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Where's the speed control?
Thanks John, I looked right by the red wheel. Many of these old Monarchs were m/g units weren't they? I wonder what the wheel really does? The thing that surprised me was the tach goes to 3500 rpm. Isn't that strange in a lathe of this vintage? Nothing on Tony's site that resembles this old girl.
John
I'm not aware that Monarch made any big DC drive machines in that time period.Found this for sale. Looks like a tach on it. Is this DC drive ? Anything else someone can tell me about it? Never saw a Monarch like it. Where's the speed control?
John
The "tach" looks more like a pressure gauge than anything else.
Cal
Hi Cal,
In another picture it definitely reads RPM.
The limited amount of shift levers made me think it must be variable speed of some sorts. It's a few miles away but might be worth the trip. If in OK shape it would be useful in the shop. I'm guessing about 6000 in weight??
John
This is definitely not a standard KK. Monarch was known for taking their standard lathes and modifying them for customers. It possible a customer wanted a variable speed lathe of this size. The modifications look clean like it was done at the factory. I would call Monarch Lathes LLC and see what they serial number will tell you. If it is a special lathe you might consider getting a manual from Monarch as it will have all the drawings relating to this lathe.
John
+1 And you may NEED to buy the manual to get the info.
As far as I understand it, the fee for a manual isn't for just Xeroxing and punching for a generic ring-binder. It is to cover the cost of digging through old "dead tree" files to get the RIGHT info for any given SN or machine. That has to be a decidedly non-trivial exercise in archeology / detective work - given their age, and how MANY there are.
But how amazing is it that we have the opportunity to get this documentation? Given the hundreds of defunct American machine tool makers, to still have even the ghost of Monarch available is terrific.
Having said that, I was hoping for more comprehensive data on my '45 NN when I paid for manuals for it. Still much better than nothing...
This lathe is in fact a DC drive. In the photos attached, you can see a silver electrical box with a DC voltmeter. My best assumption is that it is some sort of static phase converter, as the input voltage is 230VAC Single Phase.
As far as the DC source generation, there must be some sort of rectifiers somewhere. Unless they are the size of a pop can and hidden inside the headstock (joking), there is no A.C. to D.C. motor generator. I will quickly look into the electrical panels tomorrow and see if I can identify an early version of a rectifier.
Thanks.
It's probably not variable speed, but uses taps on the field windings to give you multiple speeds. We will know more when you show us some photos of the mechanism driven by the crank and the insides of the DC control panel.
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