Michael Mocho Demonstration 2009 Symposium of the AAW The ...

Using two OpposedBowl Steadies as aCenter Steadyby Joel Rakower and Don LindsleyWhen doing deep hollowing itis often helpful to use a center steadyto keep the workpiece centered andto minimize vibration. But centersteadies tend to be expensive, andmany have an arm at “12 o’clock”that prevents using a laser guideduring the hollowing process.We suggest using two Onewaybowl steadies to proxy for a centersteady. As the name suggests, thebowl steady is designed to supportthe walls of a bowl as it is shapedand brought to final wall thickness.Typically it is mounted to the leftof the bowl (as you face the headstock).Figure 1. Two Oneway bowlsteadies stacked so as to serveas a center steady for a hollowform.When hollowing, we simplyadd a second steady on the righthandside. Depending on the shapeof the piece being hollowed, it maywork to mount the steadies side byside. You can also stack the steadiesas shown in Figure 1. To stack them,you may have to use a bolt about ½”longer than the ones provided byOneway. The bolt is a U.S. standard½” x 13.An advantage of stacking isthat it is easier to align the steadieson either side of the workpiece.Note that in Photo 1, thesteadies are about as close togetheras they can get: the end of the upperbase butts up against the base forthe post of the lower one. You canovercome this limitation by “scissoring”the two bases, such that theupper base can extend past the postof the lower one (Figure 2).Figure 2. The bowl steadieswith the bases “scissored” topermit moving the wheels closertogether. The laser spot from thehollowing system is visible onthe left side of the photo.If you do this, you’ll also haveto pivot the arms on each post sothat wheels contact the workpiece atapproximately right angles. Figure2 shows the laser spot (but not thelaser arm itself) of the hollowingsystem, illustrating how the pairedsteadies are compatible with thatsystem.The authors are members ofthe Long Island Woodturners’ Association.Tip for using aSpindle Tapby Don LindsleyA spindle tap, such as the onemade by Beale, is used to cut threadsinto blocks of wood so that theymay be mounted directly on theheadstock of a lathe without use ofa faceplate. I have found it useful formaking jam chucks and home-madescrew chucks, among other items.To use the tap, you pre-bore ahole that is just larger than the rootdiameter of the tap, then use the tapto thread the wood. As with any tap,you need to keep it coaxial with thehole in order to make clean, properlyaligned threads. Instructions suppliedwith the tap suggest mountingthe wood block to the headstock ofyour lathe using a 4-jawed chuck,and using a point center in thetailstock to keep the tap properlyaligned. Lock the headstock anduse a wrench to advance the tap intothe pre-bored hole. To keep the tapaligned, you must simultaneouslyadvance the tailstock to keep the[Continued on Page 38]Q&A Continued from Page34first, apply the thin CA and take onefinal light sheer scrape again, andput more glue on the outside edge ofthe bark again. Now on the insideas I sneak up on the wall thickness,repeat the process of double glue.This seems to stabilize the bark andhold it on. Finish sanding as youwould any other natural edge. Youcan put the same finish on the barkas you do for the rest of the bowl.Lyle JamiesonMore Woodturning August 2009 Page 35