Monarch 612-2516 lathe

[Janderso]

bck working on this lathe

How did you make out with the cast iron repair? That looked like a real mess.

 

[rabler]

I found a replacement part, turns out it is close enough to a Monarch 61 so I could use a part from there. Someone on PM pointed me to one that was being parted out. If you look back a few posts there is a picture where I machined it a bit on the rotary table.

 

[rabler]

The QCGB is mounted on the lathe. Oil lines reattached. End gears reinstalled. While it is off in the picture below, I have the faceplate for the tumbler reinstalled. The lathe has a clutch rod (like many Monarchs) and you can work the clutch from the side of the QCGB or from the side of the apron (two levers). The plate on the apron side of the lathe has bevel gears so that clutch rod turns a shaft which goes under the headstock.

There is small casting that bolts on under the end gears not yet installed. It directs the drip oil from the end gears and out of the QCGB back into the hydraulic oil reservoir, through the hole in the lower left in the picture.



This particular lathe also has the 'rapid traverse' option, controls on the apron that engage with a motor driven shaft that will move the carriage or crossfeed quickly for rough positioning. That rapid traverse motor lives under the back side of the headstock, and similar to the clutch has a rod that goes under the headstock to the QCGB, through bevel gears, and then out along an apron rod. I still need to reconnect both of these to the QCGB. The rapid traverse motor runs continuously whenever the main motor runs, the apron has controls (clutches) to engage/disengage it.


In total this thing has three motors, all of them three phase. Hydraulic/lube pump is the third. A VFD would therefore not be a realistic option for converting it to single phase operation.

Slowly putting this thing back together. Right now the apron is not bolted up to the carriage. I have to decide how much cleaning and inspection I want to do on the apron and carriage before reassembling all of that. The lubrication system in there is pretty critical to the longevity of the ways.

 

[extropic]

I appreciate the time you take to explain the special features of the lathe, like the dual control levers for the clutch as well as the motor driven rapids. I don't recall if you ever ask any questions but you're certainly adding to the collective knowledge.

Thanks for posting when you can.

 

[rabler]

I appreciate the time you take to explain the special features of the lathe, like the dual control levers for the clutch as well as the motor driven rapids. I don't recall if you ever ask any questions but you're certainly adding to the collective knowledge.

Thanks for posting when you can.

I enjoy sharing my progress. I’m just plowing ahead, sometimes stumbling along, othertimes taking a break when frustrated or lost or other things arise.

 

[rabler]

Got the clutch rod and rapid drive motor reconnected. I’ll leave the covers off as I’ll probably need to adjust the clutch travel. The rapid motor also has a reduction worm gear that I would like to flush and refill with fresh oil.

The large vertical cabinet on the right is the electrical cabinet.

 

[Papa Charlie]

Watching these threads regarding Monarch lathes, it amazes me the quality and well thought out design of the Monarch lathes.

A Monarch is definitely on my bucket list.

 

[rabler]

Watching these threads regarding Monarch lathes, it amazes me the quality and well thought out design of the Monarch lathes.

A Monarch is definitely on my bucket list.

I guess I'm a Monarch junkie. They are solidly built machines, but they do have some complexity to them that means fixing/maintaining them isn't trivial.

FWIW, my wife can't keep the model numbers straight 10EE vs 12CK vs 612-2516. Not that I blame her - too many models. She's awfully tolerant of my addiction. Anyway, we call this one "Papa Bear", the 12CK "Mama bear", and the 10EE "Baby bear".

 

[rabler]

The QCGB is back on, headstock end pretty much buttoned up.


I was test running it after that and at 1500 RPM the 30A breaker popped. No load. I suspect I will need to do some balancing on my RPC. Need to install the volt-amp meters on the RPC ... I'll also replace the 30A with a 40A.


Of course, there is quite a bit more work to do on this before it is a functional lathe. The apron is still not installed. While it is off I want to flush it out, clean off the outside, and remove the oil pump for cleaning and new filters. The apron alone on this beast (not the full carriage), probably weighs 400 lbs, almost as much as my first 10x22 lathe.


Along the way the apron and carriage will get painted blue to match the rest of the lathe. I'll need to pull the cover off the QCGB to put the threading leadscrew back on. It has 4 shafts on the apron, threading leadscrew, feed rod, rapid traverse drive rod, and clutch control. I put the clutch rod back in temporarily to test the headstock/QCGB. Just a taper pin at the QCGB end, and a bushing that slides into the support at the tailstock end.


Putting the cart before the horse, I'm thinking about a QCTP for this, as well as a 4 jaw chuck.
It is close to 3" from compound base to centerline, so I'll need a DA sized toolpost. $$$
I'd like to get a forged steel 4 jaw 16" chuck. (612-2516, 25" swing, 16" over the carriage). More $$$
Probably be looking on ebay for used(?).

 

[rabler]

Looks like about a $1000 for a new DA toolpost (Shars/Travers/MSC).
About twice that for a Bison 16" 4 jaw.
That will about double what I have into this lathe to date.