf available. Is there any place here on the Creek that I may be overlooking that has a repository of such .pdf files for jigs and such or could a sticky thread be incorporated into this forum for only items of this nature?

[Quinn McCarthy]

I copied Steves from a picture that was on one of the treads. I made a few small changes. But basically the same. It works just great.

QUinn

[Rob Cunningham]

I built mine from leftover plywood and some roller blade wheels and bearings I found on ebay. I enjoyed building it and it works fine.

[Peter Hay in Aus]

Joe,
I make my own tool rests. The reason is I do half a pen at a time. This one was different because I brought the dust extractor through the Lathe Bed on the Vicmarc VL100 it needed to be deeper to reach. The angle of 45 degrees became both convenient and comfortable to lay the chisels flat for maximum safety and ease of cutting. Works really well for me.

Regards Peter.