Looking at a Milling Machine
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John Evans
- Posts: 2366
- Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:33 pm
- Location: Phoenix ,AZ
mill/drill
The last dictionary i read said "moot" was still argueable. It was not a closed subject like many believe and use this term. Your mill in question is a gearhead version of what many have used for years. Some are better than others. None have power downfeed that I know of. But that is a moot point because I really don't know. I bought my mill/drill over 15 years ago and use it a lot. It had the older octagon base on the trunk or mast. This one has that been newer design to impart more ridgitity. I have seen them and they look okay but are cold and stark and waiting for a home. This is aprox 1$ per lb. If the gear head isn't messed up it's a good deal. You can learn a lot with this in little space and know what to get pissrd about. The head lock to coluum is a particular joke in the older ones. One lever lock and two others floating. Well they become akin to levers pinned into nuts for they are and all three lock.
You can wait for that B'port and find it for less and have no room for it or it is totally screwed up. Guess what you have to use- that mill/drill.
It can be resold in even better condition than you found it for possibly even less. That is not the point.
Is the table correct, is the Y correct are the gibs snug, Is the head trammed to the table? These things are consistant to any machine you encounter. You just learn a lot.
You can wait for that B'port and find it for less and have no room for it or it is totally screwed up. Guess what you have to use- that mill/drill.
It can be resold in even better condition than you found it for possibly even less. That is not the point.
Is the table correct, is the Y correct are the gibs snug, Is the head trammed to the table? These things are consistant to any machine you encounter. You just learn a lot.
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tailshaft56
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2003 10:12 pm
- Location: Miami Oklahoma (Palm trees not included)
750 may not be a killer deal but it's not a bad price. but for that money I'll take the M/D I've got.
http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/prod ... t_Closeout_
Mine has 110/220 motor but no reverse switch. I run mine on 220. Someday I'll add the reversing switch.
http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/prod ... t_Closeout_
Mine has 110/220 motor but no reverse switch. I run mine on 220. Someday I'll add the reversing switch.
m/d
shaft56 Yours is similar to mine in that it is belt driven and not the gearhead. I don't know about these gearheads. I suppose it all changed years ago and they mesh better. Since I have my m/d in a basement i suspend the top cover over it attatched to joists. It was a time I was going to different speeds and back. The cover was hammertone steel and would really ring at times. What I have is another belt below the shifting pulley arbors around the head pulley. It is a different size and I don't have to fuss with all that untightening and shifting. I can work the primary off and the other on quickly but it is not a gear head. It is smooth in ways but not conveniently.
I drove to Springfield yesterday and bought the mill. The vise it came with is a Grizzly self-centering one.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Precisi ... Vise/H7576 It looks like it has been well cared for. The stand it sits on will be replaced by a heavier one, but it is sufficient. Everything seems tight where it ought to be and the table moves smoothly in all directions. There are no dings in the table. It is still perfectly smooth. I believe he put everything in the vise which was mounted to his rotary table. Man, I'd sure like to have that. But for the condition of this, I don't feel taken at all. Now, I just need to get some tooling.
Oh, I wish I'd have taken note of the "new" mill he had sitting there to replace this one. It was a monster sitting next to it.
Dave
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Precisi ... Vise/H7576 It looks like it has been well cared for. The stand it sits on will be replaced by a heavier one, but it is sufficient. Everything seems tight where it ought to be and the table moves smoothly in all directions. There are no dings in the table. It is still perfectly smooth. I believe he put everything in the vise which was mounted to his rotary table. Man, I'd sure like to have that. But for the condition of this, I don't feel taken at all. Now, I just need to get some tooling.
Oh, I wish I'd have taken note of the "new" mill he had sitting there to replace this one. It was a monster sitting next to it.
Dave
Re: Looking at a Milling Machine
The time has come to pass this machine onto somebody else. The Newport is now operational. I Googled the model number to see if I could find the HP for the motor as there is no plate on it anymore and this thread came up.
I guess not much has changed. The machine has a few more hours on it. There is a scar on the table where the 3/4" EM pulled out of the collet. It still has the self-centering vise that it came with. Of course, that hasn't seen daylight since I got it home and figured out a better vise was necessary.
Time sure does fly!
Dave
I guess not much has changed. The machine has a few more hours on it. There is a scar on the table where the 3/4" EM pulled out of the collet. It still has the self-centering vise that it came with. Of course, that hasn't seen daylight since I got it home and figured out a better vise was necessary.
Time sure does fly!
Dave