Steady Rest Opinions

[Jon Finch]

Rather then spend my weekend free time building a steady rest, I decided to give a nice piece of apple a try while watching the Vikings throw away a shot at the superbowl.

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This time it went off without a hitch. Hope it doesn't split.

[Hilel Salomon]

I'll add a second recommendation for Jeff Nicol's steady rest. They are much cheaper than any of the other one's I've seen and are built extremely well. I won't core a large piece or make a large hf without it. I also have two pairs of the oneway steady rests. For what I need them for, you really need one on each side. They therefore cost more and are not nearly as good as Nicol's rests.
Regards, Hilel.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I'm sure you're right. I just need more practice. When I do the inside of a bowl in steps I have a real hard time making a single continous fair curve down the whole length of the bowl. So I come back to the rim and make one or two very shallow cuts all the way down to remove those transition points from cutting in steps. The bowls I ruined over the weekend were box elder and at 1/4" thick - 7" tall I couldn't get the gouge to start cutting at the rim without skipping. Then I couldn't clean up the rim (due to skipping too). And I'm pretty sure my gouge was sharp. I might have had better luck with a harder/denser wood (the elm I turned over the holidays didn't skip like this).

Maybe it's time to buy a video...

Leo makes a lot of sense here as this too has been my experience. Cut the rim first, then go into the bowl in steps and DON'T GO BACK TO THE RIM. Just sand and that's it.

[Mike Lipke]

As far as the transitions, You need to invest in an 80 grit gouge.

[Mike Svoma]

+1 for Jeff Nicol's steady rest. Works great!

[Jamie Donaldson]

You can make a simple 1 roller steady rest "on a stick" which you can hold in the left hand while cutting with the tool held in the other hand. Lots better than trying to use just your hand as a steady- it gets really hot!

[Thomas Canfield]

I agree with Leo. The last pass might need to be starting with 120 grit or so paper to even out any earlier steps.