It has long been a standard technique among woodturners to hold their fingers to the outside of the bowl to dampen vibration while turning on the inside. Besides being awkward, it can wear away the skin on our fingers, and there is always the danger of a slivers. A sliver can be driven by enough force to pass through our fingers. I had a sliver pass through two of them, making a very effective nail that held them tightly together. Finishing the outside of the bowl, using waxed pads, or fingered gloves solved the wear on the skin; but these props often create new safety hazards in themselves. I have seen others use blocks of wood, but these were not suitable when there was any amount of wood movement or warp.
Enter the rubber tired roller-blade wheels. By now, almost everyone has seen the advertisements for the "Bowl Steady" that is being sold by Oneway Manufacturing. This new lathe accessory removes our finger as the source for vibration damping.
I have used a cheaper alternative for several years. It performs the same function as the Oneway "Bowl Steady". The cost of the basic "steady" is that of two (2) wheels, a couple pieces of 2x4 lumber, and a few bolts and washers. It has the additional advantage that it can be expanded into a full-blown "Steady Rest" for turning hollow forms and other turnings that are a large extension out from the lathe spindle. This is one of those things that started out as a temporary mock-up to determine the dimensions for the "real thing". The temporary worked so well that there was never an incentive to make something that was permanent. I hope this discussion conveys the message that we don't always have to spend a lot of our money to get those new tools that will help our woodturning.
The "Bowl Steady"
This is the basic "bowl steady. The frame is made from two (2) pieces of 2 X 4 lumber. The base has been notched to accept the post which has been glued and screwed to the base.
The bottom of the two wheels can be bolted through any one of several drilled holes. The upper wheel can be adjusted in a slot. Both are secured with a star-knob on the back side of the frame. The best location for the bottom wheel is 3" below, and the upper wheel at 1" above the center of the lathe. The bottom wheel is raised to 2" below center for anything smaller than a 12" bowl.
In use the lower wheel is located so the frame won't hit the side of the bowl. The base is moved into place and tightened down. Then the upper wheel is moved into place.
The "Super" Bowl Steady
What do we do when the single "Bowl Steady" doesn't provide enough damping to keep the bowl from vibrating? Simply add another "steady" on the other side.
The wheels on this one are located equidistant above and below the centerline of the lathe. . I made them adjustable in fixed locations of 1", 2", and 3" to match the needs for different bowl sizes.
Top and bottom members were added with a pivot bolt in one end and using a simple clamp on the other. Each of these members has one (1) wheel attached to it.
This arrangement has several advantages over either the home-made wooden rests or the manufactured ones from steel:
- It is more rigid because the wheels are mounted directly to a heavy frame, rather than being located on the ends of long adjustable arms.
- It has six (6) wheels instead of the 3 or 4 of other steady-rests, and this allows less wheel pressure to be used on fragile wood.
- It retains the support and damping in the cutting area that is provided by the simple "bowl steady".
- The locations of the wheels are not in a uniform pattern around the outside of the bowl. This prevents harmonic vibrations from being initiated by any regular pattern on the bowl, such as uniformly spaced joints in a segmented assembly.
It's only disadvantage is the fairly limited range of diameters that it can accomodate. The "steady rest" shown cannot be used for bowls less than 10" - 12" diameter.
The "Full Blown" Steady Rest
Now that I had two vertical posts with side support, it was a simple step to make a full steady-rest to support long and/or heavy pieces in the lathe.
The full version of the bowl steady being used to dupport a large segmented bowl. Vibration is always a problem with these large bowls and the six (6) wheels do a much better job of stabilizing the bowl than the conventional 3 wheel steady rest.
The 3 wheel rests were first used for steadying long pieces of steel in a metal turning lathe, but the 3 wheels don't work as well on softer and more flexible wood
