Monarch 10EE

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Walt

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My local Craigslist has a listing for a 10EE. The owner is asking $2600.

I was the first caller, and immediately offered to give his asking price, assuming the machine looks OK. I asked what it needs and he said he doesn't know. He states he bought it from someone who was going to refurbish it and never got around to it, and the same for him.

I'm fairly sure I'm not going to get to see it run. He said he saw it run. (I don't think he has the correct power, FWIW, but I'll try to get him to fire it up, if possible).

He just texted me that he will hold it for me until tomorrow, and has taken the ad down. So, no pics to relay. It appeared to be complete (but the chuck appeared small) and not rusty.

My guess is this is a good enough price that I can probably sell it for the same amount, even if it doesn't run and is pretty worn. Even if we can get it to turn on, I don't have much experience with lathes and won't be able to evaluate it carefully. My inclination is to make sure there are no obviously broken parts on it, and if not, go for it.

Your thoughts are appreciated. If you think I'm being foolish please speak up and state why!

Walt
 
sounds like a solid plan. $2600 is OK price for that machine seen untested and not under power, but I'd try to lower the price once there just to protect you a bit further as parts for these lathes don't come cheap and obviously it is known that this lathe will need some work done to it. $3-$4K can get you a working EE around north eastern area from time to time although I HAVE seen them posted much higher too.
 
When you get there, make sure you open the covers on the front and back of the machine, and check the year of manufacture on the plate in front. This should tell you a lot. In particular, what type of drive system it uses (there were about a half dozen over the years). If it has the "works in a drawer" tube drive, see if it has tubes (they will be on the tailstock side of the machine).

I also recommend taking a look at the monarch 10ee page over at lathes.co.uk.

These machines will take fairly large chucks, but you don't necessarily want to have it mounted all the time, these machines will reach between 3 and 4k RPM. Smaller chucks and collet closers are safer at those speeds. I do have a large 4 jaw on mine, but I keep the speed down on it. The machine starts up noticeably slower with the added mass.

$2600 is a pretty good price for that machine. I paid around $4800 for mine, but I saw it working, and got some extra tooling with it. The guy that moved it for me told me he probably could have gotten $6k for it if that means anything (he's a dealer, so figure dealer prices are always higher).

Also be aware that these machines are small, but damn heavy (3-4000lbs). Keep that in mind when moving it.
 
DMS said:
When you get there, make sure you open the covers on the front and back of the machine, and check the year of manufacture on the plate in front. This should tell you a lot. In particular, what type of drive system it uses (there were about a half dozen over the years). If it has the "works in a drawer" tube drive, see if it has tubes (they will be on the tailstock side of the machine).

I also recommend taking a look at the monarch 10ee page over at lathes.co.uk.

These machines will take fairly large chucks, but you don't necessarily want to have it mounted all the time, these machines will reach between 3 and 4k RPM. Smaller chucks and collet closers are safer at those speeds. I do have a large 4 jaw on mine, but I keep the speed down on it. The machine starts up noticeably slower with the added mass.

$2600 is a pretty good price for that machine. I paid around $4800 for mine, but I saw it working, and got some extra tooling with it. The guy that moved it for me told me he probably could have gotten $6k for it if that means anything (he's a dealer, so figure dealer prices are always higher).

Also be aware that these machines are small, but damn heavy (3-4000lbs). Keep that in mind when moving it.
Click to expand...

Is there a drive type for these machines that would be not desirable? Like if the tube version if it can't be checked by powering up?

With regards to moving, I'm hiring my brother to bring his heavy trailer, pickup, and moving expertise. He runs a business repairing and selling used commercial bakery ovens. Thanks for the ballpark figure on the machine weight.

Walt
 
If he can't start up the motor, offer him two K. You've got to refurbish it yet, you're getting close to a grizzly or pm price. You got him between a rock and a hard place. His wife's probably harping on him to get rid of it, he'll take a five or $600 beating. Remember if god didn't want them sheared, he wouldn't have made them sheep. PS don't forget any tooling books spare parts etc.
:tiphat:
 
Walt,

Not trying to dissuade you but rather, underscoring what DMS mentioned. These are solid machines indeed but have about 18-20" between centers. Their original purpose was a high precision toolroom lathe -not really intended for general purpose use (which sometimes involves interrupted cuts on harder material etc). This is not the kind of lathe you want to chew on a heavy piece of cast iron with.

If I had a machine of that caliber, it would only see fully normalized free machining metals.


Ray
 
My 10EE is the only lathe I have. I try to take care of her, but I have put her through her paces. The biggest restriction is the length. For the stuff I do, it's not really an issue, but if you work on longer stuff, it could be. These machines are _WAY_ overbuilt. Talking to the guy who sold it to me, we agreed that they seemed to be designed with the idea that money was no object. Really fantastic machines.

As for the drive types that would be "undesireable". The tube drives tend to scare people, but I have one, and it works amazingly well. Some units (IIRC the 5hp tube drive units) take power tubes that are hard to find these days, but the 3Hp units can use a relatively cheap replacement type that can be had for about $30. If this is a 5Hp machine with a tube drive, you may take that into account in pricing. The larger tubes I have seen going for $500 a pair on E-bay. They do last quite a while.

Here are some pics of my machine, including one with the tube drive in operation

https://plus.google.com/photos/113058612034694188913/albums/5806725074127788881?banner=pwa

The larger pair of tubes at the top are the power tubes.
 
Ray C said:
Walt,

Not trying to dissuade you but rather, underscoring what DMS mentioned. These are solid machines indeed but have about 18-20" between centers. Their original purpose was a high precision toolroom lathe -not really intended for general purpose use (which sometimes involves interrupted cuts on harder material etc). This is not the kind of lathe you want to chew on a heavy piece of cast iron with.

If I had a machine of that caliber, it would only see fully normalized free machining metals.


Ray
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to explain what constitutes abusive work on a fine machine, Ray.

Assuming this machine ends up in my basement, I will do my best to take good care of it.

Walt
 
DMS said:
My 10EE is the only lathe I have. I try to take care of her, but I have put her through her paces. The biggest restriction is the length. For the stuff I do, it's not really an issue, but if you work on longer stuff, it could be. These machines are _WAY_ overbuilt. Talking to the guy who sold it to me, we agreed that they seemed to be designed with the idea that money was no object. Really fantastic machines.

As for the drive types that would be "undesireable". The tube drives tend to scare people, but I have one, and it works amazingly well. Some units (IIRC the 5hp tube drive units) take power tubes that are hard to find these days, but the 3Hp units can use a relatively cheap replacement type that can be had for about $30. If this is a 5Hp machine with a tube drive, you may take that into account in pricing. The larger tubes I have seen going for $500 a pair on E-bay. They do last quite a while.

Here are some pics of my machine, including one with the tube drive in operation

https://plus.google.com/photos/113058612034694188913/albums/5806725074127788881?banner=pwa

The larger pair of tubes at the top are the power tubes.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much, that makes it at least a little clearer what I could be getting into for refurb costs. I will still probably take the lathe, even if it has the expensive tubes. I had seen somewhere that the tubes were $1K a piece. That would be out of my price range. This may be out of your line of experience, but I currently only have 220 V service at best. I'm assuming that something can be put together that will make this lathe run, a VFD of some type? Edit/ I found a thread on this exact topic, looks like it's possible with $ /Edit

Hmm, no offense, but this has the flavor of an inmate at an institution asking his fellow inmates if he should attempt flying or not. Just kidding! I take full responsibility for my judgement. You will not be hearing from my wife.

Walt
 
I would have a couple of questions about the valve tubes are they acting as a VFD, I'm sure that's the only technology they had at the time of the machine being made but a little digging on the Internet you should be able to go to standard variable frequency drive control. But hey use them till they wear out.
PS I would remove them for shipment.
 
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