Taking a poll of those interested in a 10EE Follow Rest casting.

[m-lud]

FWIW: I've been fooling around with this follower rest concept drawing for a few years.

It's based on measurements taken from my 1941 round dial, a pair of 10EE steady rest jaws and scaling & sketching several internet photos of the square dial follower rest.

Understand that I have never seen an actual 10EE follower rest and the concept would require alterations to suit a square dial machine and to allow clearance for DRO scale mounting.

I will share the .dwg file and my photos with Gary Martin, if that will move the project along.

Sorry, but the .jpg attachment is not crisp and clear.

Mike

View attachment 385034

Thanks Mike
I'm not sure what has been decided, I need to go back and re read this thread. What Gary Martin will need is a sample part in hand and a drawing of that part. If your design was used a part (model) may be needed.
It is possible that the dimensions in your drawing would be what is needed. I don't really know, I have been out of the commission.
In the end he will need someone's follow rest loaned to him to work with. I know he has to build a box. I could give him a call but someone else here may be more qualified.

 

[Cal Haines]

Harry Bloom's HSM article (link) has full drawings for three different version of his follower rest design: 10EE, CK and CY. These are all known good designs which take into account DRO mounting.

If you want to do this with as little time/cost on Gary's end as possible, the thing to do is to find someone that can model the rest in 3D and 3D-print the pieces, with the appropriate shrinkage allowance. Gary can then take the pieces and prep the mold boards. He might need two of some parts, so that he can cut them apart where the parting line on the mold needs to be. Of course, this would need to be done in cooperation with Gary.

If you just give Gary a drawing or an actual rest to work from, he has scale all of the dimensions up and basically make a wooden version of the rest, in two halves, plus whatever core pieces may be needed for the mold. Obviously that will take a lot of effort on Gary's end.

 

[BugRobotics]

Id be happy to model anything up that is needed.

 

[m-lud]

I get the feeling that a follow rest that bridges a digital readout would sell more units. Looking at Harry's bridge I see the advantage that a dovetail gives for any position on the slide.
Harrys design with a cast Iron riser has my vote.
But!

Could the bridge also be cast Iron?
It appears that there is some clearance under the bridge that could be used for a thicker bridge. If the bridge was cast with the dovetail absent but as a rectangular bar that the buyer could mill in the dovetail, or not. The riser could be bolted to the bridge with several sets of holes tapped for different positions.

Or am I missing the advantage of needing a dovetail?
The three-point follow rests are fixed positions and acceptable.

So my thoughts are for a thicker cast Iron bridge and a separate cast riser.
Then the buyer could mate the castings as he wishes. I would just tap for three or four positions. With maybe a linear slide with a bar milled in the center with tapped holes
In this application I see where a dovetail could be a point of movement/vibration. Maybe not.
All due respect to Harry,
I'm wondering off here. I do see the three bolt gibs to lock it down.

The point is with a cast bridge the buyer can mate the riser as he wishes. Just make the bridge thickerererer for giving them that option.

If I'm complicating the forward motion of the project I can go and stand in the corner. I'm just typing my thoughts.

Two castings would cost more. Although buying plate to build a bridge has its material cost and labor cost in building it.
Finally, The End

 

[m-lud]

If my previous post would do anything to disrupt getting the riser cast forget that its there. I would delete it but some may have already read it.
Cal
Your way ahead of me on knowing what Gary at Martin Model needs.

 

[rcn11thacr]

The late, great Harry Bloom wrote an excellent article for the November/December 2011 issue of The Home Shop Machinist, detailing the family of 2-point, roller, follower rests that he built for his three Monarch lathes, models 10EE, CK and CY:
View attachment 381342

Village Press, which publishes HSM, claims to have a back issue of the Nov-Dec 2011 issue in stock, available for $11 plus shipping:

HSM NOV/DEC 2011

secure.villagepress.com

An interesting feature of Harry's rest is that it has a separate riser and dovetail bridge, allowing the location of the rest to be adjusted as needed. Since the dimensions of the riser itself are determined by the maximum diameter of stock that you intend to machine with the rest, it occurs to me that a single riser could be used on all three machines, with the height the bridge changed to accommodate the swing of the machine in question.

Here is Harry's 10EE follower rest:
View attachment 381343

And his Monarch CK rest:
View attachment 381344

All of Harry's rests were built up by welding flame-cut plates together. Note that both versions allow for installing the scale for a DRO on the right side of the top slide.

My vote would be to build up a single, 3-point riser, similar to the square-dial 3-point follower rest shown in my previous post. It could be made up as a kit of flame- or water-jet-cut plates, machined by the buyer. The kit for the bridge could include side pieces tall enough for say, a Monarch CY, to be machined down, as needed, by the end user.

Finally, here's a couple of photos of a 2-point follower rest that I like:
View attachment 381345View attachment 381346
I don't remember where I got the photos. The knobs have a Monarch look to them, but beyond that I don't know. An interesting feature of this rest is that the riser bolts to the bridge. Again, a cast riser of this type could be used on different lathes by changing the bridge.

After re-reading this thread, i concur with a few others that making one that fits multiple machines is the best option. This 2 piece DRO version will draw more interest and likely have more buyers. Yes it is a bit more complex and has more parts, but none of us want a janky POS that's only a one trick pony. Most of us have a DRO, or have it on our wish list (i know i do). I see zero sense in building this tool w/o it being DRO friendly when the cost is so little and we live in a world where everyone can buy a cheap or great DRO (if they want to).

If i understand it correctly, the bridge style (2 piece) version fits round and square 10ee's along with other Monarchs. I believe it should have roller follower tips, and the fingers that hold the rollers should be round for strength, which will take up less space than the rectangle versions in the pattern (IMHO, correct me if you disagree). If having the bridge there bugs you, how often does anyone really utilize that space where the bridge is suggested to go anyway? If you do need that area for a job, then unbolt this tool and get the job done.

I want one please.

 

[Desmato]

Cast my vote for the 2 piece version with room for a DRO scale.
I've been involved with casting parts (at least the machining of said cast parts) and am somewhat familiar with Cope, Drag and Cores based on the parts I finish and the patterns I've held for said parts. I also think, in my limited knowledge, that a 2 piece design might be easier to cast. It certainly provides more options in a single unit !

All that said, IF this comes to fruition..... I may be willing to do the machining of these as I do a LOT of castings already on the Haas. I would know how involved once I machine "mine" and by then, might have all the required measurements and such. At least based on my '67 square dial.