Little project I’ve been working on!

[JLDavid]

2PACK TIMKEN 6008-2RS Double Rubber Seal Bearings 40x68x15mm, Pre-Lubricated and Stable Performance and Cost Effective, Deep Groove Ball Bearings. https://a.co/d/dwZwxo5

There you go Aaron. Didn't really want a 2 pack but at least I have a spare now. I went with this bearing to have a bigger through-hole for a larger spider for barrel work. A smaller bearing may suit your project better. My lathe is a G4003G so this is about the biggest OD bearing I can use with the steady I have. Not sure what lathe you have. Best of luck to you.

 

[JLDavid]

I had some time today between wiring my hvac system and waiting for some reducing washers so I got on the lathe and worked on the steady parts.

The adjustment screw sleeves cut very easy. I got the length evened up. I turned my sacraficial brass punch down to .705" and cut it in 2" sections. I turned a .476" stub on the ends to go up into the unthreaded portion of the sleeve. I flipped them around and cut a taper to fit the groove I put in the puck. That took some figuring but I finally got it done. Luckily I had left myself plenty of material to work with so I had a margin for error.

I either have to relocate my guide grub screw holes or reduce the length of the taper on my brass points. I would like to keep as much of the .705" portion as possible to keep the points supported in the sleeve bore. I put the puck in the steady and am pretty happy with how it looks so far. Let me know if you need any more information.

 

[JLDavid]

Spider outside dimensions cut tonight. Will cut that section off and start boring the through hole and the jack bolt clearance hole this weekend.

 

[JLDavid]

Got some boring done tonight. Just about done with the lathe work. I am going to have to have the local fab shop locate, drill and tap my jack bolt holes as I don't have a mill or drill press at this point. That little lip in the back of the bore has to be taken out but my boring bar won't reach that deep so I will have to flip it around and take that out tomorrow while I am listening to college baseball. Will clean up the outer surfaces and get ready to push it together. Have a good weekend.

 

[JLDavid]

Finished up my spider this evening. All I need now is to find someone to locate, drill and tap my jack screw holes and I can squeeze the halves together and start the dialing in process. I have asked most of the fab shops locally and can't find much intrest. Anyone on the forum want to take a crack at it?

 

[JLDavid]

After playing the waiting game with usps, my bearing steady center finally made it home from getting drilled and tapped for the jack bolts. Even got etched numbers on it. Can't thank Clint enough. The best forum members are on Accurate Shooter for sure. It pressed right together and spins nice and smooth. Now I just have to figure out how to dial it in. Can't wait to use it. Pretty happy with it for sure.

 

[LVLAaron]

Nice! I plan on building one and have ordered the bearings.

 

[JLDavid]

Hell yeah Aaron!!! If you would like some dimensions let me know. I think the great thing about this is it can be scaled to about any size steady. Not sure what lathe you have but I have a G4003G so I made mine a little smaller and thinner than Lee's.

 

[JLDavid]

I ordered a coaxial centering indicator off Amazon to center up the bearing steady bore with the chuck. I would have loved to order a Blake but didn't have the money for one. Should be here next week so I can get to work on that after I move the lathe to the shop. We built a shop last year and all my metalworking machines and reloading equipment will come out of the basement finally!! Almost done with the trim out there. This weekend I have a crew coming to move the benches out and get them installed. I want to get all my machines moved in before I get my knee and hip replaced.

 

[V35]

Thats nice!

 

[JLDavid]

Got my lathe moved out to the shop and rolled into my gunroom. I wired it in, leveled it up and cut a 2 collar test. Afterwards I decided to dial in my bearing steady. Once I wrapped my head around what the indicator was telling me it was a snap to get it running right. I have some very fine tuning to do but it is damn close.

 

[JLDavid]

I couldn't get the video small enough to attach it so I will post a picture instead. I had the bearing steady dialed in to where the needle just wiggled on one of the .001" lines which is great until I turned a knob the wrong way, not once, not twice, yep 3 times!!! Tonight I finally got it back, locked down the new set screws and walked away. Three screws are way harder than 4!!!!