So the day started early, out the door at 6am to drive an hour to look at a basic but nice J head BP, unfortunately it sold ten minutes into my trip. Luckily I had a back up plan. I called and we turned around to head two hours in the opposite direction haha.
I had pictures of two machines, both J head BP's, with tons of tooling, in great shape, guy owns a 75k sq/ft fab shop yada yada yada. In the pictures, the place looked a little dingy(the first mill was in what looked like a operating room, condition matched environment). So I was a little pessimistic about what we would find. None the less on we went.
When we got there I stepped out with my mill shopping checklist, and my mag dial indicator, immediately the guy tells me that if I'm mill shopping with a dial indicator I'm looking at the wrong mill.... He had two, both trashed 5 years ago, ways were smoked, and grooved, packed with shavings, no care in the world, 1/4" play in everything I touched that wasn't booger welded back together 2k FIRM(I wouldn't have hauled them off for free).
We left and he was at least kind enough to point me to another shop up the road(after he told me he built hotrods for Tim Allen and Michael Jordan!! haha dude was delusional)
There we found a warehouse full of fun. 3 BP's, and we got to liking the one in this video. I think we are going to work a mill/lathe tooling package!! This is appears to be older(1966) version. 1.5 hp head varispeed
Sorry for the stupid music, the kind lady helping me was asking silly questions and then my finger was rubbing the mic. What is in silent mode is my recommendation.
The Good:
The ways were very nice, good frosting or fish scales which ever you call them. The table had zero, perceptible play, in any position, middle, or extremes of axis. All axis moved freely(maybe a little gummy). There was a little backlash in the X as expected(hard to tell with the gumminess, I'd guess around .030). The knee moved freely with no tight spots or issues. It has an extension ring already. There is a power feed on the X, but it looks prehistoric. The price reflected a unknown machine, but came with a 30 day return policy!
The Bad
The table had one small little mark where someone had drilled, 1/4 of the way in from the left, well from the center of the table. There was some surface rust on the table, and the top center of the saddle ways, it was very fine, and I was able to wipe it off with my fingers, it was unsightly, but not bad enough to deter operation. The quill seems to be stuck down. I tried raising it with the wheel, and the handle, with no luck. I did hear a slight gear grinding on the left of the head while using the handle and trying to disengage the down feed.
The plug was 2 inches from reaching the 220v 3 phase plug haha. We were pressed for time, and will have to go back to further investigate. I plan on taking tools to exercise the ram extension mechanism, head tilt and nod. I also plan to run it under power.
Can any one else offer insight into the potential quill feed issue, how I can quickly trouble shoot it, and what it might cost to repair?
What would you expect to pay for this machine?
The motor says wired for 460, but won't this go 220 3 phase via a phase convertor? I'd imagine I will have to do some minor rewiring in the little boxes attached.
I had pictures of two machines, both J head BP's, with tons of tooling, in great shape, guy owns a 75k sq/ft fab shop yada yada yada. In the pictures, the place looked a little dingy(the first mill was in what looked like a operating room, condition matched environment). So I was a little pessimistic about what we would find. None the less on we went.
When we got there I stepped out with my mill shopping checklist, and my mag dial indicator, immediately the guy tells me that if I'm mill shopping with a dial indicator I'm looking at the wrong mill.... He had two, both trashed 5 years ago, ways were smoked, and grooved, packed with shavings, no care in the world, 1/4" play in everything I touched that wasn't booger welded back together 2k FIRM(I wouldn't have hauled them off for free).
We left and he was at least kind enough to point me to another shop up the road(after he told me he built hotrods for Tim Allen and Michael Jordan!! haha dude was delusional)
There we found a warehouse full of fun. 3 BP's, and we got to liking the one in this video. I think we are going to work a mill/lathe tooling package!! This is appears to be older(1966) version. 1.5 hp head varispeed
Sorry for the stupid music, the kind lady helping me was asking silly questions and then my finger was rubbing the mic. What is in silent mode is my recommendation.
The Good:
The ways were very nice, good frosting or fish scales which ever you call them. The table had zero, perceptible play, in any position, middle, or extremes of axis. All axis moved freely(maybe a little gummy). There was a little backlash in the X as expected(hard to tell with the gumminess, I'd guess around .030). The knee moved freely with no tight spots or issues. It has an extension ring already. There is a power feed on the X, but it looks prehistoric. The price reflected a unknown machine, but came with a 30 day return policy!
The Bad
The table had one small little mark where someone had drilled, 1/4 of the way in from the left, well from the center of the table. There was some surface rust on the table, and the top center of the saddle ways, it was very fine, and I was able to wipe it off with my fingers, it was unsightly, but not bad enough to deter operation. The quill seems to be stuck down. I tried raising it with the wheel, and the handle, with no luck. I did hear a slight gear grinding on the left of the head while using the handle and trying to disengage the down feed.
The plug was 2 inches from reaching the 220v 3 phase plug haha. We were pressed for time, and will have to go back to further investigate. I plan on taking tools to exercise the ram extension mechanism, head tilt and nod. I also plan to run it under power.
Can any one else offer insight into the potential quill feed issue, how I can quickly trouble shoot it, and what it might cost to repair?
What would you expect to pay for this machine?
The motor says wired for 460, but won't this go 220 3 phase via a phase convertor? I'd imagine I will have to do some minor rewiring in the little boxes attached.
