Steady rest.for my Logan 400

[Logan 400]

I have been looking at steady rests for a while now and have done some research for building one. I don't have a milling machine and my lathe skills are very limited. I started by buying the roller bearing fingers. Then I found out they were not long enough for the size steady rest I decided.to build dictated by the size pipe I found to use. I think I may have a solution. Here is where I am so far. I have never used a steady rest so I'm only guessing it will be strong enough structurally.



Thanks for looking.
Jay

 

[Bob Korves]

The pictures do not give a very good idea of the size, nothing in the picture to scale it with. At first look, it seems a bit light. You could use your ring to add additional structure to support the fingers. Are you building it for just a specific project, or is it intended for general purpose work? What is the size of the ring? Also, what size is the Logan 400, I am not familiar with it.

 

[Logan 400]

The logan is a 9x18. The ring is 3/4" x 1" and 6" diameter. It's use will be for pipe. Mostly 2 1/2".

 

[benmychree]

A slot needs to be milled into the plates for the fingers to fit into; it will not work well just with bolts, adjustment will be difficult.

 

[Logan 400]

I haven't got to the slots or the fine adjustment bolts yet. I have the fine adjustment bolts figured out but I'm still working on how to do the slots.

 

[Logan 400]

I figured a way to make the slots for the fingers. I used a keyway cutter. Very time consuming but it worked for me. The nuts will be replaced with some sort of knob. I also tacked together the mounting plate.