Swiss turning conversion

A "Swiss-type" cnc lathe uses a guide bushing to support the work at a
constant small distance from the cutting tool, and feeds the workpiece
through this instead of having a moving carriage.

Contrast a conventional lathe, where the distance between supports
(head/tail stock, steady rest) and the cutting tool is constantly
changing, leading to large and variable deflection. For turning down
long constant-diameter sections one can rig a follow rest to travel a
short distance behind the tool.

But what about for long tapered sections? By putting a similar
structure on the headstock side of the carriage, could one temporarily
gain the advantages of the swiss setup, even on tapered pieces?
(for one-offs of course - no need for bar feed)

What type of guide/rest would be better? Bronze fingers like on a
steady/follow rest? Ball bearings on fingers? A cylinder of bronze
bearing stock, bored to match the workpiece, either fixed or running
in its own ball bearings?

If the lathe does not have the ability to make the cut to finish
dimensions in a single pass, could the rest be spaced a short distance
form the tool (like 3/4") and the lathe be programmed to cycle back
and forth over a half inch or so, taking repeated passes until finish
depth is reached?

Or is there some type of cutting insert that can be used to take
really deep (1/8" off radius) cuts with miniscule feed on a low power
machine? (ie, I want to cut 1/2" drill rod down to 1/4" at the small
end of my taper, using a 9" south bend as the basic platform)

The goal of course? To improve over moving manually advancing the
workpiece out of the chuck an inch at a time, cutting tiny stair
steps, and smoothing with a file.

Chris

--
Christopher C. Stratton, stratton@...
Instrument Maker, Horn Player & Engineer
22 Adrian Street, Somerville, MA 02143
http://www.mdc.net/~stratton
NEW PHONE NUMBER: (617) 628-1062 home, 253-2606 MIT