"Richard Holub" writes:

John,

Could you comment on this subject as far as "steady rest". My intention was
to weld a long pipe alongside the full length of the lathe. The tool rest
would flow on this pipe so that it could be adjusted to whatever size work
piece I have. Am I missing something here?

Yes. The problem with this length is not that the lathe becomes
unstable (if you use trong stuff to build it), but the rotating
workpiece. A steady rest is a contraption that stabilizes the
workpiece with some rollers in mid-length.
See
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...330,49238&ap=1
for an example.

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23