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1945 Monarch 12 CK front spindle bearing leak

Tim Keller

Plastic
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Hello, new lathe owner and aspiring machinists. I have a 1945 Monarch 12 CK. It looks like it is leaking gear oil from the main seal. I wondered if anyone has experience with this kind of repair. Will it require a full tear down to install it from the inside, or is there a way to replace it from the outside? The picture doesn't show the amount of oil typically there.[/ATTACH]Oil Leak.jpgLathe2.jpg
 
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I'm sure there is no seal per say such as a rubber lip seal. I'm pretty sure it is some sort of labyrinth seal arrangement with no wearable elements like most of these lathes that relies on the oil running back to the reservoir through a passage below the bearing.

I did a quick search and couldn't find a drawing of the headstock, but maybe someone here can help.

So shooting from the hip....some of my guesses are:

Wrong oil

Plugged drain back passage

Leaking gasket on the flange around the spindle

....hrmm what to do......first thing I would do is change the oil and run the hell out of it to see if it clears up. I can tell with certainty you do not want to take that headstock apart unless absolutely necessary.
 
I dont know if the 12ck design is like the 10ee is it leaking around the periphery or from the weep hole. You many have just overfilled the front bearing reservoir.

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I recently read a thread about a leaking CK headstock seal. Maybe on another board?
The consensus there was that it has a labyrinth type seal. It turned out the owner had over filled the head stock.
On a side note... If the placement of your lathe is not an absolute you might want to reconsider having the back of it next to the wall.
Not sure what Monarch was thinking but having to reach through that narrow opening between the chip pan and the apron to clean out the pan will not be much fun. It was by luck that I placed my own CK perpendicular to the wall. It just fit my space better that way. But those machines were definately designed to be cleaned out from the back side.

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