The misadventures of a Wells-Index 860C

[ScrapMetal]

I'm starting a thread for the mill I just bought to make it easier to give you guys updates on the ups and downs of me getting it back in to service.

As the title says, it's a Wells-Index 860C "universal" mill. In all it's glory in it's new habitat - the trailer.





Here are the specs for a "new" one. About the only difference I see is that mine has a 2 HP motor for the vertical head.



Right now my motors are both wired up for 460v 3-phase power but I'm planning on rewiring them for 230v 3-phase. Then I have to get something to convert my single phase 220v power into something to feed it. Figuring on using an RPC but haven't bothered with figuring it all out yet.

Right now the biggest issue is to get it off the trailer and in to the back of my (very small) garage/shop. The garage door is only 6'6" high and I'm pretty sure I'll have to remove the vertical head to get it through the door. In preparation for moving I had to get it cleaned up a bit...



The 800 mile trip left a lot of bug goo on the poor thing.

I've removed the forward/reverse switch on the side of the motor as well as this from the top of the head.



I found out this was a power draw bar (showing my ignorance of such things) which was a bonus. It was connected to this switch and oil "reserve" or whatever it may be called.





That's where I'm currently at. Tomorrow I'm planning on calling the rental place to see when they can drop off a forklift for me to use.

Oh, did I mention? I have to move all my machines out of the "shop" in order to get this thing in to where it belongs. So SB lathe, 16" shaper, LeBlond grinder, drill press, band saw, etc. all have to come out. That is NOT going to be fun.

-Ron

[stevec]

I would call that "oil "reserve" or whatever " A filter regulator with oiler.
Nice bonus ,by the way, on that pneumatic draw bar. Of course you'll have to have compressed air "on tap" to use it.
And, what do you mean by " That is NOT going to be fun ".
Just make sure the rental fork lift isn't too tall for you're access opening, The one I rented wouldn't go through my garage doors! I was thankful that I had bought a second hand pallet jack and it served me well moving my machine through the garage and into my shop.
I hope the weather holds for you.

[ScrapMetal]

(05-18-2012, 07:03 AM)stevec Wrote: I would call that "oil "reserve" or whatever " A filter regulator with oiler.
Nice bonus ,by the way, on that pneumatic draw bar. Of course you'll have to have compressed air "on tap" to use it.
And, what do you mean by " That is NOT going to be fun ".
Just make sure the rental fork lift isn't too tall for you're access opening, The one I rented wouldn't go through my garage doors! I was thankful that I had bought a second hand pallet jack and it served me well moving my machine through the garage and into my shop.
I hope the weather holds for you.

I'll take a closer look at the "regulator" as initially I didn't notice any way to hook up "air" to it or to anywhere else on the "system". I'll put that down to me being half brain-dead. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The rental company just dropped off the "forklift" and it's a doozy. I don't have my camera with me as the mill and it are back home with my truck. My "shop" is here at my office but I rode my motorcycle today as I didn't expect to get the forklift so quickly.

Dang those things are expensive to rent. Maybe if I approach the wife with, "Look how much this costs to rent." she would acquiesce to me getting my own? Not going to hold my breath.

Pics are forthcoming!

-Ron

[Tony Wells]

Ron,
that lubricator/regulator will have an inlet with NPT on the far side of it as you have the picture. Probably 1/4 NPT, but need to check it.

Have fun with the lift. I think others have reminded you to keep the load low, and that's good advice. A safety strap back to the mast is a good idea as well. I have moved many a bp type mill with a couple of 2 x 4 on top of the forks, lifting under the dovetails on the turret. You probably can't go through a garage door, but it makes setting it on a pallet jack or rollers easy.

[ScrapMetal]

Hi Tony. Haven't seen you around for a bit, hope all is well. I'll be taking a look at it Saturday as I'm moving it around to keep it out of harms way.

What the rental place dropped off isn't exactly a "forklift", it's better! It's a Terex Telehandler...



While I can't quite drive it into my garage/shop I can extend the boom into the space. It should make this whole operation MUCH easier. I've got my oldest daughter's HS graduation on Sunday but other than that I have the whole weekend to play with it.

-Ron

[Tony Wells]

Oh yeah....those Telehandlers are really fun to play with. Not to bad to work with either. That will do the job. Just watch how far you extend the boom. If you jump out too far, the mill will come down and the rear wheels will get off the ground. Yet another reason to keep the load near the ground/floor.

Yep, all is good. I've just backed off all this 'net activity a bit. Been pretty busy with more work than I need though.

[Highpower]

(05-18-2012, 03:02 PM)ScrapMetal Wrote: I'll take a closer look at the "regulator" as initially I didn't notice any way to hook up "air" to it or to anywhere else on the "system".

Yes, just a normal pipe fitting on the inlet to the regulator. The blue hose is the air supply from my compressor.



That is a very nice mill Ron. Congrats. You are lucky though to be able to rent any type of forklift. They won't anything like that around here to an individual. Companies only.

[ScrapMetal]

(05-19-2012, 08:24 AM)Highpower Wrote: Yes, just a normal pipe fitting on the inlet to the regulator. The blue hose is the air supply from my compressor.

That is a very nice mill Ron. Congrats. You are lucky though to be able to rent any type of forklift. They won't anything like that around here to an individual. Companies only.

Maybe it's the gray hair, they think I know what I'm doing. They'll pretty much let me use anything I lay down the money for.

Thanks on the regulator guys. Mine, of course, is the same as I confirmed earlier today.

That takes me to what I was up to today...

First a nice shot of the "telehandler" with my truck and mill in the background.



This first shot is of my "shop". Told you it was small. I pulled all the machines out and put them in the parking lot. Here I've got my lathe rigged up so I can drag it to the door and get the forks under it.



Pulled the mill up and am getting ready to "rig" it. I planned to lift the mill up, one end at a time and place the straps underneath. I used the bolt slots to keep the straps from moving.



Once that was done. I put another strap around the vertical straps/turret to make sure the mill couldn't shift out of the straps. Now I'm getting ready to do the nasty.



Scary as hell! Pulled the trailer out from beneath, grabbed the camera, and took a quick shot. Hightailed it back to the telehandler. Darn, just noticed! My new mill clashes with my shaper.



Safely on the ground.



Conditions were such that I had to rush the rest of the job. It was getting close to evening and there was some rain on the way so no pics of the rest of the operation.

From here I lifted the mill back up and placed 2"x4" lumber under the front and rear edges. After setting the mill on them I would have enough room to get the forks underneath.

I spent quite a bit of time (too much) trying to remove the verical head and in the process discovered that I could just rotate it a full 90 degrees so it was level with the top slide. Sweet! Didn't have to remove it after all.

Things got a little "exciting" as I discovered just how easily the mill slips on the smooth metal forks. After I got my heart re-started and did some extra rigging I was able to slowly drive the telehandler all the way in to the back of the space, deftly avoiding my furnace even. Had a bit of a time getting the mill off the forks but got it done.

It is now raining hard and very dark outside. All my machines are still out in the parking lot. I quickly (probably too quickly) went and picked up my lathe with the telehandler. Had a couple of miscues and almost lost it a couple of times. Hey, it was dark and wet with limited visibility! Heard some wood crunching so the crappy old wood frame it sits on may need to be replaced. I didn't have time to take stock of things as I needed to pack it in for the night.

As it is I left my shaper and LeBlond grinder sitting out in parking lot with trash bags over the parts I really don't want to get wet. The "wet" isn't too upsetting as I was planning on hitting them both with the power washer while they were out. I just don't like leaving them out in the lot all night even though it's a "good" neighborhood. I'm hoping that the rain keeps most riff-raff and kids in doors tonight. I'll take things up again first thing in the morning if the weather is better.

I'll also take some pics of the mill in the back of the "shop" for you guys. I still have lots to do with getting it turned the right way as well as figuring out how I'm going to reconfigure everything.

More to come...

-Ron

[Tony Wells]

I thought, and hoped, you would be able to slip in in without removing the head. Good for you, Ron. I hope the weather clears up for you. It's no fun doing rigging out in the weather.

[DaveH]

Ron,

Nicely done Great photo's


DaveH