Welding Tips and Tricks

ajlskater1 wrote:I think you have me mixed up with someone else jeff I didn't buy a lathe or post pictures of a adapter. I have a lathe but not a "old iron".

Sorry about that, AJ. I will have to go back and reread the forum posts to get everyone straight again. I'm still kind of new here. It will get better hopefully as I get more familiar.

No problem at all. I just didn't want it to seem like I was taking credit for his work, because he did a really good job on that.

Jeff, here's the topic with the lathe:

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... f=9&t=1367

Mostly on page 2

Apparently I am roughly at the same point as you, Steve. I'd be happy as a hands on (eyes off) foreman of sorts. There is a lot of waste where I work, mostly in wasted space, but the environment is casual otherwise. I can pretty much come and go as I please for the most part. I decide the equipment and consumables, and if they don't get what I need, I get it out of my own pocket and guilt them into reimbursement, especially once they see the sense of it.

Otto Nobedder wrote:Jeff, here's the topic with the lathe:

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... f=9&t=1367

Mostly on page 2

Ok. I had misunderstood that one as well. I remember thinking he had to fix the one damaged rod, not keep from doing it on more of them at the time. Still good stuff, in spite of any of my inherent senility. lol

BTW,

I (We) have simply assumed you to be "Jeff" from your screen name. Should it turn out you're "Tam", I apologize.

Jeff from Tampa. LOL

Lathe envy......I like that! I'll watch out for any like mine that come up for auction, but Monarchs are pretty rare. There's usually a few on ebay but they are generally quite expensive and a new one can cost as much as a starter home. You have to be careful on what years the machines were made,too. The Monarch 10 EE's in the 50's and 60's used a thyrotron tube system for speed control and it can be very expensive to replace the tubes if you can even find them. I've heard of guy's who have bought these types and have had some problems with them not engaging properly, various other problems. The early ones, like mine from 1943, use a rheostat dimmer for speed control. Very simple, very effective and easy to replace if needed. The Monarch factory will rebuild any lathe they made from any year to brand new showroom specs including all new electronics and a paint job but I have no idea what this costs. Maybe if i ever hit the Powerball lottery, I'll send mine in!

Here's some more pictures of it, the first one is from the auction. Not very pretty and not a lot to go off of, but that might also be why i got it so cheap.

The 2nd picture is the threading dial, the top part is the range of threads it will cut, the bottom is the feed/speed chart. It will cut both right and left hand threads. It won't do metric though, it's too early a model for that.

The 3rd picture, on the very top of the picture is a taper attachment. Once it's set to whatever taper degree cut you might need, it will automatically pull the crossfeed in to that degree cut as the carriage advances. I haven't used it yet, it's missing some parts that i either have to make or order from Monarch.

That thing is awesome. They weren't messing around when they built that. It has a certain museum quality to it. How long had you been looking for one before you found that one?

They definetely have a lot of style and will last quite a few lifetimes. There is also a lot of trim pieces on the cover plates that are used for both air baffles and decoration. Mine didn't come with any of the cover plates, though, so I made new ones out of 1/2 inch MDF and I'll add some trim to them sometime. I put a picture below of what a rebuilt one looks like. There's also a picture of the gearbox cover and trim. Pretty nice! I'm not sure yet how I'll make that. Probably some 3/4 MDO and bendy birch around it..........

I had been looking for a nice lathe for at least 15 years but never had enough money to get a good one. When my doctors made me quit smoking and drinking a few years back, all of a sudden I had enough cash for one. Funny how that works! I was just about to buy a combo lathe/drill press when I saw this on auction for a third of what I was going to spend on the imported combo. The rest of the money I saved got eaten up pretty quickly. I had to rent a dock high truck, go to Cleveland to pick it up and then rent a fork lift to take it off the truck and also buy a rotary phase convertor. But all in all it was more than worth it.

TamJeff wrote:Jeff from Tampa. LOL

Coulda been "Tam" from Jefferson City, MO?

Just figured I ought to be sure...