This followed me home today.

[Pete O]

   
   

Victoria U1 or U2 universal mill. I haven't been able to exactly identify the model yet, seems to be a U1 from 1959 onwards, I'll have to search the serial numbers to find out exactly. It was on eBay, I went and had a look at it last week before the auction ended, liked the machine but the starting price was a little high for me; anyway it didn't get a bid, so I offered the guy his starting price if he would throw in a 6" vice that he had listed separately. Done deal, picked it up this morning an hour from home and now it's sitting on my trailer in the shed.

   

   

Has a carbide insert face mill in the head


   

The table swivels, I'm a bit puzzled as to what this feature would be used for
   

I believe the motor is 2hp, I have a 3hp motor spare that will be used as a phase converter to run the mill. I will definitely be going over the electricals before connecting this machine to any power source;
   
   

Someone has very helpfully painted over most of the plates on the machine that might have once displayed model numbers etc. The serial number is there in the motor room though so shouldn't be hard to follow up.
   

Loose bits and bobs, being named Victoria I suppose it's only natural that it comes with a skirt; these were sold in the USA as 'Elliot' so I assume they wore trousers over there. There are no bushes for the horizontal shaft, shouldn't be too difficult to make those.
   

The vice needs a bit of a clean up.
   

Actually the whole machine needs a bit of a clean up, no surprises there. It came with a years supply of chips .
It has power feed on 3 axes, although there appears to be a component missing that may be part of the z axis drive, haven't had time to investigate that yet. I particularly like the way the vertical head is stepped up, gives it a good useable height under the spindle.
I haven't figured out how I'm going to unload this machine from the trailer yet, I may do it piece by piece and clean it up as I go. I don't think my engine crane will lift it. I'd be keen for some advice about where to sling it from if I do decide to lift it off complete?
Anyway I'm one happy camper, this happened a lot sooner than I thought it would. The seller is an ex toolmaker who buys out factory closing down sales, certainly no shortage of those in Australia over the past several years. He had a lot of nice machines in his warehouse, told me he mostly exports what he buys. Not this baby!

[Mayhem]

Very nice Pete - glad to see you found a mill and this is a much nicer and more practical machine than the one that got away! Well done.

[PixMan]

Wow! That's an incredibly nice milling machine. It's far too heavy for an engine crane, don't even think about it. Even the bigger individual pieces are too much for it.

The swiveling table is indispensable for making helical cut gears, but also useful for anytime you might need to mill a long taper. Those machines have gobs of torque at the spindle, though rarely enough speed to run carbide insert tooling at it's full potential. Small diameter end mills are also a problem, use primarily HSS tools that have the higher transverse rupture strength. The swiveling head excludes getting a quill, so for holes you can spot them then move to a drill press.

With the universal machine like that you can machine virtually anything short of full 3 axis mould work. Having power feeds and rapids on all axis is a Godsend because of the weight involved in cranking the (usually) non counterbalanced lift. It's definitely worth restoration. Keep your eyes open for a geared driven dividing head, that would enable making spiral cut bevel skew gears and most any other type.

[Sunset Machine]

Nice mill. The swiveling table makes it a "universal". A dividing head mounts on the table, driven by the longitudinal feedscrew for spiral work (the missing part that you mentioned). It's a seldom used feature for cutting helical gears.

As to moving it, don't be surprised to hear someone say to sling it by the overarm.

[Pete O]

I had a bit more of an examination of the machine this afternoon, there is a component located under the left-hand end of the table that has a drive shaft through it that has been cut off with a hacksaw or similar, I think this may actually be the power drive to the Z axis, possibly even both the Z and Y axes. I'm going to have to get hold of a set of books so I can figure out what's what.
I'm thinking that I might need to power the machine up to find out what works and what doesn't, so thinking perhaps I should tidy up the wiring so that it is safe, change all the oils, then give it a run rather than dismantle it without knowing what problems there may or may not be. I'm very open to advice from those more experienced in such things (i.e. everyone!).

It seems that the phrase 'Go paint the Mill' or 'Go paint the Lathe' is reserved for the person in the shop who has no idea what either machine is or does. Like my lathe, this machine has had moving joints painted together, graduations painted over, you name it. Also like my lathe when I got it, the contents of the coolant sump look more like an abandoned septic tank. I guess that's pretty common.

With regard to lifting it to unload, I reckon Pixman is right that my engine crane would not lift the main column and perhaps not the knee either, they are both very big castings. I'm thinking I might clean it up while it's still on the trailer, so I can contain the mess, then unload it entire. Keen to hear from anyone about where to sling it from.

[Pete O]

(05-26-2015, 07:22 AM)Sunset Machine Wrote: As to moving it, don't be surprised to hear someone say to sling it by the overarm.

Posted while I was posting; would you be able to explain (as though to a small child) what you mean by slinging it from the overarm?

[Mayhem]

(05-26-2015, 07:38 AM)Pete O Wrote: Posted while I was posting; would you be able to explain (as though to a small child) what you mean by slinging it from the overarm?

Something like this: 

[EdK]

Nice find. That should clean up nicely.

Ed

[DaveH]

Very nice Pete  
 
DaveH

[Vinny]

Lookin good Pete!