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Monarch 10EE

$8500, Merrickville ON
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The tube are very hard to come by on the electronics for the speed control. Years back I almost bought one from Texas. Then the tubes were available from Russia. I know various attempts have been made to transistorize these without success, but it would seem to me that a common VFD could give you the speed control box for cheap.. But then, the 600 volt motor issue on this one...
 
Ironman said:
The tube are very hard to come by on the electronics for the speed control. Years back I almost bought one from Texas. Then the tubes were available from Russia. I know various attempts have been made to transistorize these without success, but it would seem to me that a common VFD could give you the speed control box for cheap.. But then, the 600 volt motor issue on this one...
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Someone on here was saying that the 10ee could NOT be simply retrofitted with a VFD, after I suggested the same.

I remember the conversation, and the reasons were super solid. I realized I know NOTHING about the monarch 10ee.

I forget who it was but they seemed to know quite a bit about those lathes specifically…..

Anyway, might not be very simple….. I wish I could remember who it was.
 
Pretty attractive imo if not worn out.

Someone on here was saying that the 10ee could NOT be simply retrofitted with a VFD, after I suggested the same.

I remember the conversation, and the reasons were super solid. I realized I know NOTHING about the monarch 10ee.
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All you need to know is there has never been a better lathe :)

I don't have experience the square dial tube drives (the two I've had were MG drives) but certainly lots have been converted. While some might call it "modernized" it is a downgrade in performance over the original drive, but if keeping the back gear can readily be good enough. The idea I like the best is to use a servo motor, something "macona" (chap on another site) has done. imo a lot better than a VFD set up.

They also have a two speed backgear down below that is important to keep. It's integral to the DC motor (or is on the round dials) - front of the motor is back of the gearbox so took some work to adapt. (made a new front bell end to the motor that was also a new back to the gear box.

But maybe this drive purrs like a kitten?
 
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@Mcgyver I’ve heard that before. Those and the hardinge seem to be the fan favorites for small envelope lathes.

Might be the perfect fit for an old nice machine tool enthusiast.
 
Keith Rucker has a long term project that seems to be stalled where he's retrofitting modern electronics and speed control to a 1940s or 1950s 10EE. Its proving to be quite complex to replicate the 10EE functions in microcontrollers from what I understand. He hasnt had an update in months.

 
If you like Monarch lathes this guy does a beautiful job:

Rebuilding a monarch 10ee lathe

Edit: The following is the process of me purchasing my first lathe, a 1944 Monarch 10ee round dial, and then subsequent tear down and rebuilding of it. The posts may seem overly detailed, but I am hoping they will help me with the rebuild as a reference, and also for anyone else attempting the...
www.garagejournal.com www.garagejournal.com
 
If it can be done with tubes, it can be done with transistors. Having the knowledge to do it well that's another thing. If I had one, conversion would be at the top of my list.
 
"Those and the hardinge seem to be the fan favorites for small envelope lathes"

Some business in Montreal selling three Hardinge lathes. I called for the price range and got a response - between 5K and 10K. Any interest ?
 
Tube drive 10ee's don't need a VFD. They will function on single phase. MG drives need to be either converted to single phase like I did on mine, or be run off of a RPC/vfd. Search '10ee steelman method' if you want to find out more on the MG single phase conversion. The one posted above, being a 1948 machine, will be an MG machine. You can also see the start/stop buttons for the MG, and it has the smaller side cover on the base below the apron.
 
Gennady said:
"Those and the hardinge seem to be the fan favorites for small envelope lathes"

Some business in Montreal selling three Hardinge lathes. I called for the price range and got a response - between 5K and 10K. Any interest ?
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There is an HLV in Montreal that I inquired about, very nice, like new and well tooled - 36,000 US$. Nice, but good luck.
 
calgaryguy said:
Keith Rucker has a long term project that seems to be stalled where he's retrofitting modern electronics and speed control to a 1940s or 1950s 10EE. Its proving to be quite complex to replicate the 10EE functions in microcontrollers from what I understand. He hasnt had an update in months.

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Hello from the states. Sorry to crash the Canada party but this forum is awesome and I frequently lurk and read. I'm in Alabama and was recently in Keith's shop to do some horse trading on Kearney&Trecker 2D parts (I had a Hilger&Watts box level he wanted and he had some spare collets and attachments I wanted). He's still working on the 10EE and it's a really nice machine - very little in the way of wear or issues other than electrical. Another buddy of his is an electrical/software engineer and is helping Keith (who is very capable himself on electronic issues but not to the level required for this) to design essentially the ultimate solution for the square dial version of the lathe which will maintain the superior benefits of the original drives but with modern control. Last I talked to him he had had some parts issues.

I told him I was disappointed he ever got rid of that Rivett 1020s but apparently it was a nightmare on the electrics. I'm in the process of restoring a 1956 Hendey Tool&Gage lathe - if any of you are members of PM I have a thread there on it.
 
p3bhambama said:
Hello from the states. Sorry to crash the Canada party but this forum is awesome and I frequently lurk and read. I'm in Alabama and was recently in Keith's shop to do some horse trading on Kearney&Trecker 2D parts (I had a Hilger&Watts box level he wanted and he had some spare collets and attachments I wanted). He's still working on the 10EE and it's a really nice machine - very little in the way of wear or issues other than electrical. Another buddy of his is an electrical/software engineer and is helping Keith (who is very capable himself on electronic issues but not to the level required for this) to design essentially the ultimate solution for the square dial version of the lathe which will maintain the superior benefits of the original drives but with modern control. Last I talked to him he had had some parts issues.

I told him I was disappointed he ever got rid of that Rivett 1020s but apparently it was a nightmare on the electrics. I'm in the process of restoring a 1956 Hendey Tool&Gage lathe - if any of you are members of PM I have a thread there on it.
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Welcome friend, from North Tex…. I mean Alberta. Welcome from Alberta.
 
Its down to $7495. If only I had a ground level shop that would be mine in a heartbeat... I joke about replacing the piano in the living room with one of these nicely restored. I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling from my wife when I say that!
 
Mike R said:
Its down to $7495. If only I had a ground level shop that would be mine in a heartbeat... I joke about replacing the piano in the living room with one of these nicely restored. I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling from my wife when I say that!
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Better to ask forgiveness than permission - and then feign ignorance. That's how I proceeded the day my G&E 16" shaper and K&T 2D showed up on the back of a trailer.
"oh man honey I really didn't realize how big they were"
 
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