Travelling Steady Material

If that part, that bears on the work piece, is only the bearing surface it would probably work. However if you plan to also "chuck" that piece into the traveler some how, it might be subject to some wear that you don't want. There's a ton of images on Google that might give you some ideas.

As long as the aluminum isn't in contact with the work you will be okay. For metals the contact is made with bearing brass or rollers. Rollers for wood.

I recommend UHMW.

Easy to work with,low friction,high durability,economical.

link:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=868

Good luck.

Hmmm, so that's a yes and a no for Ali' and one for UHMW .

I do have some real thick plastic sheet, I think it's HDPE, I could always try rubbing that on some rotating wood and see how it performs, come to think of it, that's prob' a good test for any material.
I mean, presumably any random 4 upper case letters should work
Del

Maybe PTFE for the inserts.

Slick and high temperature.

Whatever you use will have to be softer than the wood.

Unless you go with rollers.

There are many varieties of UHMW.

Even a plastic milk jug is UHMW,but I am not sure of the temperature range.

I know the green type,(called Polydur at the time,) is very wear resistant,and needs no lubricant.

I have seen it used as a half-radius bearing block on a 1 inch shaft supporting over 200 kilos for years with no visible wear.

Certain types are also used in replacement knees and hip joints.

Consult the link I provided for more details on high service temperature UHMW (Tyvar)

https://www.plasticsintl.com/datasheets/UHMW_PE_HOT.pdf

There are many, many types of polyethylene, so calling them all UHMW can be misleading. There is also HMW, MMW, LMW, linear, crosslinked, irradiated, etc. PE.

Having said all that UHMWPE is probably OK for this, but my preference is still PTFE.

Oh never mind. He did it his way.

Adding a suitable lubricant such as tallow, candle-wax or lard, in keeping with the use of traditional materials, is highly recommended.

Use Al for the majority of your members and then machine a recess into the end to accept some changeable, low friction inserts.

Ah, clever idea.
I tried the plastic it was melting with the friction.The Ali' was ok, but left a grey mark on the wood... whadda ya mean I'm fussy?
@PWS I don't want lubricant on the wood as it can soak in and frevent subsequent gluing, good for metal tho'

Del

You could use some VHB tape to stick a thin piece of stainless onto the aluminum. It would wear better (less) than the AL, and would take a clamp without getting tool marks. -- Assuming you could find an inexpensive piece of stainless the right length x width.

My thought on soft rollers is they'd have some 'give' so you might not get the true shaping you want, i.e., arrows that vary in thickness depending on where you measure along the shaft.

what about teflon tape (like they use in heat sealers) along the Aluminium prevent the marks?

I went and brought some soft steel bar that was a convenient size, got it done now. Pics later. Ta for the help. The sharp eyed amongst you will notice it's not actually bolted down... just posed for the pic.

Del

I like it! KISS is always best!

_{(Lyn, cats always do it their way!)}

With the steady behind the tool like that won't you have to start by turning a bit at the end for the steady to bear on? If the steady was the other side of the tool you could support the cut all the way up to the chuck (stop when you hear grinding clanking noises).

Yes! There are two ways of doing it, have the travelling steady bearing ahead of the tool on the uncut work or behind the tool on the finished work.

In the picture the steady is actually supporting the finished work, so I could cut up to the chuck, if I would the tool a bit further left. Mind I can also mount the 2 arms on the other side of the angled support plate if I need.
It's Waffely versatile

Del

Then you have it covered. The aluminium might leave some black marks on wood but I would think they would sand off easily. A wood turner I knew always did the final finish using a handful of the wood chips he had just cut off.

Hello DEL Emco and Uni-Mat both made a steady rest that would stand alone on the ways and they were not a lot of money and are out there for sale. Some have rollers and both solid brass points and plastic capped posts for steady rest for longer stock, and for all sorts of turning materials. Like brass, alum, steel, plastic, carbon fiber and fiberglass. But then again if what you have works why reinvent the wheel or in this case the steady rest

Is this what you mean?

Lathe steady Pictures

Yup, them's the fellahs
Del

My favorite material for these applications is Dupont Vespel. It's expensive, but you only require a small amount. I purchase mine from Ebay.

Using your design of traveling steady i would try a wooden bearing, using Jarrah for the wood. It was once used as bearing material for lay shafts, but it was well oiled. Perhaps you could try an oily timber like Teak. Easy to make, and you can use one piece with a V cut into it that adjusts down at 45 deg. for different shaft sizes.

P.S. extend your tailstock fully and leave Morse Taper hole empty. Move tailstock up to 'catch' end of flailing arrow shaft and turn with some safety.

Jim

Yeah, good idea on the tailstock, cheers .
Or I might make up simple wobble stopper that clamps on the end of the bed.
For shapt that hangs out the left end of the head stck, I have a block that I can clamp onto my drill press which is just left of the lathe to do that job.
Del