1940 Monarch 16W Lathe Restoration Part 1 of 5: Disassembly & Cleaning 

Thanks! Merry Christmas also! I 'planned' to clean and paint the whole lathe in about 10-20 hours but it ballooned into a much larger project and I found myself replacing every seal, fluid, and fabricating parts... nothing every goes to plan. Ended up taking anything apart that I could reasonably lift. Glad I did; didn't find any surprises but boy is it smooth to run and clean now. The carriage was too heavy to take off with my equipment and for the last 25 years or so it has been sitting ready to use in a family member's shop. When I moved it I was advised to simply use it as is and that it is in great shape, especially considering its age. I'll learn more as I get proficient with it (this is my first metal lathe, but not my first machine). Oh, and I also had a time crunch - I was taking up the heated parking space for my wife's car; we get alot of snow and winter is coming.

Hello Samuel, dismantling the sled can be a bit difficult, but you can often separate the top and side parts where the levers are. Then you could take the top off. But if you have been told that the lathe is still running well, then of course the question is what you want to do with it. If you need accuracy over longer lengths, then the extra work is worth it. But if you only want to turn the machine for something now and then, you've almost done too much. Unfortunately I don't know the type of machine because I'm a few thousand miles away, but the old machines are quite similar. If you can, please go close to the bed with the camera so that you can see more easily whether something should be done there. Greetings from Berlin@@samuelwiltzius

Not sure what my plans are as of yet. Could be a source of income at some point or develop as a hobby from a few hours a year to a few hours a week. I have a love for things that are well designed and well-tuned and strive to make and maintain things that are enjoyable to use. For now, I'm working through a textbook learning everything I can about carbide and hss before I start trying to use it. It is an intimidating machine coming from a wood lathe that barely weighs more than the chuck on the Monarch. My uncle is a skilled machinist and I am looking forward to when he visits and gets a good look at lathe. I moved quickly with the restoration, now I'm slowing down a bit and putting in some study before trying to use it.

I think it's good that you do it right the first time and first take the lathe apart and clean it and also make small changes. This will help you get to know the machine well. And with the help of the textbook and your uncle, you'll get a good start and you'll just learn the rest by "does it or doesn't work" anyway. I learned metalworking a long time ago and worked with it for a few years. It was mostly very interesting, except when there were larger quantities of parts, which wasn't fun, but that's part of it. I've been out of work for 30 years now and I still miss it. Especially when you create a machine from a piece of metal, or when you make something old new again.@@samuelwiltzius

😂 didn’t notice that first time around. Good thing I bought the one in a metal container.

After 80+ years the paint varied widely from in tact to really poor. The decision to use stripper was because it had been repainted at least once and I had just finished freshening up the paint on a Bridgeport using only mechanical surface prep and it revealed it's own issues. I figured I might as well go all in and strip it... and all the paint dust from sanding the Bridgeport was a huge nuisance that I was happy to not repeat. A few areas like on the base and underside of the chip tray were quite good - but they were also the easiest to strip.

手がいです