I have been putting off making some 3/8" and 7/16" spindles for ages, I bought a length of 1/2" EN24 in September 2011 to make them!

I have to be able to turn a 10" length. I tried a steel block in my rear tool post as a steady, I drilled a hole in it and ran the bar through it, then turned the bar behind it[tool following]. The block had a well in it full of oil, but it welded to the block. So that was no good. I had a tool holder with a tag brazed to it, that I have bolted a chuck of phosphor bronze to and used as a steady before, the steel bounced against it and it wasn't any good.
I dug out the traveling steady[it's a CVA] I have never used it before and it was like the steady bolted to the tool holder, the steel bounced[shopudl say rattled] against the hardened steel blocks, I tried varying tool height and I couldn't get it to work.
So I added a third rubbing block to the steady, I machined a flat on the steady body and bolted a block of aluminium with a phosphor bronze stud in it, to the steady. It works as steady. I have a piece of plastic over the bar, between the cutting tool and the steady rubbing blocks, so I can keep swarf/coolant away from the rubbing blacks and I have a tube full of oil[way oil] dripping on the bar.

I turned the first part, thou or so under size, but it tapered by a thou, it got smaller as it got nearer the chuck.
The steady is leading and the bar is on a centre.
Turned as many as I had bar left, they gradually got worse, the last has 3 thou taper and some ridges.
The bar surface is getting rough and the bar is eating into the bronze and pushing away from the hard steel rubbing blocks, so the turned diameter is smaller.

anyone any ideas?
I got another bar of EN24T today, haven't touched it yet;-)