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Charley Charley is offline
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Default Help with steady rest on baluster

Dave,

I've had good luck making balisters from poplar. It's harder than pine, but
not quite as hard as oak, and the grain isn't as coarse so it cuts smoother
with less vibration. If I were trying to make something with only 1/2"
diameter in the middle, then that's the last cut that I would make. I would
work from the ends toward this and finish it up last.

--
Charley


"dave_ipswich" wrote in message
oups.com...
I did a bit at school 30 years ago. I bought a cheap nasty lathe at the
beginning of November, spent most of November learning to sharpen tools
and building jigs. I did a two day course at the beginning of December,
joined a club at the beginning of January, sold the cheap nasty lathe
and bought a Nova DVR XP in the middle of January. It's a clearly a bit
of an obsession but I'm enjoying it very much.

I'm turning down to the largest possible diameter for the steady but I
wonder if it's worth doing that say 6" from the end and then working my
way up the baluster in 6 inch sections?

Dave


On 26 Jan, 12:15, "Darrell Feltmate"
wrote:
Dave
How new are you to turning? 34" long with a 1/2" diameter anywhere near

the
middle, is tricky turn. There can be lots of vibration. First get some
practice pieces to "waste." To use a steady rest on a piece like this

you
need to rough down to a smooth circle in the cneter of the piece. If you

are
using 1 1/4" stock, aim for a 1 1/8" circle, not 1/2". Never mind what

the
actual diameter is dupposed to be at center, turn to the largest

diameter
you can for the steady rest. Then work the tail stock end. move the

steady
rest down a bit to a finished diameter and turn the head stock end.
Practice, practice, practice. Hope this helps.

--

God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canadawww.aroundthewoods.com

"dave_ipswich" wrote in

ooglegroups.com...

Hi,


I'm a recent convert to woodturning and trying to turn some

replacement
balusters for my 110 year old originals. They are 34" long and about
1/2" diameter at the thinnest points, turned from 1 1/4" square stock.


Whip is a bit of an issue. I thought I could improve things by using
oak rather than the original pine and whip is still a big issue. The
surface finish looks rather like a turtle's shell - the tool is
scooping out wood unevenly as the wood vibrates.


I thought I could cure the problem with a centre steady rest so I
slapped down the cash for a robert sorby steady with three steel
rollers and it's even worse. When I turn the lathe on there's a lot of
noise - I presume that the problem is that the wood I'm steadying

isn't
perfectly round - because I had to rough it to circular unsupported.
The result is that the wood is now vibrating from contact with the
steady before I touch it with the gouge.


Depression is starting to set in - any hints on how to proceed would

be
much appreciated.


Dave
Ipswich, UK