wtb: follow rest for 12" lathe

I have some small diameter shaft knurling coming up, pretty long so was thinking of a follow rest. I am using a 12" American High Duty. I can make one, but figured I would try to adapting something thats pretty close first.

Factory holes for the follower are on both sides of the carriage on 3.5" centers and are horizontal level with the bed, 1/2" bolts.

Spindle centerline is 6" directly above the front bolt hole center.

The carriage has mounting holes on both sides, so a candidate could lean either way, or just be flat. Saddle type is ok too- inner distance between legs would need to be at least 5.75", throat depth at least 2".

Roller or otherwise ok, even a small-ish diam follower would be fine- the work I have coming is 1/2" diam or so.

I don't mind spending money on the right unit. Ebay etc has quite a few but didn't see any with the spindle center directly above the front mounting bolt.

Thanks!

Greg

If you have to make stuff this went together pretty quickly - but then I was lucky to have the liners laying around - and additionally lucky to have tee slots in saddle

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...tory/follow-rest-rig-327147/?highlight=follow

have fun

Oh yeah that would work just fine I was thinking back to my old ATW with t slots on the apron wings.. would have been the 1st time I ever used them. This one is all modern and fancy, lacking such obsolete features

The Miller Quick, Knurlmaster/Eagle Rock and Wade three-wheel knurling tools do not require a follower rest. They all work, but the Quick is the most expensive and works best. The last picture shows parts made with a Quick tool.

Larry

Found a vintage steady thats fairly close on ebay- nothing exotic or complicated so pretty easy to saw and braze to make it fit...

I sure like those knurling tools- was also thinking of longer small diam thin shaft work that I've struggled with previously

I found a fairly close match on ebay- old style so easy to modify. I shortened the base to fit, pretty ugly braze but it wetted well- got fancy with the letter stamps so the next guy will have it easier to identify a compatible machine lol.

These old style followers have a more or less sacrificial "L" bar to restrain the work, no critical dimensions though I expect its preferable to have the bar angled downwards slightly to help capture the work while under cut- needed a longer bar than the original so made this one out of an old vice jaw. The 2 screws to adjust it afford a convenient adjustment BUT probably a good bit slower than the telescoping style jaws if you're in the middle of an op and things start going wrong.

Workpiece ready to try is an old copier drive roller getting turned and knurled about 6".

Follow rests definitely have their learning curve I got good results both turning and knurling, finding that the old lantern toolpost and armstrong holders were the big win. They made it easy to get the tool to either side of the rest- or straight in under the support. The Dorian toolpost and bxa holders tended to offset the tool quite far to either side of the follow rest.

Getting the adjustment on the jaws for just enough but not too much clearance is delicate, not unlike on a steady. OTOH with the cutter adjacent or under the follower support, the flood cutting oil easily lubricates it while helping the cut- that ended up working well.

Much like with a box tool, allowances for the width of the follower and the resulting size of the workpiece need to be made, so my 1st part was a bit short. Sneaking up on a dimension amounts to slight tweaks of the follower jaw to maintain the support, so I left binding bolt only snug.