The ultimate in Art Deco tool design, or my newly restored tool

[G1K]

I decided I needed a new lathe and have been searching for a particular model for a few years on and off.

This is the old craftsman that the new lathe is replacing:

Before:

After:

I found an Monarch 10EE on craigslist in I think in July or August ’08 and drove about 80 miles to see it. It was a mess, but I bought it any way.

Here’s the before shot from the day I initially looked at it

Here it is arriving home:

Some pics of stripping, cleaning, cleaning and some more cleaning:
Motor/generator unit out

all cleaned up

And finally today I got everything put back together:

I still have a few electrical things to work out, and get everything dialed in but the hard part is now over with.

In case you're wondering about the color, machine tool grey is not an exciting color for me, and orange is my favorite color. I've never seen an orange 10EE, so I figured why not...



Ryan

 

[Bo Heck]

thats awesome

 

[speed bump]

very nice.

 

[Blacknwhitepit]

Incredible.

Great work!!!


-BWP

 

[Bolster]

Outstanding.

 

[rockvr4]

Very nice what type of paint did you use?

 

[3 at 8]

Very nice what type of paint did you use?

+1

Outstanding indeed!!! It takes balls to paint it that color. I know what you mean about the sleepy machine gray; its all kinda blah.

 

[TejasBimmer]

WOW!!!
Great job!
Can't wait to see what you make first!

 

[Mellotron]

I'm a sucker for Art Deco. This is amazing! Very nice work!

 

[goodfellow]

10EE -- best tool room lathe ever made. Great job!! that took some work, but for that machine it's worth it.

 

[Mellotron]

Forgive my ignorance, what's the generator for in a lathe?

 

[Elroy]

Most excellent. In Elroy's opinion these two shots speak volumes

That color is great. Always told Elroy to paint his stuff some bright "make ya puke" color. PERFECT choice!

 

[goodfellow]

Forgive my ignorance, what's the generator for in a lathe?

The 10EE is unique in many respects. It's had several different drive designs, but in general, it uses a 3-phase AC motor to drive a DC generator. The output of the DC generator is run through a DC motor and controller (Allen Bradley in many cases) to regulate the spindle speed. You get very smooth and precise power that way.

 

[Mellotron]

The 10EE is unique in many respects. It's had several different drive designs, but in general, it uses a 3-phase AC motor to drive a DC generator. The output of the DC generator is run through a DC motor and controller (Allen Bradley in many cases) to regulate the spindle speed. You get very smooth and precise power that way.

Thank you goodfellow, that makes sense. I bet that thing is fun to work with.

 

[billymade]

Old Car Guy would love to see this!

 

[Uncle Buck]

Man, in the past I have always been more of an old stick in the mud, it is supposed to be green, blue, or grey kind of guy, but I will readily admit that your transformation of color has won my applause! That orange is just smokin cool! And you did a fantastic job of leaving no detail untouched in your efforts. BRAVO!

 

[Bolster]

What was your method for removing all the rust in the pulleys and gears?

 

[dfndr]

That is absolutely beautiful. That machine will now be preserved forever. Excuse me if I missed it but-How long did such a detailed job like that take you?

 

[G1K]

Very nice what type of paint did you use?

Valspar Tractor and Implement paint. Believe it or not I brushed it on. Normally I would have sprayed it, I have all the equipment to do so, but I didn't want the huge mess to deal with and since it's so heavy the lathe is too difficult to move over to the shop with the spray booth. Spraying at home is a no no because of the fumes, my garage is attached and I have an infant at home.

Man, in the past I have always been more of an old stick in the mud, it is supposed to be green, blue, or grey kind of guy, but I will readily admit that your transformation of color has won my applause! That orange is just smokin cool! And you did a fantastic job of leaving no detail untouched in your efforts. BRAVO!

I had a vision of the contrast between the brass, chrome, and orange and thought it would look good. About half way through I almost changed my mind, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

What was your method for removing all the rust in the pulleys and gears?

Evaporust, and on non critical parts some fine scotchbrite soaked with transmission fliud.

That is absolutely beautiful. That machine will now be preserved forever. Excuse me if I missed it but-How long did such a detailed job like that take you?

I'm going to guess around 80 hours. My wife and I had a baby in May, so I have not had much free time to fool with the lathe. I did the work an hour at a time when the baby was sleeping. It took from August until yesterday.


Ryan

 

[dps]

Excellent- beautiful!

 

[Richard Givan]

Wow--this is an inspirational restoration. May your babies (this one and the one inside the house to which you allude) both have long, productive lives.

 

[B.O.V. Norway]

Man, that is one beautiful lathe and the color is just right. I now have a new background on my screen.

Have a nice day.

 

[vc-onthepc]

Thumbs up for the color .. I have a few pieces of equipment i was thinking of color matching and using yellow or safety orange . after seeing the lathe .. ive made my decision . ...

someday ill get pics on here lol

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Wow, that is a wonderful restoration! I restore a lot of tooling myself with lathes being my main stay. I assume that you used some body filler to smooth off the castings, right? It looks great and the orange is a keeper. In fact the Monarch is one of the few lathes that can pull off a color like that. Allis Chalmers orange I presume?

My hat off to you sir!

 

[Nova72]

that is EXTREMELY nice!

 

[GDA]

That is a true testament to taking your time and doing it right. Outstanding work for a very sweet tool.

 

[riley.m]

wow that is outstanding work,thanks for showing.

 

[SteveG]

Very nice rebuild! Nice bikes too,, is that a Ducati 999 sans bodywork?

 

[G1K]

Wow, that is a wonderful restoration! I restore a lot of tooling myself with lathes being my main stay. I assume that you used some body filler to smooth off the castings, right? It looks great and the orange is a keeper. In fact the Monarch is one of the few lathes that can pull off a color like that. Allis Chalmers orange I presume?

My hat off to you sir!

I took a few minutes to chec out your site. Very nice work! I may have to borrow the electrolysis tank idea

Very nice rebuild! Nice bikes too,, is that a Ducati 999 sans bodywork?

I wish, it's a 749. I think it was partially disassembled in that pic because a shifter spring broke.

Ryan

 

[eschoendorff]

Just.... wow. That is a really beautiful job on a neat old machine. So now, I gotta ask, how well does it work? I bet it does a great job....

 

[E46M3]

Very well done! - a beautiful machine form, artfully restored. I really love your brave choice of color... I don't know much about old tools, but I do know I like and respect what you've done. You should be proud of that project. Thank's for sharing.
Cheers,
E46M3

 

[mikeatrpi]

VERY nice work! That's something to be proud of for sure!!

 

[davestlouis]

Beautiful resto! You have a lot more patience than I do. How much do you think that beast weighs?

 

[Kevin54]

Absolutely OUTSTANDING!!! It's so nice to see something other than industrial gray or blue. Fantastic job on the restoration/rebuild

 

[dxdexter]

Absolutely beautiful job on the restoration. Just goes to show if you are patient, the right lathe will show up eventually.

 

[billymade]

I still can't believe you "brushed" the paint on; it looks at least sprayed and almost possibly electrostatic/powder coated! Can you elaborate on how you applied the paint and what kind of paint it was or did you color sand it? Needless, to say; it looks amazing!

 

[NSXSOON]

I am blown away! Your effort is truly outstanding.

 

[bayou985]

Bra That's too good Ya heard me??

 

[T56 Impala]

Wow.......Just, Wow!

 

[G1K]

I still can't believe you "brushed" the paint on; it looks at least sprayed and almost possibly electrostatic/powder coated! Can you elaborate on how you applied the paint and what kind of paint it was or did you color sand it? Needless, to say; it looks amazing!

The prep work was key as always. In one of the pics you can see the top cover slathered with bondo.

I just used a 2" wide brush (1.5" for small areas) and put it on think enough to level out, but not think enough to run. It was a fine balance, and some runs did occur, but I cut them off flush with a razor blade before the final coat.

R