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

I'm a recent convert to woodturning and trying to turn some replacement
balusters for my 110 year old originals.

Dave
Ipswich, UK


Dave,

You have had many good suggestions. Here a quick and dirty one.

I came up with this idea after spending two days making a steady with ball
races and sturdy enough to survive a nuclear explosion only to find that I
had to use ear defenders because it made so much noise.

Turn your spindle blank to the largest diameter you can get out of the wood.
Get a piece of 4"x2" scrap of wood and cut a V slot in the end. Measure the
distance (take a wild guess) at the separation between the lower part of the
spindle and the bed of your lathe and cut off a length of the 4"x2". If your
guess is right you will have a block of wood which sits on the lathe bed
with the V cradling the spindle. A second piece of the 4"x2" is cut to sit
across the bed and the two screwed together. Clamp the second piece of wood
to the lathe.

I must admit that cutting the V block to the right length is a bit of a long
shot. So cut it short and put a slot in it for the fixing screw such that it
can be adjusted up and down.

Cut a third piece of wood as a strap to go across the top at least 4"x2" and
put a long wood screw in each side to clamp the spindle between the V block
and the strap.

Sand the spindle with 60/80 grit where the rest will fit and apply a liberal
amount of beeswax. Assemble the rest and marvel at the quietness.

You may wish to add some subtleties to the design. If you make the strap
piece longer such that it sticks out towards you, then you can leave the
inner clamp screw slightly loose and just rest your elbow on it when you are
cutting to bring on the pressure.

I can take a picture of mine and send it to you if you want to give it a
try. I can't post it for the group as my ISP doesn't support binaries.

BillR