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WTB Steady and Follow rest for 1942 Monarch 14C

KT_NorCal

Aluminum
Joined
Jun 16, 2022
I know probably a snipe hunt, but thought I would put it out there that I'm looking for them now with hopes of finding them sometime in the next few years. lol My 14C (16.5" actual swing) came with what I think is an original (earlier) LeBlond steady rest and no follow. I'm not willing to butcher the LeBlond to make it fit and would be happy to trade it if, bizarrely, you happen to need one and have a Monarch steady.

Looking for an original Monarch steady (they came in center sizes 4" to 7" and am fine with any) that hasn't been hacked up. Follow rest I assume will be harder to find, but have plans to remake some Acme lead screws at some point so it will be nice to have. Have attached a picture of one in case you have an orphan that you are unsure of background on...

Thank you for looking!

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You could always make one. I had a hand in making this one for a 16C. Cam followers for the rollers. Burned the individual pieces from plate, machined to suit.

View attachment 412847

That makes my back hurt just looking at it... Bet it was a heavy sucker.

I may end up having to do just that. I was able to pick up a poor man's version of something similar when I picked my lathe up. It is just a big ring of about 3.5" burnt plate that was modified to "resemble" a steady by someone in the distant past. It doesn't fit on the Monarch as it is, so I assume the PO's dad had picked it up with the intension of modifying it to fit at some point and never did. Same with an effectively too small Regal (old style) steady that I'm not going to mess with. Anyway, it will take a lot of work to get the steady modified to look something like what you built. I do like the cam follower idea, that particular thought had not occurred to me before. I originally was thinking along the lines of sleeving some bearings of some kind.

Anyway, do still hope to find an original steady and follow some day!
 
Good luck! And yes, it was quite heavy. I wouldn't lift it today either. Still man-liftable when I was a young pup, but I mostly used the jib crane. One of the most solid steadies I ever used though.

I have modified a few steady rests for other machines over the years also, by making an adapter block to sit under them and adapt them to the ways of the lathe they were to be used on. That might be an option for you, too.
 
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I have modified a few steady rests for other machines over the years also, by making an adapter block to sit under them and adapt them to the ways of the lathe they were to be used on. That might be an option for you, too.

Agree,
I needed a steady for my 12CK and found one that was from an unknown - about 15" lathe for $35.
It was a pretty easy mod even on my crude old mill.
Of course I'd like to find an original Monarch one but as infrequently as I need one it wasn't worth spending big bucks for.
 

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I have modified a few steady rests for other machines over the years also, by making an adapter block to sit under them and adapt them to the ways of the lathe they were to be used on. That might be an option for you, too.

The actual steady rest that came with the lathe I'm pretty sure is an early LeBlond Regal one (smaller sized lathe as well). I could potentially adapt that with a riser if push comes to shove, but it is definitely less than ideal. The homemade, bigger one (with no hinge) that doesn't fit the lathe is definitely something I will eventually modify to fit... Definitely have no moral qualms about hacking that up to work. It will just be a load of work so will have to be fit into the priority list. Anyway, an original plug-and-play one would solve those issues... and could sell the LeBlond to re-coup part of the cost.
 
Agree,
I needed a steady for my 12CK and found one that was from an unknown - about 15" lathe for $35.
It was a pretty easy mod even on my crude old mill.
Of course I'd like to find an original Monarch one but as infrequently as I need one it wasn't worth spending big bucks for.
That one actually looks perilously similar to the LeBlond rest I have (in design). lol

Post this discussion I've been trolling around ebay looking for ones that look Monarch friendly size-wise and could be modified, nothing jumped out, but will keep an eye out.
 
can you give me a measurement of the width of your ways? I just bought a monarch lathe and got two steady rests with it the one for it is huge the other one is smaller but won't fit my 12ck so curious if it would fit yours. I'll measure it when i get home tonight.
 
Here is a quick and dirty chicken scratch version. Was weirdly awkward to actually measure. :)
 

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