Let's See Your Mill

[Shawn]

Here are my other two mills. A Benchmaster horizontal and an X2 that is in the middle of a cnc conversion. The Benchmaster doesn't get used a great deal but I love it for cutting gears on.





Shawn

[EdK]

I like that Benchmaster Shawn. Nice little horizontal mill.

Ed

[TomG]

I always thought it would be nice to have a horizontal mill, but they are all so huge. Yours is a nice size for the home shop, but I wonder how rigid it is. Have you tried using a slab cutter on it?

Tom

[Shawn]

The problem with the Benchmaster is more to do with the minimum speed being so fast. When I finally get around to installing a 3 phase motor and VFD I will be able to give it a true test in steel. In aluminum I have taken some reasonably deep cuts (.35) with no hint of chatter.

Shawn

[Sunset Machine]

This antique is called a Brown&Sharpe No. 1-1/2, made in 1913. There are 8 speeds from 15 rpm to a whopping 300. It takes up 6' x 6' x 6' of shop space, weighs 3000#. It came with a 2HP 3-phase motor, but currently hosts a single phase 1-1/2.

It literally purrs through steel with a 3" dia x 3/8" cutter, .675" DOC in the configuration shown (support behind the cutter for better visibility and clearance). Yet the other day a job came my way which needed a 6" dia side mill (1-1/2" DOC) and it chattered something awful even in the proper outboard configuration. Investigation showed .010" slop in the arbor support bearing, so I'm working on that hoping it's the cause. I've had this mill for years and it's never been a problem until now.

[PixMan]

Nice ol' machine there. Most of those outboard supports have adjustable bronze bushings. Your's doesn't?

BTW, having the table that swivels is a godsend for cutting helical cut gears. Most of those machines came with mating, driven dividing heads and tailstocks. I used them back in trade school (1973-1977) to make spiral cut gears. I learned a lot doing that, much of it long forgotten now. :(

[Sunset Machine]

Nope, no adjustment and, unfortunately, no spiral head.. I really would like that ability and as luck would have it, there was a spiral head for sale nearby but I just blew a wad on tooling - including another plain head.

Have to laugh at myself. I'm replacing the arbor sleeve to take up the slop and for some reason made one just like the bad one - .010 under, "as per sample". I had written down measurements to see how much slop there was, and when I went for a finish, took the sleeve OD measurement from the paper, instead of the bushing ID that I was after.. Bet nobody here has EVER done that before.

[dallen]

nope its never happened before this has to be a first

happens to me about ever other time I work on something

DA

[TomG]

(12-30-2013, 08:36 PM)PixMan Wrote: I used them back in trade school (1973-1977) to make spiral cut gears. I learned a lot doing that, much of it long forgotten now. :(

Wow, that brings back some memories. I used a B&S #2 universal mill to make the helical flutes on a milling cutter blank in trade school (1972-1976).
I'm pretty sure I still have it somewhere.

Tom

[Mayhem]

Trade school? I was born in 1972