- Joined
- Sep 24, 2010
- Messages
- 3,096
For the past several Months Bill Gruby has been working on a secret project for me. He stumbled onto a honey hole of used machines and acquired a Clausing 8520 and decided to rebuild and refurnish it completely. While I have not seen it you all know the caliber of work that Bill produces so based on his description of all that he and several of his close machinist friends have done I will essentially have a brand new machine with older seasoned castings. He upgraded it to a much larger horse and a half motor and replaced all the bearings and gears as well as had the table Blanchard ground and painted the entire project in OE colors just like it was brand new again. I took him and his gang of friends several months to complete the whole rebuild but I can assume it will be as near perfect as it is possible to make old castings. He even had the castings all crack checked and added a spacer to give it slightly more reach over the top and down to the material. If you are unfamiliar with the Clausing 8520 it as a 2/3 size knee style mill set upon a heavy cast iron stand the is capable of doing about the same amount of work as a full size bridgy. It will fit perfectly into my small shop and become a new center piece of my non CNC little home shop. It joins a 7X10 and 9X20 lathe and a HF 5980 Milling/drilling lathe. While Bill was so busy working on getting the machine to a point of perfection I was busy buying accessories so that I could put it into operation immediately upon arrival. In the interim I gathered a Rotary table for Horiz., and vert. as well as a milling vise from Shars, a couple of hold down kits. bits, collets and holders as well as 123 blocks and division plates for the RT. Once I have re-assembled it and hooked it to power I should have enough basic tooling to create my first project which is a moderator for my high pressure air rifle. I need to dissipate the crack that the 3000 PSI makes coming out the end of the barrel. It is pretty distinctive and could annoy my neighbors so I would rather spend the time and materials to maintain good relations with my neighbors above all. Bill and I kept this a secret until it was shipped and it actually left CT this morning on a loop through Texas and into Louisiana before ultimately arriving at my shop as his final stop. So now I can unveil the secret and pay Bill Gruby and his crew of fine machinists their respect and Kudos for all they have done to help a crippled brother out. If it were not for Bill and all of the great things he has done I would never have been able to afford to get the last piece of my shop that completes my dream of a place to hang out and teach others as well as amuse myself. I had originally planned to retire to my little shop and weld, fab and machine parts and equipment for various customers I have had over the years. They are all still patiently waiting for me to recover enough to re-open my shop on a more regular basis and willing to pay a fair price for One Off's and more involved repairs and builds. It has taken me over 15 years to accumulate enough tools to feel comfortable to go back into one off and small production runs of various parts and repaired items. So A very Special and heartfelt thanks go out to Bill and all of his very capable and knowledgeable friends. Thanks a million Bill, I could not have done this without you and being under your proverbial wing by teaching me so many things that would otherwise fade into the mists of time when you and I pass beyond. It proves that there are still angels in this world and Bill Gruby is definitely among them and is a scholar and a gentleman too.
Bob
Bob
