Centre Lathe Accessories - Steadies
 
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The steady rest consists of a frame and three adjustable jaws which support the work. One purpose of the steady rest is to prevent springing or deflection of slender, flexible work; another is to furnish auxiliary support for the work to permit heavy cuts to be made; a third is to support work for drilling, boring, or internal threading. The over arm containing the top jaw can be unfastened and swung out of the way so that identical pieces can be removed and replaced without adjusting the jaws.

There are two types of lathe steady rests.  Fixed steady rest and travelling steady rest.
 

Fixed steady

Travelling steady
This is the most commonly used steady. It is fixed onto the bed of the lathe usually near the right hand end of the workpiece.  This is normally done so that machining can be done on the end of long shafts.

The travelling steady is a steady that is fixed to the saddle and moves along either just in front or just behind the cutting tool. It function is to stop long thin workpieces bending under the pressure from the cutter. the travelling steady.

       

Lathe spider

    
When machining hex stock material you need to fit a lathe spider to ensure that the lathe steadies has a perfect round surface to support work.