new to me mill and my lathe

S

savet06

Mike Suhie
Just wanted to share a few pics of my new (to me) mill and the old south bend that I cleaned up and painted last year.
WWaiting on a vfd for the mill and a pro to run a line for me and I will be ready to make some chips. I bought the mill from a small shop that had been closed and the deal included a vise, collets, a. Huck and end mills. My buddy loaned me his pickup truck and serious trailer as well as an engine lift. I was able to do the whole move without losing any fingers or toes and after push rolling it into the basement from the garage she is finally in place.
My first project is to build the kids a swing set...I am going to fab the hardware myself and then I am going to build my dad a bench gun from start to finish.
Hope the pics come through ok. The machine is '76 vintage and aside from the power feed not working it is in decent shape.
Mike
 

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When you figure out the power feed let me know how you fixed it . Mine is exactly the same and the power feed doesn't work on it either. I did work when I first got it running but quit shortly after.
 
Ebb,
I will let you know when I get the power feed up and running. I am suspecting that it is the circuit board, thanks to some advice over at practical machinist, but I have a friend who is familiar with electronics that will be able to help me troubleshoot it further. I checked the circuit breaker and there is power going to that, but there is no juice at all when I make contact with the circuit board.
When I took the motor/clutch unit of the power feed out of the housing there was grease and even some chips in there so I have a feeling the bottom cover came off (it was duct taped on) at one point and maybe that caused the short.
A new circuit board is only $50, and new brushes and caps are $5 total so, if that is in fact this issue, its not too bad. The nice part is that I can live without a power feed if it came down to it, but I don't mind doing a little investigation in the mean time. I am going to take it down as far as I can and get everything cleaned up and then try again. If still no power I will go for a circuit board.

Chet,
I probably should have mentioned it more clearly, but the lathe I have had for a little over a year now and have done a complete break down and cleaning on it (note I did not mention rebuild - there was no scraping involved in this job. Just a rust removal, prime and painting, and changing some wicks). I used the manual you mentioned in your link and it was invaluable (especially that left hand thread on the clutch!). The lathe is '47 model and still runs great with the original motor though the ways could be in better shape up by the headstock. I have chambered my first barrel with it, 300WSM on a savage action, and it actually shoots quite well. I have been enjoying the heck out of it and am looking forward to many years of use. I will likely move up to a larger lathe at some point so that I can handle longer barrels, but I am not in any rush.

Here is a slightly better pic of the mill (I hope it is upright this time). The "x" axis on the DRO wasn't working either so I had to do some fine soldering to get to work again, but now it is perfect. For anyone who has to try to solder 25g or so wire together I used a propane torch to very lightly melt away the plastic coating on the 9 wires that are in the DRO line. Just kind of sweep them quickly through the flame and the plastic will melt and crust slightly and you can pinch it off with your fingers. From there I used a soldering "pen" to bind the ends of each wire, and then taped each line with electrical tape then wrapped the whole section together with electrical tape and zip tied over that. I actually had to do it twice because a repair job by the previous owner was faulting as well, but now all is well...I hope.

Mike
 

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Mike,
I'm still amazed that you shoehorned it in without loosing a finger or toe & surprised it fits in the basement. It cleaned up nicely. Here is a pic at the beginning of the move:
Regards,
Ron
 

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Update on the power feed. I was able to take the motor and circuit board apart and clean everythi g real well. I reassembled everything and it started working. I cannot explain why it began working again other than perhaps the gunk had fouled a connection or something but it works as advertised.

Ebb, I am no electrician but if I can take this thing apart and get it back together and have it work there is hope for anyone. Any of the parts needed are easily found online and aside from the more complicated parts of the motor the prices are very reasonable.

The vfd arrived today and now I am just going to wait for a 220 line to be run.
Soon there will be chips.

Mike
 
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