A feeder for rods into a lathe by a motorized thruster for sliding and pushing a rod along a guide towards a processing lathe until the rod is taken by the lathe. An automatic control device actuates the thruster to advance according to a first thrust value and a sensor detects the movement of the thruster. If the sensor detects a minimum movement or no movement at all a thrust increase is commanded up to a predetermined maximum value. If the thruster does not move at all, this indicates jamming.