Need Help With my SB 13 Steady Rest

""""A very important safety measure came to mind. When putting a workpiece in a steady, make sure that the bearing surface where the steady is riding is running in the same axis as the lathe's center! If not, the workpiece can kind of "screw" its' way out of the chuck, and that is NOT a good thing!"""""

Whoa, I am so glad you said this. I had no idea. Of course I will be very careful to have the axis aligned between the spindle center and the steady center. But, wow, that could leave a mark.
 
Over the weekend I watched a youtube video where a guy used a piece of emory cloth turned out so just the cloth was rubbing between the fingers and the work piece. The ends did not wrap around they came out through the fingers allowing a protective stationary barrier. he just oiled it well and it worked great.
 
Janderso said:
Over the weekend I watched a youtube video where a guy used a piece of emory cloth turned out so just the cloth was rubbing between the fingers and the work piece. The ends did not wrap around they came out through the fingers allowing a protective stationary barrier. he just oiled it well and it worked great.
Click to expand...

A link would be great.
 
Here is the link. Man, I wish my ways looked like his.

 
An easy way to set the steady if you are using stock of the same diameter along its length is to fit the steady to the work up by the chuck and then slide the steady down to the end of the work. Barring major way wear, the steady will be on center.

Cast iron is very good for steady rest fingers. Better than brass, better than bearings, depending on the work. Bearings like to smash chips into your stock. Brass is soft and traps grit and chips. Which brings up another easy trick. Make a shield out of cardboard that just clears your work and attach the outer edges of the cardboard to the outside limits of the steady. That keeps the trash away from the fingers.

When working with a steady, do not use more spindle speed than is necessary, and don't let it spin if you are not working on it. Keep the work wet with lubricating oil., and keep adding more at intervals after wiping off the older oil.
 
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