The slower speeds will be good, and if you have a variable speed lathe it's
worth finding a "sweet spot" for the speed that gives you the least whip.
Sometimes a tiny bit of speed change makes a tremendous difference in how
the spindle behaves.

Cherry might be just fine, certainly better then the oak.

If you wait until the spindle is whippy, adjusting the center rest as you've
described won't work because you are adjusting it to the spindle as it's
sagging due to its own weight and buckled from the compression of the
centers. As others have mentioned, if you want to use the steady rest, turn
the center portion of the blank round, apply the center rest, then work
around it for as long as possible. This method, however, is directly the
opposite the way you need to work. You want to start at the center and work
to the ends.

Best, in my mind, would be to learn to turn such things without the aid of a
steady rest... but that's me, not necessarily you.

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI


"dave_ipswich" wrote in message
oups.com...
Michael,

I can go down to 100 rpm - presumably there will be other issues then?

I'm pretty confident the tools are sharp.

I do have some cherry - would that be suitable?

To centre the steady I just bring up each roller to touch the wood at
rest - is there a better way?

Dave


On 26 Jan, 12:30, "Michael Latcha" wrote:
110 years ago your spindles were turned were probably turned in less than
10
minutes each, on a foot-powered lathe without a steady rest. Humbling,
isn't it?

Things to try:

Slow your speed way down. 700 rpm is plenty, less if you can get it. At
this speed, a good surface can only come from a super-sharp tool. Have
you
checked that the steady rest is holding the spindle exactly on center?
If
not, it'll only make things worse.

Gouges will also make this situation worse, because they have more bevel
that has to rub. Skew chisels will give you a better cut. Even with a
steady rest, you'll have to support the cut with your leading
hand/fingers
curling around the spindle as you cut it.

Start at the middle of the spindle and work towards both ends. The idea
is
always to leave as much support as possible, for as long as possible.
Once
you turn a section 3"-6" long, sand it and leave it... at this
length/thickness, you can't go back (sometimes even to sand) without
chatter.

Try a different wood. Oak, with its hard/soft layers, is very hard to
turn
into long, thin spindles, and doesn't respond well to steady rests of
your
type. And if that coarse grain isn't perfectly aligned with the axis of
the
spindle, it'll be pretty weak too. I'm not sure if you can get poplar in
the UK, but that's what I'd try, at least for practice. If not, any
medium-hard wood without pronounced grain will do.

Practice, practice, practice on some boring wood, at what seems like
ridiculously slow speeds, always supporting your cut with your leading
hand,
trying to make the longest, thinnest spindle that you can. Spindles that
are 24" long or longer and 1/8" (yes, you read that right) in diameter,
complete with lots of elements, are absolutely do-able without a steady
rest. This is the graduate-school, rocket-science of woodturning. And
once
you master it, everything else in life is a piece of cake.

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI

"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