Monarch 12CKK, Prepping to Get Back in Service

I've been working a job a few hours from my home shop. Working a ton of OT, plus spending an average of half my week away from home. Its put a serious damper on my own projects and home shop. Plus while away, I've had a few occasions where I could use my machine tools, and not having them readily available has become a real pita.

I've considered moving some of my machines down to the Corpus Christie area, but ultimately, I'm not going to relocate or give up my home or shop in the Houston area. My Monarch Series 61 is still my priority project at home, I've just not had the time to dive into while there. Hopefully soon, as I clear work and add more people to the job in the Corpus area.

All this has led me to wanting to add a machine or two () in the Corpus shop. I had been casually looking for another Series 61, Pacemaker, or Pratt & Whitney Model C. I came across a Monarch 12CKK at HGR that was fairly cheap, due to a broken coupling at qcgb for the clutch lever. This looked like a relativly easy fix for me. Not a toolroom lathe, but has taper attachment and leadscrew reverse just above qcgb. I was thinking this could be be a decent purchase, and handle basic work for me. So I bought it.

Some Pics from the HGR advert:

After receiving the lathe, I called Monarch and ordered what manuals might be available, some, but not too detailed I'm told. I also ordered and got the build sheet.

The build sheet has 3 pages. The following pics show the details.

Page 1:



Page 2:



Page 3:

More pics from the HGR listing:



In this pic we can see the broken coupling for clutch rod at qcgb:



More pics:

Thankfully it still has the covers over taper attachment:



And the last pic I saved from the listing:

Did you have it shipped? If so, how much?

Cal Haines said:

Did you have it shipped? If so, how much?

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Yea, I had it shipped. That of course was the real burn, just over $2k for shipping.

Nothing local lately I was interested in. No matter which way I figured, including looking at some other machines, I was going to travel a minimum of 900 miles one way, That'd be $500 in gas towing my own trailer, plus 2 days of precious precious time, that I just don't have. Just working those 2 days and saving the gas money put me ahead actually.

Another factor, I'm not handling long driving trips well the past several years, physically. So I try to keep it inside of 4 hours, and really inside of 2 hours where I can.

To help lighten the burn on shipping, I started looking for small items that could be tossed in the chip pan. Was hoping for a 4 jaw chuck, no joy there. Did find a Bridgeport brand mill vise that would be a nice addition to my J head mill. Paid under $200 for the vise and had them put it the lathe's chip pan. So no additional shipping cost.

Larger and heavier than I expected, feeling pretty good about that:

Cool!
My friend's CKK is very similar - kind of a plain Jane so far as options and doo dads go. His is also 5 hp. Has 1K spindle speed.
What size MT in the tail stock? His is #4.
Looks like your start/stop switch is still intact. The buttons in front push rods that move the contacts in the back of the lathe.
His was fubar so he had to install a drum switch.

Ultradog MN said:

Cool!
My friend's CKK is very similar - kind of a plain Jane so far as options and doo dads go. His is also 5 hp. Has 1K spindle speed.
What size MT in the tail stock? His is #4.
Looks like your start/stop switch is still intact. The buttons in front push rods that move the contacts in the back of the lathe.
His was fubar so he had to install a drum switch.

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I didn't pop anything into TS taper yet, but an eyeball measure looks like MT4.

I love the original start/stop/reverse switch. I'll be doing all I can to have it operational.

One option it had, listed on sales order, was a direct length reading dial:



Its currently missing from apron, but that stud sticking out does rotate while moving carriage/apron. Not a major priority, but I'll be looking for one, or maybe make one to go into that spot:

Curious as to why you chose the Monarch vs this Pratt & Whitney C that was much closer to you?

Peroni said:

Curious as to why you chose the Monarch vs this Pratt & Whitney C that was much closer to you?

View attachment 384237

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Funny you mention that . I had this convo with tailstock4.

Not sure now, but when I searched Pratt & Whitney on their site, zero showed up. I had already committed to the 12CKK when somehow I searched 'engine lathe'. Under that search I saw two P & W's there in Birmingham.

Both P & W's looked like they came from the same place and appeared like early Model C's. I actually preferred the other one with the 54" between centers and fairly sure a 16" swing, though listing was mislabeled on size:



Though closer, Birmingham is still 852 miles one way.

I may or may not keep the 12CKK long term, but I would ultimately like another 16"x54" at this location. Gotta manage time and budget though too.

Another nice piece of iron! It has that nice look of not being hammered on. Paint worn off in normal places but not covered in pecker marks of ignorant abuse.
You're building a collection of what you need for making a nice job shop. You could be able to make parts for repairs that go along with your daily job. That would be a huge plus $$ if that could work. Bushings, Shaft repair, or whatever else is needed. You see all the money that's paid out for custom fabbed repair parts. Unless you have changed trades.

You're at that time in life that you're running fast making a living and don't get enough time building that dream shop. Life is Bass-Ackwards sometimes! You have plenty of time when your old and crippled. You do have a good jump on making your shop happen so keep at it.
Thats a good-looking lathe and a nice vice.
Now I have the fever for more IRON!

texasgeartrain said:

Not sure now, but when I searched Pratt & Whitney on their site, zero showed up. I had already committed to the 12CKK when somehow I searched 'engine lathe'. Under that search I saw two P & W's there in Birmingham.

Click to expand...

I've found HGR's search engine can do funky things at times like not recognizing the name or showing zero results when there are in fact listings that should show up.

That 14" machine is actually in Ft. Worth TX, the larger 16" is in Birmingham AL.

Now for a little bad news and a rant, lol.

In post #3 we see clutch rod off of qcgb due to broke coupling. I knew that. In special instructions during purchase, I asked them to tie up the clutch rod prior to loading and shipping to not cause other damages. . .

They didn't do that. Worse yet unnecessary, as some c#@% s&^%&# plowed underneath the bed and finished off the clutch rod. Busted it right off apron and bent the chip pan:



So now I need to fix that too. Noone notified me either.

I was not expecting any kind of real reaction, not a high dollar purchase. Took pics, emailed HGR. Got an apology and a minor in-store credit.

I think what bothers me most is they're a machine reseller. You might think they moved a machine or two previous, right ? Christ how many sad stories do we know about this sort right here ? Highly aggravating. Anyway, spilt milk now.

Moving on for a quick once over.

Bed ways amazingly nice for a 1946 machine. Guessing the lube system worked here, or the operator maintained it a bit. I have a minor ridge in the usual inside vee location, but not heinous. No gouges or dug in scratches on vee of flat.

Lifted headstock cover. Spindle bearings feel alright moving by hand. All gear teeth there. Nothing blown up or broken that I can tell:


Electric motor appears original:



QCGB teeth all there:



More to come.