Steady Rest

[woodchucker]

This started without plans. Then I realized I better get some set up. I can't just wing it like others. I had an idea in my head to use this chunk of Aluminum, after cutting it, is when I realized that I need some idea of sizes of things.. Probably it would have been better to start that way. I needed a little more meat on the thickness to follow the plans. The plans were by Mark Frazier, he translated some SB sizes .. They seem too beefy for a SB9 in my opinion.
The pics are here on

https://imgur.com/a/SrUvL8J

Facing the blank

Turning it.

Begining to bore out the hole larger.

Parting it off

This was the first time I power parted. I normally always hand feed on parting. But this was going to be a lot of parting. I set up for a pretty high feed rate, and it was great. It spewed chips off as I hoped it would. I am now using power parting more.


I'm going to avoid using the pics on HM because of image size. Let's see how this works.

 

[mmcmdl]

If you make plans , it's possible to mess up . If you wing it , alls' that can happen is you make revisions . I've never messed anything up in my lifetime btw .

 

[woodchucker]

Taking the parted off piece and recentering them.

Chamfered, and completed ring.

Dumbass: Following plans for fingers.. bad idea, too big. need to scale them down.
This is where I realized it is better to start with a plan, than wing it, and add a plan in the middle

 

[woodchucker]

Time for some coffee... well that didn't help.

Ok, Mark's plans changed, I scaled things down.. back on track.

Brass tips added. These were the hardest brass I have ever worked with. They machined beautifully, but when I went to put a die on them, I could not cut them. I had to force them on using my tailstock quill to get them to cut. Never had that before. Hopefully, they work well for the tips.

 

[Eddyde]

I empathize, My default approach is to wing parts off the top of my head, but yeah, it sometimes bites me in the rear. Even a rough sketch helps a lot...

 

[woodchucker]

I empathize, My default approach is to wing parts off the top of my head, but yeah, it sometimes bites me in the rear. Even a rough sketch helps a lot...

Most everything I do I do in my head. Sometimes that doesn't work. This was one of them. It's not the design, but the sizes that are important in this case. I still have the clamping and opening in my head, not on paper, as well as the base... those will get adjusted as they approach.

 

[DavidR8]

Looking good!
What's your non-plan for the base?

 

[woodchucker]

Looking good!
What's your non-plan for the base?

I'd tell you, but then I would have to have a plan

 

[RJSakowski]

While I made hundreds of simple parts without a plan (drawing, model, etc), or anything of any complexity, I will make a drawing or model. It is much easier to correct a gotcha on paper or in a CAD program than it is once construction is under way. I would never expect a cabinet maker doing a custom kitchen cabinet installation to " just wing it".

That is not to say that I don't make revisions to a project once under way. Sometimes, you realize that in spit your best efforts you can't get to B from A. Maybe the raw material you have in hand isn't the right size. Sometimes you realize that there is a better way. Hopefully though, with a plan in place, any on the fly corrections have a minor impact.

Finally having a plan either on paper or in a CAD file can be useful when at some later time you ask, "what the heck did I do?".

 

[MrWhoopee]

Brass tips added. These were the hardest brass I have ever worked with. They machined beautifully, but when I went to put a die on them, I could not cut them. I had to force them on using my tailstock quill to get them to cut. Never had that before. Hopefully, they work well for the tips.

Doesn't sound like brass, sounds like Ampco bronze (aluminum bronze) to me. Did it squeak when you tapped it? Ampco bronze has excellent wear resistance, but may not be soft enough for this application. It has some iron content, so the chips are slightly magnetic.