Lathe project question
- Thread starter tbirkey214
- Start date
BombShelter
Well-known member
I love a good project but sometimes you need a ton of time and motivation. Like a few of the other posters I ended up with a "tool room" Logan (825?) that's very similar to a South Bend of the same size (and the Logan just posted). They're pretty easy to move around with an engine lift and should always be worth what you paid for it. The smaller footprint is perfect for a garage corner.
We have K-Bid up here and a handful of other websites that have factory auctions all the time. I've bought a ton of wood/metal equipment over the years from these online auctions. When you win, you have a small window for pick-up or they'll hook you up with a rigger that will deliver.
I found these guys by you, there should be many more.
rosensystems.com
We have K-Bid up here and a handful of other websites that have factory auctions all the time. I've bought a ton of wood/metal equipment over the years from these online auctions. When you win, you have a small window for pick-up or they'll hook you up with a rigger that will deliver.
I found these guys by you, there should be many more.
Equipment Auctions & Appraisals - Rosen Systems
Industrial auctioneers, appraisers, and liquidators since 1917.
rosensystems.com
OP
tbirkey214
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2025
- Messages
- 173
I just got turned onto auctions and I tried proxy bid iron planet and a couple other ones that I really hated and then so far I've only been able to tolerate bid spotter for its search and distance functions, bidspotter has been real good to me though. What are some good ones?I love a good project but sometimes you need a ton of time and motivation. Like a few of the other posters I ended up with a "tool room" Logan (825?) that's very similar to a South Bend of the same size (and the Logan just posted). They're pretty easy to move around with an engine lift and should always be worth what you paid for it. The smaller footprint is perfect for a garage corner.
We have K-Bid up here and a handful of other websites that have factory auctions all the time. I've bought a ton of wood/metal equipment over the years from these online auctions. When you win, you have a small window for pick-up or they'll hook you up with a rigger that will deliver.
I found these guys by you, there should be many more.
Equipment Auctions & Appraisals - Rosen Systems
Industrial auctioneers, appraisers, and liquidators since 1917.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-Can't offer good auction or bid sites but can suggest your bidding strategy. Specify time (if possible) for the bid to be submitted in under 30 seconds, your time will depend upon how many bids you want to put in when your bid is topped. By putting a posted bid in early it gives everybody else a chance to see what you bid and beat you by the minimum allowed. Years ago when I was bidding for tooling/fixtures I won a lot more auction items when I changed my bidding strategy. Maybe everybody already knows this, I didn't.
jar944
Well-known member
Most equipment auction houses run soft close auctions where any bid within the last couple minutes adds another 3-5 minutes to the auction. Its specifically to stop sniping.
ez-duzit
Well-known member
Auctions are usually for bare machines.
Bidspotter is the one I use.
I also look on FBMP, but I buy more on Bidspotter.
I had a line on a very nice Logan 2557 (12") with tooling, grandpa died and the lathe sat for 30 years. When Dad died, they were doing an estate sale on FBMP. Price was $1500, pretty good considering all the tooling. Logan is good in that they're good lathes plus if in a pinch, parts are still being manufactured. I got in touch with the seller and told him I'd take it, but I was on the road. Someone grabbed it while I was gone, then put it on FBMP using the same original seller's photos but at a $1000 price increase!
I found a very clean Delta 25-100 (11" lathe) on Bidspotter, I put a $200 placeholder bid just so I could follow the closing price. It was a small machine shop auction with few bidders and I won the lathe. Also picked up a Kennedy roller with a Kennedy topper full of tools and tooling. It's a very good lathe, thankfully in quite good shape, minimal wear. It came with a lot of bits which was good because parts can be tough to source on a 25-100 since they're not as common as others.
I think you mentioned watching out for tooling, that's smart. Finding a lathe for sale with tooling, plus a steady rest, follower, taper attachements, those are bonus if gotten at purchase and a bear if you try to get them on the secondary market afterwards.
Dont think I posted much to help, but good luck with the search. I was happy when I finally got one so I could stop searching!
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Ultradog MN
Well-known member
I would say not always. I sometimes see them come with all kinds of stuff.
My own lathe came with a 3 jaw 4 jaw, 22 2J collets, collet chuck, lathe dogs, dog drive and face plates 3 drill chucks and a couple of dead centers.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-Thanks for updating me. It's been several years (10?) since I was bidding on things, sniping seemed to be the reason I was losing out. The last 20 seconds always had a flurry of last moment bids I couldn't keep up with. Your post should be of some help to others.
Ultradog MN
Well-known member
I follow Bidspotter pretty closely.
They are not so much an auction company as they are a big clearing house for MANY auction companiess that that list their auctions there. You can search for items by distance from your zip code. If you sign up with them you can save a search and they will email you when an item with that term comes up. Examples: drill press, South bend, bridgeport, leblond, milling machine, lathe, etc, etc.
I got my lathe that way - 5 years ago and last summer got 3 Vidmar cabinets at a timed auction.
You do have to sign up with each individual auction house before before the auction starts.
Some auctions are timed and some are live with real auctioners that you listen to and bid online as things are sold. I got a 5T Dake arbor press at a live auction this fall.
Two other auction sites I follow are Govdeals.com and publicsurplus.com
I bought 5 - yes five - 13" south bend lathes at publicsurplus last spring. From a high school that was closing their metal shop.
I sold them all with a month and made enough to buy the vidmars.
I about wet my pants over that deal lol.
nadogail
Well-known member
My last employer had a Monarch 10 EE in the company machine shop, it was one of the most trouble free machines I was required to work on.
I retired from that employer about 15 or 20 years ago.
I retired from that employer about 15 or 20 years ago.
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RoninB4
Well-known member
-Oh the horror of being forced to make parts with it...
matt_i
Well-known member
My 0.02: Monarch 10EE is a fantastic machine and I would not want to live without it. Its my goto machine unless the workpiece is too large or its rougher work. Then I have a choice of a CK or a Series 612 (these are larger Monarch lathes).
I would say that Monarch's main limitation is that while parts are available, they are serious coin that most of us could not afford. They are built at a job shop to order. The DC drive system is complicated, especially the full tube "works in a drawer" drive, but there are many many examples using VFDs or servo drives that accomplish the same thing.
The unit pictured, while having a bad paint job, doesn't seem to have any mangled handwheels or non-original controls that I can tell. The tach seems like its clear and not smashed.
Easy way to quickly check bed wear is to slide the tailstock to the far end and clamp it. Put a test indicator on a magnet base on the carriage and trace the tailstock flat way with it. The general theory is that the tailstock way is mostly pristine, just pushing the tailstock back and forth doesn't have the same level of stress as the carriage which is driven off center by the gear rack and has to also move under the cutting loads. Divots are OK, don't worry about that, its the change from one end to the other that is important. A reading of .003" total indicator or less is very good, more than that it can be a slippery slope.
If you are lucky, the carriage will self-oil the bedway, internally, as its moved back and forth. There is an internal lube pump but the system needs maintenance every 40-50 years. This is another feature that many other lathes don't have. If it doesn't work that's not terrible but then there is the question of how long it was run "dry" like that.
The way that the seller has it supported on an engine hoist is going to kill it the hoist and then the lathe imo. That light duty thing is not going to handle 3500# very many times.
Last thing, is that you don't ever want to buy a project-lathe without having another one running well enough to make your own repair parts for the project.
Best of luck in your quest. I started with an Atlas and stepped my way thru Clausing, Colchester, and finally arrived at Monarch and I am not searching for another brand. But this is 30-some years into the journey.
I would say that Monarch's main limitation is that while parts are available, they are serious coin that most of us could not afford. They are built at a job shop to order. The DC drive system is complicated, especially the full tube "works in a drawer" drive, but there are many many examples using VFDs or servo drives that accomplish the same thing.
The unit pictured, while having a bad paint job, doesn't seem to have any mangled handwheels or non-original controls that I can tell. The tach seems like its clear and not smashed.
Easy way to quickly check bed wear is to slide the tailstock to the far end and clamp it. Put a test indicator on a magnet base on the carriage and trace the tailstock flat way with it. The general theory is that the tailstock way is mostly pristine, just pushing the tailstock back and forth doesn't have the same level of stress as the carriage which is driven off center by the gear rack and has to also move under the cutting loads. Divots are OK, don't worry about that, its the change from one end to the other that is important. A reading of .003" total indicator or less is very good, more than that it can be a slippery slope.
If you are lucky, the carriage will self-oil the bedway, internally, as its moved back and forth. There is an internal lube pump but the system needs maintenance every 40-50 years. This is another feature that many other lathes don't have. If it doesn't work that's not terrible but then there is the question of how long it was run "dry" like that.
The way that the seller has it supported on an engine hoist is going to kill it the hoist and then the lathe imo. That light duty thing is not going to handle 3500# very many times.
Last thing, is that you don't ever want to buy a project-lathe without having another one running well enough to make your own repair parts for the project.
Best of luck in your quest. I started with an Atlas and stepped my way thru Clausing, Colchester, and finally arrived at Monarch and I am not searching for another brand. But this is 30-some years into the journey.
Well said, a lathe is a lathe one matter the size. When I worked at the navyyard in the early 90's we had new lathes that cost $105,000 apiece sitting beside old war lathes. We would only use the new one's if all the old ones were being used. We ran three shift, I can't imagine how many hours those machines had on them.As long as you are willing to take on a project buy it. That’s one of the best lathes ever built. Lots of support for them here and on Practical Machinist. Most likely that round dial has a simple motor generator in it. The contractor is simple to re-wire and I documented it well in my thread. Same with installing the transformer. What is the build date of the machine? If you contact Monarch with the SN you can purchase the build sheet (pretty inexpensive) for the machine along with the parts schematics.... those are very informative and worth having. If you can get that lathe for under 3K, and are willing to put some time and parts into it, it will be worth far more when rebuilt. Looks to me that most of the expensive parts to replace are there. Headstock bearings, if it needs it, can be expensive, but the rest isn't that bad or hard to come buy. Post some more detailed pics and I can give you a much better rundown of what you will need and what to expect.
That’s my thread. The Electrical Engineer commit, really applies to the later non-motor generator units. Those can get quite complicated, but there is a vast amount of information on repairing those over on the PM forums. If this is a motor generator unit. and I'd be surprised if it wasn't, electrical parts are cheap and it is very simple. The square dials are where things start to get complicated electrically.
To the OP mine was in very tough shape to start
Before
I literally tore it down to the very last screw and rebuilt the entire machine. All new bearings, wiring, electrical, etc.
in the process I wrote an entire repair manual for it that documented every step with images. I learned more from that project than I did in 7 years of engineering school getting my degree and met some amazing people along the way. That project gave me the knowledge and skills to fix anything. I’d do it over again in a heartbeat if I ever find a reasonably priced inch/metric version or a Moore Jig Bore.
Blasphemy. Only two downsides to the 10ee is the need to have or rent a fork lift for loading / unloading and it likes to have 3 phase power. It can be re-wired to run on single phase or phase converters can be had for cheap these days. Otherwise, there is no disadvantage of owning a high-end machine. That machine is roughly 3500#'s and its about 300lb/sqf. If you install some feet under it, you can move with a pallet jack. To lift it, you want to use a lifting strap under the main support within the bed.
As was mine, I'd think of it as a diamond in the rough. These were built sturdier than a brick **** house, and looks to me a lot of what's going on with the OP's is really just paint. Most likely it was a war machine, so the finish paint on those was a bit rough to start.
Very few lathes, including brand new modern ones can hold tolerances as tight as an 80+ yearly Monarch 10EE thats why they are so sought after. Monarch spared no expenses when building these, and at the time they cost serval times what a typical house did. They will still build them to custom order today, but thats $250K+ and not a whole lot has changed.
OP
tbirkey214
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- Joined
- Mar 24, 2025
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- 173
So far on bidspotter I've seen machines come with tooling but it's listed as a separate item
nadogail
Well-known member
As the Plant Electrician I was involved with the relocation of the Monarch 10EE& several other machines.-Oh the horror of being forced to make parts with it...
Firebrick43
Well-known member
Monarch parts are very salty. I put a plastic (nylon) Geneva wheel in a 610 monarch and it was $927 for that little plastic bit. Fantastic machines however if you can afford them.
whateg01
Well-known member
I make and adapt a lot of parts for mine. Just 3d printed a prototype belt cover. They go for more money than I want to spend so I'll make my own
Firebrick43
Well-known member
This part was bathed in hot hydraulic oil so most FDM plastics was out and the bore had high tolerances but yea, I have done some as well for my humble atlas at home, such as a cross feed way cover.
whateg01
Well-known member
My 3d printed prototype, once I fix a couple areas will be used to make a fiberglass version. (I thought about carbon fiber but that's a little "much" and it's expensive.)
One thing that I do need to get still is a steady rest. Again $$$$$! Eventually I'll either make one or buy a less expensive one and adapt it. Yeah, blasphemy, I know.
BombShelter
Well-known member
Most of my auction sites are local or regional, K-bid seems to be growing. Google "factory auctions Dallas" and you should find a handful more sites. While the equipment might be bare, they also have groups of tools and tooling, usually at a fraction of price of ebay or craigslist listings. You might end up with a trunk full of tooling but it will be $100.
www.k-bid.com
www.cia-industrial.com
www.bid-2-buy.com
hibid.com
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RoninB4
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-Didn't know your job function. You would have enjoyed making parts with it.
Firebrick43
Well-known member
ironic, as I was just watching several videos last night on using multipart 3d printed molds to make composite parts
whateg01
Well-known member
I have a friend with a 3d printer with a 24"*24"*48" work area who could print the whole thing in one go. He bought it to print prototype body panels for an electric roadster he's building.
ETA: it's actually probably 600mm*600mm*1200mm