Jack Ryzer
Member
Looking for an original standard modern steady rest for a 1340 model lathe.
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Steady rest
- Thread starter Jack Ryzer
- Start date
My understanding is they are tough to find some have made their own.
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
Steady Rest For Colchester Master (and Standard Modern 1340)
As many others have done as well, I needed a “COVID 19” project. My Colchester Master 2500 did not come with a steady rest. They are available online. Prices are very high - at least the ones I have seen. This is what an original one looks like Not sure of its capacity - looks like about 4”...
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
Jack Ryzer
Member
Ya I’ve been trying for a while now, If I can’t find one by this fall I will make one.
Best to make one if you want/need one. There always will be "one" somewhere ....but where ever "it" is, whoever has it, won't know what they have to be able to sell it as such. Standard Modern, .....gone for decades ....it got to the point purely on price. The lathe series was excellent with a few very innovative designs like the threading system ....but no one would pay that price any more when you could purchase almost THREE Taiwanese lathes for the same price .....all tooled up. I am NOT suggesting the Taiwanese lathes were any good ...but they did turn and you "could" align them to get under a thou capable ....so why bother having a "nice" lathe when you could have almost three .....particularly if you needed three.
Standard Modern signed their own death warrant when they sold out to Baxter. In "marketing", the group completely changed with a completely different direction ....thanks to CNC. And the last nail was the fabricated steel turning center. By that time, conventionals had literally disappeared. The only people that had purchased this line in the past was the school districts all across Canada. You would think with the tens of thousands of machines being broken every year by high school students, that this would have supported the parts industry .....but they over-priced the parts ......and a "new" Taiwanese machine became the choice based on the economical formula used ....which did NOT include anything about performance or quality .....buh bye Standard Modern.
Make your steady and maintain your lathe. Me .....I went with Harrison M250. (not new).
Standard Modern signed their own death warrant when they sold out to Baxter. In "marketing", the group completely changed with a completely different direction ....thanks to CNC. And the last nail was the fabricated steel turning center. By that time, conventionals had literally disappeared. The only people that had purchased this line in the past was the school districts all across Canada. You would think with the tens of thousands of machines being broken every year by high school students, that this would have supported the parts industry .....but they over-priced the parts ......and a "new" Taiwanese machine became the choice based on the economical formula used ....which did NOT include anything about performance or quality .....buh bye Standard Modern.
Make your steady and maintain your lathe. Me .....I went with Harrison M250. (not new).
Six O Two
(Marco)
My understanding was that new machines were/are still being manufactured in Canada and available for purchase. For example, here at Penn tool co. Also, that Leblond out of the US was handling service parts. https://leblondusa.com/standard-modern-lathes-s-m/
Your comments about eye-watering prices (for both machine and parts) and suggestions to make your own steady remain true though.
Someone, somewhere has a garage size trophy wall of SM tailstocks. A couple of years ago there was an auction with three 1120s, none of them had tailstocks.
In the interim if you can find a TS from something the same size and make a suitable base that would get you going until a real one comes along.
Last I heard LeBlond doesn't keep stock but has parts made as required thus are $$$$$.
In the interim if you can find a TS from something the same size and make a suitable base that would get you going until a real one comes along.
Last I heard LeBlond doesn't keep stock but has parts made as required thus are $$$$$.
I will always stand corrected when and only when I see actual evidence of whatever the topic is. I was in the machinery business for 15 years, in an area that was NOT of any significant manufacturing capacity. There WERE token manufacturing plants from the early 1900's, but by the late 1900's ...it would be more accurate to say they were all gone. This was the time when the Taiwanese machines were imported by only a few companies that were only interested in SELLING equipment ....not having quality equipment sitting in a box or on display for months at a time. Standard Modern was such a machine that was always very impressive ....but it sat in a box or was on display for six months or more. No dealer can survive under those circumstances. I travelled to all the trade shows, IMTS and EMO, and connected with many manufacturers. BUT, not only does time pass but people, management, passes as well. In the Leblond link, it is all about the "history", of which the last two paragraphs has been written by someone who is a bit of a dreamer or has been told what to write. It is all history with very misleading or suggestive language. Knowing what actually DID happen in the earlier downfall, does not support how this article has been written.
HOWEVER, the search for "Standard Modern Lathes Inc." reveals Standard Modern is very much alive and well ....at least the website suggests such. I'm not going to investigate, but for all intents and purposes, this would be the first point of investigation if anyone is looking for parts/accessories. Only curiousity to what this company now does, it "appears" to be very much operating with the OEM being "RACER" ....and North American. I would be very curious as to "how much" is North American made.
I am unfortunately too curious. A plant ....a casting plant ....apparently is located at:
"1030 Fountain Street North
Cambridge, Ontario
N3H 4R7"
Unfortunately, very little can be seen at this location, other than a building, no where near the size needed for casting and literally no evidence of casting infrastructure ...power lines ....smelting infrastructure (air intake/exhaust), not much more than 30 parking stalls total for cars and a dozen for trailers. They might do casting, but it would be for tailstocks or "steady-rests" ...
...but nothing more than that.
BUT ....the fact that there appears now to be a "Standard Modern" ....that identifies "manual lathes" ....this is a "gimme" to contact them .....and ask.
So, "Jack", .....I think there might be a lot of people who would be interested "IF" not only a steady (fixed or traveling) is in fact quite available, but also what the cost might be. "IF" these ARE available ....and affordable (expecting relatively expensive), this would be a great addition to a machine as an OEM part as opposed to making one. The difference being, this is a "Standard Modern" and NOT a Lantaine or San Yuen or .....
While your at it, perhaps ask about taper attachments as well ....whether you need one or not .....and don't forget about "delivery". Are these accessories 6 - 8 months delivery, or are they actually inventoried and where are they inventoried ...meaning the typical 2 or 3 week delivery.
HOWEVER, the search for "Standard Modern Lathes Inc." reveals Standard Modern is very much alive and well ....at least the website suggests such. I'm not going to investigate, but for all intents and purposes, this would be the first point of investigation if anyone is looking for parts/accessories. Only curiousity to what this company now does, it "appears" to be very much operating with the OEM being "RACER" ....and North American. I would be very curious as to "how much" is North American made.
I am unfortunately too curious. A plant ....a casting plant ....apparently is located at:
"1030 Fountain Street North
Cambridge, Ontario
N3H 4R7"
Unfortunately, very little can be seen at this location, other than a building, no where near the size needed for casting and literally no evidence of casting infrastructure ...power lines ....smelting infrastructure (air intake/exhaust), not much more than 30 parking stalls total for cars and a dozen for trailers. They might do casting, but it would be for tailstocks or "steady-rests" ...
...but nothing more than that.BUT ....the fact that there appears now to be a "Standard Modern" ....that identifies "manual lathes" ....this is a "gimme" to contact them .....and ask.
So, "Jack", .....I think there might be a lot of people who would be interested "IF" not only a steady (fixed or traveling) is in fact quite available, but also what the cost might be. "IF" these ARE available ....and affordable (expecting relatively expensive), this would be a great addition to a machine as an OEM part as opposed to making one. The difference being, this is a "Standard Modern" and NOT a Lantaine or San Yuen or .....
While your at it, perhaps ask about taper attachments as well ....whether you need one or not .....and don't forget about "delivery". Are these accessories 6 - 8 months delivery, or are they actually inventoried and where are they inventoried ...meaning the typical 2 or 3 week delivery.
I contacted RACER a while back about metric gears for my 1120 and they sent me to LeBlond as the parts supplier.
On castings, my personal opinion (and just my opinion) is that the castings are all done offshore and the grinding/fitting and final assembly done somewhere in NA.
On castings, my personal opinion (and just my opinion) is that the castings are all done offshore and the grinding/fitting and final assembly done somewhere in NA.
That makes total sense Mike and I would tend to agree with your opinion. Sadly, when a manufacturer states publicly "Made in North America" or "Made in Canada" or "Made in the U.S.A.", it my understanding that it is legal state such as long as "something" is actually done in either the U.S. or Canada ....making these statements very suspect, and if correct, very misleading to those who are perhaps simply naive of manufacturing in general.
Now, is "casting" important to begin with? Absolutely it is. Apart from integrity and quality of the casting, there is the material quality, which is the hard part. Many countries do indeed have excellent and reliable quality ...but if they cast to the incorrect "recipe" (the wrong mt'l for the application) ...then what's the point? This is a very important point when a company that does only casting (they do NOT have a product or any machining), they cast for many different customers and many different applications. The quality machine tool industry like MEEHANITE.
Where am I going with this?
If one can indeed purchase this steady that Jack is looking for, will he get a material cert? Will he get an "inspection" document from whomever does the machining? Fit to the VEE and alignment to the bed flat is really important.
See how easy it is to get me going?
Now, is "casting" important to begin with? Absolutely it is. Apart from integrity and quality of the casting, there is the material quality, which is the hard part. Many countries do indeed have excellent and reliable quality ...but if they cast to the incorrect "recipe" (the wrong mt'l for the application) ...then what's the point? This is a very important point when a company that does only casting (they do NOT have a product or any machining), they cast for many different customers and many different applications. The quality machine tool industry like MEEHANITE.
Where am I going with this?
If one can indeed purchase this steady that Jack is looking for, will he get a material cert? Will he get an "inspection" document from whomever does the machining? Fit to the VEE and alignment to the bed flat is really important.
See how easy it is to get me going?
You appear to be self-starting.
See how easy it is to get me going?
Yes, Susquatch, when I saw that invoice, I immediately thought USD as well. BUT, all we know is "...a while back....". I don't see a date anywhere. However, you're 6k CDN is not going to be far off. Of course, important to note though, the center portion of this quote indicates "Standard Modern". Is "RACER" using this name or is "LeBlond" using this name? Mike mentioned that he was redirected to "LeBlond".
Darren, did you order this steady and if you did, and have rcvd it, ...how is it? Was it from LeBlond? Can you give a time-frame on this?
Well done Gordie. Anything constructive, specific to the topic?
Darren, did you order this steady and if you did, and have rcvd it, ...how is it? Was it from LeBlond? Can you give a time-frame on this?
Well done Gordie. Anything constructive, specific to the topic?
I actually sold a Steady and Follow rest to a guy in the States. Modern "Standard Modern" parts, came as part of a CADC lot I bought.
The guy who was second place (and knew that!) was really PO'd with me because I sold it to the first guy! Like, for a couple months after I had sold the stuff, this dude was still giving me a hard time, because I did not sell to him....
Moral of the story, you cannot please ANYONE except the person you are dealing with!
The guy who was second place (and knew that!) was really PO'd with me because I sold it to the first guy! Like, for a couple months after I had sold the stuff, this dude was still giving me a hard time, because I did not sell to him....
Moral of the story, you cannot please ANYONE except the person you are dealing with!
Interesting feedback from the people who have had the direct experience rather than the typical "commenters" who just want to "comment". I am trying to try to figure out "how" Racer and Leblond are connected/associated. The MUST be some kind of connection somehow. Just to offer an example of my question, does Standard Modern fully control parts (engineering/ordering/supplying/inventorying) and Leblond just the consumer contact for parts?
Darren, do you know/understand the how this is set up?
Darren, do you know/understand the how this is set up?
Not ALL the answers, but as a Canadian Company, Standard Modern was in line for rather a LOT of US Military contracts becuse they were more North American, than, say, buying from England. Later the US requirements became more 'home' oriented. SM Canada went under, as I understand it, the same group that bought up LeBlond, Stateside, bought out the Standard Modern line. So now, technically, Standard Modern counts as a North American or United States manufacturer.
A VERY simplified version of those events!
In short, Standard Modern, is just a name, and the folks that may have been involved, are just a part of the past. See that as you may!
Well, you got most of it almost correct. One of the "current" websites does offer the correct history and it does show signs of both complications and perhaps desperation to stay in business through the many years. Yes, SM catered to North American, but Southbend was the primary machine for the U.S. if they insisted on "home-grown".
However, the full compliment of both manual and CNC Standard Moderns seem to fully alive and well ....not "just a name". I would really like to know WHERE these machines are now manufactured.
This "Racer Machinery International Inc" state they are the actual manufacturer. The company name "Rotem" also comes into the picture which is only a distributor. The address noted as a manufacturing location is this 1030 Fountain St., in Cambridge, Ontario. Just looking at this building, no lathes could possibly built here. Interestingly, the Toyota plant is directly across the street. A good location for a sales office, ...surrounded by industry.
However, the full compliment of both manual and CNC Standard Moderns seem to fully alive and well ....not "just a name". I would really like to know WHERE these machines are now manufactured.
This "Racer Machinery International Inc" state they are the actual manufacturer. The company name "Rotem" also comes into the picture which is only a distributor. The address noted as a manufacturing location is this 1030 Fountain St., in Cambridge, Ontario. Just looking at this building, no lathes could possibly built here. Interestingly, the Toyota plant is directly across the street. A good location for a sales office, ...surrounded by industry.
@RobinHood made a nice Steady a while back, might give some ideas on making one.
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
Steady Rest For Colchester Master (and Standard Modern 1340)
As many others have done as well, I needed a “COVID 19” project. My Colchester Master 2500 did not come with a steady rest. They are available online. Prices are very high - at least the ones I have seen. This is what an original one looks like Not sure of its capacity - looks like about 4”...
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com