Monarch Flame Hardened Bed Ways

BrianB · Apr 26, 2018

I have often wondered just how hard a flame hardened bed really was. Well I finally got a portable hardness tester and it appears they are in the 55Rc range. That is decently hard. No wonder the lathes wear so well over the years. If anyone is interested in the testing I checked the ways on my Monarch CBB here. RCA Portable Rockwell Hardness Tester - YouTube

thermite · Apr 26, 2018

BrianB said:
I have often wondered just how hard a flame hardened bed really was. Well I finally got a portable hardness tester and it appears they are in the 55Rc range. That is decently hard. No wonder the lathes wear so well over the years. If anyone is interested in the testing I checked the ways on my Monarch CBB here. RCA Portable Rockwell Hardness Tester - YouTube

Thanks for that.

I rather suspect that analysis might find Monarch had a bit of Nickel in their Cast Iron as well. They don't seem as susceptible to rust as some other lathes.

The hardness seems to compare favourably with the several other "Grand Old" makers who offered inlaid "tool steel" ways.

pressbrake1 · Apr 26, 2018

Very interesting, but id rather not test my machine beds with a mechanical tester.
Good to see monarch wasnt just soft iron

thermite · Apr 26, 2018

pressbrake1 said:
Very interesting, but id rather not test my machine beds with a mechanical tester.
Good to see monarch wasnt just soft iron

Rather suspect that secret was outed a long time ago, but yazz , good to see numbers put to it from present-day tests. Mind - equally important to longevity is the far greater surface area all of the "Grand Old" long-lived lathes had gained by adopting very wide carriages even before they started using flame-hardening.

LOTS of space on any lathe's ways where a test does no harm, too. One wonders if SB "flame hardened" got anywhere near as good a result.

John S01 · Apr 26, 2018

I wish my lathe would use more of its ways. According to the Travadial I only have 14+ inches of X movement. The Travadial wastes 3 inches.

thermite · Apr 26, 2018

John S01 said:
I wish my lathe would use more of its ways. According to the Travadial I only have 14+ inches of X movement. The Travadial wastes 3 inches.

DRO time. If even it actually matters to your use.

The "other trick" is part of why I keep a 2" HSS-ready boring-bar for the 10EE.
Those can do OD's, too. Even reach-arounds.

BrianB · Apr 27, 2018

Yep I have done od turning with a boring bar swung way out just to get that extra couple of inches on the swing.:-) It worked but was sure slow going.

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