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10EE headstock oil chamber questions

ToolCat

Aluminum
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Location
Kearney, NE
monarch-10ee-oil.jpg


Referring to the attached photo.
'A' is the sight gauge for the center chamber and 'B' is the drain for it.
For the lower chamber 'I' is the filler, 'J' sight gauge, and 'H' the drain.

For the front chamber, 'C' is the filler and D the sight gauge, but where is the drain for it?
For the rear chamber, 'E' is the filler and F the sight gauge, but where is the drain for it?

What does 'G' drain? I have flushed through filler 'I' and it only
drains through 'H'. So what does 'G' drain and where is the filling location for it?

Are all three of the top chambers somehow connected?
This couldn't be though since the sight glass for them are at different height levels. ???
 
monarch-10ee-oil.jpg


Referring to the attached photo.
'A' is the sight gauge for the center chamber and 'B' is the drain for it.
For the lower chamber 'I' is the filler, 'J' sight gauge, and 'H' the drain.

For the front chamber, 'C' is the filler and D the sight gauge, but where is the drain for it?
For the rear chamber, 'E' is the filler and F the sight gauge, but where is the drain for it?

What does 'G' drain? I have flushed through filler 'I' and it only
drains through 'H'. So what does 'G' drain and where is the filling location for it?

Are all three of the top chambers somehow connected?
This couldn't be though since the sight glass for them are at different height levels. ???

Toolcat, I just replied but don't know why it didn't post. Anyway, here we go again.

No, all 3 top sections are separate.

The front section is the front spindle bearing cavity and is drained by removing the sight glass. Be careful refilling it as the oil doesn't register on the glass until it is 90% full so it comes up very suddenly and is easy to overfill

The rear section is the rear spindle bearing cavity. Same as above.

The center section is the headstock gearbox with sight glass A. It's filled thru the chrome button plug in the top cover on the headstock (your picture shows this cover and the screen pot and plate removed). The drain is B as you mention.

The threading gearbox with sight glass J is filled thru I and drained thru both G & H. Most will come out of H, but some will come from G (unless it's plugged with gunk).

And so you don't forget, the backgear gearbox attached to the front of the DC motor down below has a sight glass sticking out the side of it with fill and drain plugs which are obvious.

Same for the carriage. Cheers, Bill
 
Hi Bill, Thank you for the help.

The threading gearbox with sight glass J is filled thru I and drained thru both G & H. Most will come out of H, but some will come from G (unless it's plugged with gunk).
Okay, I was wondering if G & H were both draining the threading gear box. While flushing I tried placing the plug on 'H' drain and filling through 'I'. I thought if I kept filling it would eventually start flowing from drain 'G', but it never did. Maybe I didn't add enough flush oil to get it to flow out from 'G'. When I initially opened it (drain G), there was maybe a half a cup of oil come from it, but as you said most came from H.

he front section is the front spindle bearing cavity and is drained by removing the sight glass. Be careful refilling it as the oil doesn't register on the glass until it is 90% full so it comes up very suddenly and is easy to overfill

The rear section is the rear spindle bearing cavity. Same as above.
Do the cavities of both the front and rear dip down lower than the sight glass for them? If so, is it correct there is no way to clean any gunk out of them?


Here is another question. In the image below I have circled two holes that look like they must feed to a bearing or bushing. There is a third not seen in the lower part of the picture under the casting that has copper drip tubes attached. My question is I'm wondering if the two holes I have circled are plugged. I have let oil set in them overnight and old does not seem to be flowing through them. I have have stuck a snug fitting air hose in them to try to blow them open, but no luck. Are these two holes suppose to be feeding oil to something?

EDIT UPDATE.. Working with the air hose with the hole on the left I am not getting a few air bubbles coming up through the setscrew just below the hole. I'm thinking it is a good sign air can make it up through the setscrew hole and so hopefully it is oiling whatever bearing it is suppose to be?
10eeb.jpg
 
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"Okay, I was wondering if G & H were both draining the threading gear box. While flushing I tried placing the plug on 'H' drain and filling through 'I'. I thought if I kept filling it would eventually start flowing from drain 'G', but it never did. Maybe I didn't add enough flush oil to get it to flow out from 'G'. When I initially opened it (drain G), there was maybe a half a cup of oil come from it, but as you said most came from H."

To get your flushing medium to flow from G without running the gearbox will require overfilling the gearbox quite a bit above the sightglass full mark. G drains the right end cavity of the gearbox. An internal splash system with oil channels supplies it from the main center chamber.

"Do the cavities of both the front and rear dip down lower than the sight glass for them? If so, is it correct there is no way to clean any gunk out of them?"

No, the quite small cavities for the spindle bearings don't dip down much deeper than the sightglass holes. If you're so inclined the best way to clean them in place is with a short .25" or so OD plastic tube connected to a powerful high volume vacuum pump with a catch reservoir between the pump and tube. A vacuum cleaner is a poor choice, not enough suction through the small tube.

"Here is another question. In the image below I have circled two holes that look like they must feed to a bearing or bushing. There is a third not seen in the lower part of the picture under the casting that has copper drip tubes attached. My question is I'm wondering if the two holes I have circled are plugged. I have let oil set in them overnight and old does not seem to be flowing through them. I have have stuck a snug fitting air hose in them to try to blow them open, but no luck. Are these two holes suppose to be feeding oil to something?"

Those holes do lubricate bearings but you won't be able to blow air through them in any great amount, they feed small clearance sleeve bearings. I strongly recommend not hitting them with compressed air since your center headstock gear case is very dirty. You'll likely move crud where it might have not gone by itself.

There are some good threads on cleaning the interior of assembled headstocks in the General forum of PM. A search will find them.
 
Also be very careful what solvents you use in flushing the headstock! I wouldn't use anything stronger than kerosene and I don't recommend letting it sit. Oil for the front and rear spindle bearings (sight glasses D & F in your photo) is retained by a bearing on the rear and a retainer on the right that are lightly pressed in and may even be a clearance fit. My best guess is that some sort of sealer was used during assembly to keep oil from the spindle bearings from seeping into the the center reservoir. If you use too strong a solvent you can dissolve the sealant and will have a leak from the spindle bearing into the center from then on.

More discussion on the subject here: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/monarch-lathes/what-oil-229279/index2.html#post1827223

Cal
 
I would like to know if my Monarch EE s/n EE47742 only has one fill and one drain for the head

Cost reduction?

Naah - somewhere in the 60's with the introduction of the modular drive the bearing sumps for the spindle were changed to splash lubrication from the central reservoir. It was a fair change since in the previous version the central reservoir was kept filled by the bearing sumps leaking down into it.
 
Cost reduction?

Naah - somewhere in the 60's with the introduction of the modular drive the bearing sumps for the spindle were changed to splash lubrication from the central reservoir. It was a fair change since in the previous version the central reservoir was kept filled by the bearing sumps leaking down into it.

"Reasonable" change, given that having lathe spindle bearings last 50 and more years in service was not actually needed when everything else would be too badly worn to care.

Besides, Monarch Machine Tool didn't see themselves in the rebuild-forever business as today's Monarch Lathe LP inheritor is.

The 'original MAKER'... MMT ...would rather have been able to sell a NEW lathe more often..

:)
 








 
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