What's new
What's new

I took a chance on a Series 62 that was broken. New/old lathe.

Jaxian

Stainless
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Location
Santa Cruz
So I have kept my eyes out for years now to try to get a better manual lathe for one off and second op stuff. The CNC makes money but just putting something in to do a quick job is a pain. Plus the CNC only has like 26" of Z, I keep getting jobs that need a lot more space than that.

From reading these forums I had settled on my dream machine. Either a American Pacemaker (late model Type D), a Lodge & Shipley Powerturn or a Monarch Series 612. Preferably a 20 x 54 with a taper attachment. Unfortunately these are unobtanium around here. They were all sold off or scrapped years ago. I figured I would take a trip back to Yoder Bros. as they always had a bunch in stock of each type. Knew I had to go see them as most are just hammered to death so needed to be able to check it out myself.

So while checking out Craigslist I find a Monarch Series 62 for sale, and a bunch of other really nice old machines. So I look down the list, the ad was just a few hours old and of course it's already marked as SOLD. Not surprised, even at like $9k it was going to go quick. A few weeks later I see the ad again and look at the other machines. Gear machines, huge American Pacemaker, American radial drill, Cincinnati vertical and horizontal mills, Axelson lathe etc. I notice the Monarch is not listed as SOLD anymore. I figure what the heck and call the guy. He says it's back for sale but not yet. It's not working and they are trying to fix it. I tell him to put me in line and he does. Down side is it's not a 20 x 54 but a 25 x 72. Also no taper attachment but a Air Gauge tracer. Also it's a Series 62 not a 612 and so has the huge hydraulic tank by the headstock eating up more space. And the hydraulics can be a problem. Well, ok but it is much bigger than I needed. Beggars can't be choosers.

I ask what the issue is and he says it won't shift there are hydraulic issues.:willy_nilly:
He is confident they will get it working and they will let me know. I called back every few weeks to get a update and they were having no luck. I talked with a friend who does machine repair and he says, no issue we can fix anything, if it's in good shape otherwise go for it. I talk to the seller next time and say I will buy it for a reduced price if they can't get it to work. He says just cover what he has in it and that's fine. Very nice guy, vastly cheaper. So I got it for much less than asking on the gamble that I could fix a hydraulic issue in the gearbox. I go to look at it and it's in great shape. Gears in the headstock look new, the ways after 60 years don't even have wear marks, just staining because they loved running coolant. So I bought it and dragged it home to roll the dice that I could fix it.

The rigging was like $3600, which was actually great to pick up a 15,000 lb lathe and deliver it to me more than 100 miles away. There was one oops. I now have a hole in my driveway where the forklift went through. Not cool but it survived. I have a pic if anyone wants to see it.

So it's 1962 Monarch Series 62 Pre-Selector 25 x 72 with the Air Gauge tracer, rapids, the two speed tailstock with the built in bearings. He also gave me a FIMS 5 toolpost with a bunch of tool holders, a 15" Cushman 4 jaw, a 15" Cushman 3 jaw that was only used once, a 10" Cushman 3 jaw, a 18" faceplate, 2 x 15" faceplates, a steady rest, and a 18" 4 jaw from something else that has no mounting stuff and looks import. Also 4 live centers, tons of tooling, the original manual for it and more stuff I am forgetting right now. It was sold originally in Mar 1962 to Kaiser Aircraft & Electronics in San Jose delivered in May 1962. They auctioned it off in 1997 to the guy I bought it from in Stockton. So I am the 3rd owner. The paint is original so even though it's ugly I am fine with that.

Getting it to actually work was a story of it's own and required a lot of work and luck but ultimately I found the problem and fixed it. I can put it in another thread if someone wants to see me try to teach myself hydraulics and lots of pictures of the inside of the headstock on a Series 62. It all works perfectly now. The machine is in great shape.

Here are the pictures. Sorry they are all close up but I don't have but a few feet around the whole machine so can't back up very far.
 

Attachments

  • 20220724_210735 resize.jpg
    20220724_210735 resize.jpg
    814.2 KB · Views: 77
  • 20220724_211226 resize.jpg
    20220724_211226 resize.jpg
    664.2 KB · Views: 76
  • 20220724_210825 resize.jpg
    20220724_210825 resize.jpg
    824.4 KB · Views: 72
  • 20220724_210713 resize.jpg
    20220724_210713 resize.jpg
    793.6 KB · Views: 73
  • 20220724_210648 resize.jpg
    20220724_210648 resize.jpg
    846.8 KB · Views: 71
  • 20220724_210550 resize.jpg
    20220724_210550 resize.jpg
    861.8 KB · Views: 74
  • 20220724_210840 resize.jpg
    20220724_210840 resize.jpg
    912.5 KB · Views: 74
  • 20220724_210642 resize.jpg
    20220724_210642 resize.jpg
    733.4 KB · Views: 72
  • 20220724_211118 resize.jpg
    20220724_211118 resize.jpg
    806.6 KB · Views: 62
  • 20220724_210603 resize.jpg
    20220724_210603 resize.jpg
    991.2 KB · Views: 79
VERY well done! congrats. what's wrong with the paint?:). all id do is to spot fill and patch the paint on spots that have filler busted out, but even that could be a pain for not much gain, especially if you wind up with a poor match of topcoat. cheers and happy turning!

(DO remember that a lathe like this can easily eat you for breakfast and not even slow down..)
 
VERY well done! congrats. what's wrong with the paint?:). all id do is to spot fill and patch the paint on spots that have filler busted out, but even that could be a pain for not much gain, especially if you wind up with a poor match of topcoat. cheers and happy turning!

(DO remember that a lathe like this can easily eat you for breakfast and not even slow down..)
Paint looks perfect to me! I wouldn't change a bit of it.
 
Yeah, powering it is sketchy. I have a 75hp monster RPC but it is powering the CNC machines and their support equipment. I didn't want to put it on that circuit so I also have a 20hp RPC to run the manual stuff. Since the big Monarch has a 20hp motor I knew it would be close. It takes holding down the start button until it spins up a bit but then is ok. I will never put a real load on this thing so capacity should be fine. One lesson learned is I can not have the hydraulic tracer motor already on when I start it, it's just too much. Blows a fuse.

Pics of the driveway carnage. We had just had a huge rainstorm. We never get rain here so the ground was soaked and not ready. Plus 15k and 25k for the fork was too much for that small a contact patch. Rigger was annoyed I hadn't told him to bring plates but I had removed the Cincinnati No4 a few weeks before with a much bigger fork with no issues. But it had dual pneumatic front tires. Live and learn. Cost me an extra $500 for the time wasted to get it out.

You can also see how dirty the machine was, he loved his coolant oil. Everything was coated. I must admit the paint was nice underneath and there was no rust anywhere so worth the wipedown.
 

Attachments

  • 20211230_140513 resize.jpg
    20211230_140513 resize.jpg
    830.3 KB · Views: 36
  • 20211230_134916 resize.jpg
    20211230_134916 resize.jpg
    755.6 KB · Views: 36
So I have kept my eyes out for years now to try to get a better manual lathe for one off and second op stuff. The CNC makes money but just putting something in to do a quick job is a pain. Plus the CNC only has like 26" of Z, I keep getting jobs that need a lot more space than that.

From reading these forums I had settled on my dream machine. Either a American Pacemaker (late model Type D), a Lodge & Shipley Powerturn or a Monarch Series 612. Preferably a 20 x 54 with a taper attachment. Unfortunately these are unobtanium around here. They were all sold off or scrapped years ago. I figured I would take a trip back to Yoder Bros. as they always had a bunch in stock of each type. Knew I had to go see them as most are just hammered to death so needed to be able to check it out myself.

So while checking out Craigslist I find a Monarch Series 62 for sale, and a bunch of other really nice old machines. So I look down the list, the ad was just a few hours old and of course it's already marked as SOLD. Not surprised, even at like $9k it was going to go quick. A few weeks later I see the ad again and look at the other machines. Gear machines, huge American Pacemaker, American radial drill, Cincinnati vertical and horizontal mills, Axelson lathe etc. I notice the Monarch is not listed as SOLD anymore. I figure what the heck and call the guy. He says it's back for sale but not yet. It's not working and they are trying to fix it. I tell him to put me in line and he does. Down side is it's not a 20 x 54 but a 25 x 72. Also no taper attachment but a Air Gauge tracer. Also it's a Series 62 not a 612 and so has the huge hydraulic tank by the headstock eating up more space. And the hydraulics can be a problem. Well, ok but it is much bigger than I needed. Beggars can't be choosers.

I ask what the issue is and he says it won't shift there are hydraulic issues.:willy_nilly:
He is confident they will get it working and they will let me know. I called back every few weeks to get a update and they were having no luck. I talked with a friend who does machine repair and he says, no issue we can fix anything, if it's in good shape otherwise go for it. I talk to the seller next time and say I will buy it for a reduced price if they can't get it to work. He says just cover what he has in it and that's fine. Very nice guy, vastly cheaper. So I got it for much less than asking on the gamble that I could fix a hydraulic issue in the gearbox. I go to look at it and it's in great shape. Gears in the headstock look new, the ways after 60 years don't even have wear marks, just staining because they loved running coolant. So I bought it and dragged it home to roll the dice that I could fix it.

The rigging was like $3600, which was actually great to pick up a 15,000 lb lathe and deliver it to me more than 100 miles away. There was one oops. I now have a hole in my driveway where the forklift went through. Not cool but it survived. I have a pic if anyone wants to see it.

So it's 1962 Monarch Series 62 Pre-Selector 25 x 72 with the Air Gauge tracer, rapids, the two speed tailstock with the built in bearings. He also gave me a FIMS 5 toolpost with a bunch of tool holders, a 15" Cushman 4 jaw, a 15" Cushman 3 jaw that was only used once, a 10" Cushman 3 jaw, a 18" faceplate, 2 x 15" faceplates, a steady rest, and a 18" 4 jaw from something else that has no mounting stuff and looks import. Also 4 live centers, tons of tooling, the original manual for it and more stuff I am forgetting right now. It was sold originally in Mar 1962 to Kaiser Aircraft & Electronics in San Jose delivered in May 1962. They auctioned it off in 1997 to the guy I bought it from in Stockton. So I am the 3rd owner. The paint is original so even though it's ugly I am fine with that.

Getting it to actually work was a story of it's own and required a lot of work and luck but ultimately I found the problem and fixed it. I can put it in another thread if someone wants to see me try to teach myself hydraulics and lots of pictures of the inside of the headstock on a Series 62. It all works perfectly now. The machine is in great shape.

Here are the pictures. Sorry they are all close up but I don't have but a few feet around the whole machine so can't back up very far.
You bought yourself a beast that barely broken in. Series 62 with tracers are made to be production lathes, and this one looks almost new. Monarch Lathes still supports this lathe and can help trouble shoot hydraulic issues, but nothing that can't be fixed. This is a sweet machine, thank you for sharing.
 
Monarch Lathes still supports this lathe and can help trouble shoot hydraulic issues, but nothing that can't be fixed.
Funny you should mention this. Scott at Monarch was a godsend. He talked with me on the phone a bunch of times and really helped troubleshoot. He was also the one who had tested parts for the guy I bought it from. Also I got a amazingly good troubleshooting manual for the hydraulic system that I assume the previous owner got from them. Monarch's support was critical in getting this figured out. Picture is with the top manifold removed to see gears under it.
 

Attachments

  • 20220124_154218 resize.jpg
    20220124_154218 resize.jpg
    924 KB · Views: 32
Thats a nice machine. Hydraulics are just fluid operating Mechanisms. Following the flow can be hard to do.
On an old machine, parts support from Monarch is gold. I would like the story on the hydraulic Issue it had, and I do realize you have a life and time is sometimes shorthanded:rolleyes5:.
You waited and searched for the lathe you wanted and found it
Although larger than you desired but that could end up being an asset. It does eat more Real Estate. That Great condition is hard to find in smaller lathes. Even 612's
Make lots of money with your lathe.
Five bags of Quickcrete will fill the hole. Found a hollow spot.
 
Last edited:
Your a Santa Cruzer so you will know what I am talking about, many years ago we purchased a couple truckloads of equipment from Hunters point naval shipyard, there in the bay. Killer pricing at the time. We landed several lathes, two being Monarchs in like new condition, although one had been tagged out of service at the time, so just like you I bought it and hauled it home, Problem was it would not stay in gear, one range would pop out under any load. pulled the top cover and found that what Monarch called a Tit screw had come loose and was allowing the shift shaft to float within the shift fork, 20 minutes later repaired and still going strong to this day in our shop. Other lathe was a monster Craven, the thing could turn a pickup in its 4 jaw, hauled in home on a 9-axle low bed.
 
Funny you should mention this. Scott at Monarch was a godsend. He talked with me on the phone a bunch of times and really helped troubleshoot. He was also the one who had tested parts for the guy I bought it from. Also I got a amazingly good troubleshooting manual for the hydraulic system that I assume the previous owner got from them. Monarch's support was critical in getting this figured out. Picture is with the top manifold removed to see gears under it.
Without the support Monarch Lathes provides for their Dyna-shift head lathes, I would not recommend these. The hydraulics when the were designed were proprietary, as no one made anything like that in the 1950s, and with all the orifices that controlled the flows, it is almost impossible to troubleshoot without their support. But man, if you got one working, it can put a lot more finished parts on the floor compared to manually shifted lathes.

John
 
Awesome find, Id leave it alone thats for sure.

Ive seen a Versa-lift 40/60 get ”accidentally” stuck in rock. It was pretty funny watching them try to pull it out.
 








 
Back
Top