Hi Peter, I agree with Frank's comments, apart from not being sure about resonators, Curtis Burch and Weldon Myrick having used one
http://www.resoguit.com/burch.html. I reckon it would be the saddles and/or spider, if anything, that breaks and don't think I would risk it. A Dobro is a Dobro, why try to sound like a PSG? The "Pedabro" is a working pedal resonator and there are electronic simulators too - the difficult part is playing Dobro licks on it, or it just sounds wrong.
Anyway, these stringbender things have cropped up from time to time and I'd be interested to know if anybody really stuck with one. Bigsby palm-pedals were one idea, but trying to pick and press becomes so difficult to control that most people give them up and learn to slant and bend behind the bar instead. Hipshots, great on guitars, don't work on lap steel either, because of the jigging around needed to work 'em.
Most times it's better to get an original thing rather than try to emulate a sound on the wrong instrument. Like b-benders; the advertising blurb usually talks of creating PSG sounds. They don't do that (I've made a few of them so I know). They sound like a b-bender - which can't be beat for doing what
it does.
I like lap-steel; mine's on legs but it's the same thing; and enjoy it for what it is.
Frank - your mate with the Tele needs to fit a roller nut, for dive-bomber trems (e.g. Wilkinson). I have one on my b-bender Tele and it stays in tune. You can also buy roller bridge saddles for Tele/Strat. That only leaves trouble at the string tree, roller trees are out there too or Sperzel tuners with graduated-height posts, so a "tree-less" peghead, can cure it at more cost. Don't forget to keep in touch, Tony.