Bearing Steady Rest
- Thread starter JLCues
- Start date
Jason call me at 720 206 4034 I don't feel like typing it all out. Chris.
First, replace the locking setscrews with quality hardware so you can trust it to really lock everything down. Purchase your bearings. I chose 2 sealed bearings which have the same OD but different IDs to span the range of diameters I work on.JLCues said:
Set up one of the bearings in your steady rest so it is EXACTLY on the centerline of your lathe. This is CRITICAL. Lock it into place, leaving a 1/16" gap at the clamp. You will not be changing these settings. Ever.
Now all you need to do is release the clamp when switching bearings, make the switch & reclamp. Your new bearing will be locked in perfectly.
Next step is to make a series of split, tapered collets. They will have ODs to match the bearing you'll be using and an assortment of tapered IDs to match the portion of cue you'll be working on. You can never have enough collets. I prefer making them from Teflon as it is soft enough that it doesn't mar a finished cue.
When working on a cue part, for example, a shaft, insert the shaft into the appropriate collet. Insert the collet into the bearing. Rotate the shaft by gripping it at the left end. The right end (which you will be chucking on) should be exactly on center & should rotate true. If you see any discrepancies (and you will) either reclamp on the bearing and/or apply pressure to the shaft to eliminate any runout. The shaft should run true before chucking on it. You do not want to use the chuck to "straighten" things out. If you use the chuck to correct for any misalignment, you'll be effectively bending the shaft prior to working on it. This misalignment will show up again when the shaft is unclamped.
Sounds involved but it's really a piece of cake & the results are worth it. See pic showing both bearings in a typical application.
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Bob, if you have a set up where you have an extension tube or chuck on the other side of your head stock, is a bearing steady rest set up like this really needed ?? Curious as to your thoughts. Thanks !!
Sean
Sean
The above pictures shows exactly how I would have suggested setting it up. If you do not want to have to make the collets I sell a set of ten collet inserts and the 1.378" ID bearing for $95. The collets can also be used in the headstock chuck.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
As Dick noted, it is the best way to handle short sections. I also prefer it over using front/rear chucks when working on flexible parts, such as shafts.cueaddicts said:
Heres why: imagine chucking up on the joint end of a straight shaft in order to machine the joint face & threads. Before you tighten the rear chuck, rotate the spindle & check the ferrule end of the shaft. See how true it runs. If it runs dead true, you're good to go. But if it runs out - say 1/4" TIR for the sake of argument - due to collet misalignment, chuck irregularities or whatever...you can't simply tighten the rear chuck on the shaft to straighten it out. If you do, then yes, you'll have both ends now running true, but you will have introduced a temporary bend in the middle of the shaft. If you machine the joint then release the rear chuck, you'll still have your 1/4" TIR. If you assemble that shaft on a butt & rotate the butt - guess what? - the shaft will still have 1/4" TIR in relation to the butt.
An aside: if you rolled this shaft alone on your pool table, it would roll perfectly true because the shaft itself is straight. The problem lies with the joint face, which is not faced perfectly square with the axis of the shaft. Interestingly, too, is the fact that if you rolled the assembled cue on the table, it would look fairly good, too, due to the flexibility of the shaft & the weight of the cue. This is why it's better to sight along the length of a cue (like a rifle) to check straightness rather than rolling it on a table.
When I do the finish work on my shafts, I spin them on an adapter at 1750 rpm on a 1/4 hp motor. The shafts finished with the bearing/steadyrest setup run true enough that sometimes it's hard to tell if the motor is turned on. If I mounted a shaft with 1/4" TIR on the motor & turned it on without supporting it, the shaft would probably whip enough that it would break.
Am I making this clear?
When working on butt sections, I always use the F/R chucks. The butt is stiff enough that you can chuck up on it at each end without worrying about bending it.
Also, in answer to those who emailed me about using only 1 bearing instead of 2. Yes, you only need the larger bearing. When I was exploring this method for shaftwork, I had one of the smaller bearings on hand & that's what I started with. I have a whole series of smaller collets for different shaft diameters (Meucci, McDermott, Mali, etc) made up for the smaller bearing. When I saw how well it worked, I had to get the larger bearing to accomodate the larger butt diameters.
Sounds like Chris' collet/bearing offer is a quick & reasonable foot in the door for someone without the inclination to make their own tooling.
Tap, tap, tap.dzcues said:
