# Tailstock steady



## Karda (Jun 7, 2021)

Hi, this is for Jerry or any of you who use the tailstock steady. I have been using one for a while, when i had wood to turn. when I can get it centered on the bowl it works great. What i do is get it centered with my cone center then pinch the bowl to the jam chuck remove the cone and replace with steady. Sometimes that works but many times it don't. How do you center the rest on the bowl. My lathe is a 10" lathe so i can use a rim chuck only on small bowls.


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Jun 7, 2021)




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## Nubsnstubs (Jun 7, 2021)

_[[[Hi, this is for Jerry or any of you who use the *Tail Stock Steady*. I have been using one for a while, when i had wood to turn. when I can get it centered on the bowl it works great. What i do is get it centered with my cone center then pinch the bowl to the jam chuck remove the cone and replace with steady. Sometimes that works but many times it don't. How do you center the rest on the bowl. My lathe is a 10" lathe so i can use a rim chuck only on small bowls.]]]_

Howdy, Mike. The Tail Stock Steady will always be centered unless your tail stock is no longer centered to your head stock. That said, what is the issue you are having? How are you pinching the bowl to a Jam Chuck? How thick is your Jam Chuck? What is holding your Jam Chuck on?

Below is how I mount natural edge bowls or anything that doesn't have a round body.

When making these Jam Chucks, I normally get a blank about the same size and thickness as the piece I'm about to dress up. When I'm done with the finished piece, I have wthat I call a future turning with a tenon already turned on it that was the Jam Chuck..

Depending on the depth of my piece that needs the tenon removed or dressed up, I will make my jam Chuck using the same inside contour of the piece needing the tenon removed. I make it as snug a fit as possible. I take the piece and put it on the Jam Chuck, bring up the tail stock and center it with the live center like you described. I then take the tool rest and touch the bottom of the bowl with a bit of pressure. I then lock the banjo to the ways. My banjo always creeps forward when locking and causes a very snug fit.

I now pull the tailstock away, remove the live center, and insert my Tail Stock Steady in it's place, and bring it up to the work piece. With the right amount of pressure from the Tail Stock Steady, the tenon is ready for removal or dressing up the tenon. If it is within 1/16" of being centered, I am good to go. I pull the banjo away, and it's time to go to work.

How large is this bowl you are working on? You could use a Rim Chuck even if the bowl is near your lathe capacity. Instead of cutting a groove to center the bowl in, you could make a step for the ID of the bowl. It must be a really good fit in order to keep it centered.

Don't you have one of my Chuck Plates? If so, use it with your Rim Chucks. Double up on the thickness and you'll have a Rim Chuck that will be helpful for numerous projects. ............. Jerry (in Tucson)

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## Karda (Jun 7, 2021)

Hi, Jerry you gave me my answer, I use my tool rest to hold the piece centered while I bring up the steady. I did find a 1" mdf wheel i made that is large enough to use for a jam chuck. the pieces I am doing are between 9 and 9 3/4 wide to start so around 9". I was given some spalted maple planks. I had to trash 6 blanks because there was tooo much determination. They are beautiful bowls and these blanks would be good for stabilizing

Reactions: Like 1


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## Lou Currier (Jun 8, 2021)

Another option if you have them are cole jaws.


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## Karda (Jun 8, 2021)

no cole jaws


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