# Select 1/2V that I bought from the original owner



## Mr.510 (Dec 5, 2022)

I've been looking for a "deal" on a manual mill for a few years and finally got lucky Friday on OfferUp when I found this one owner Select 1/2V in excellent condition for $1300. 
	

		
			
		

		
	








I picked it up from a friend of it's owner, who sold it for him and had a skid steer with forks to load it. It was purchased new and put in the corner of a garage where it was rarely used. It seems to be super tight and shows zero wear on anything. The belts are dry rotted and cracking but it runs nice and the spindle is quiet. The quill is a little gummy feeling so I'll lube it up with Marvel Mystery Oil until it loosens up. 

I found this forum looking for information about it. In one of the other Select threads someone posted a 1979 machine with a higher serial number than mine so I'm guessing it's older than that. The year was never stamped on this machine's ID plate. It looks like there was a sticker there or something.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 5, 2022)

I removed the belt cover and it just barely fit without rotating the head. It was loaded with a skid steer with forks and those things are anything but smooth or controllable with ~1k pounds hanging way out in front of the bucket. After a few tense minutes it was successfully in my box van.  






After tying it down with a pair of 2" ratchet straps and the box van's cargo loading winch I set off for the snowy 50 mile drive home. One of my machinist friends happened to text me shortly after I left the seller's and I decided to stop at his house to borrow a set of collets and a boring head so I can make some chips while I wait for my own tooling to arrive. He lives on a pretty steep hill and while I was there picking out which tooling I wanted to borrow a car slid off the road and nearly hit the telephone pole across the street. The road had just iced over and it was too slick to even stand on. I was not going to chance it with this mill in the back so I left my box van there and he drove me home and then picked me up yesterday after his hill had thawed. It was bare and wet the whole way, and 100% worth waiting until the next day! 

I stopped at my old warehouse in Tacoma to pick up my cherry picker and then went to the new shop in Lakewood to figure out how to unload the mill by myself. I rigged it with a surplus military helicopter lifting sling under the base with motorcycle tie downs keeping the straps from sliding in from the edges. First thing I had to do was get the old (possibly original?) shipping pallet out from under it to gain some clearance. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have tipped the head before we loaded it. You can see here that the balance point was pretty far off. I had to remind myself that there's always a way to accomplish anything, I just have to take the time to figure out how to do it.






I started looking around for heavy things to balance the mill. It took four big chunks of round stock and two pieces of rail on the table plus a bell shackle, chain, carabiner, and claw hammer on the Y handle to perfectly balance the mill. lol This is one of the jankier looking things I've done but I put the weights on a rubber sheet so they wouldn't slide and with the bungees none of it was going to fall off.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 6, 2022)

And it's flying! 






I only had to move it four feet. If it had wanted to swing or felt at all sketchy I'd have left it in place and pulled to box van out from under it. Always safest to sling the load in place and move the truck or trailer out from under it. It was rock solid and didn't swing at all. Even with a couple hundred pounds on the table this was probably only 1250 or so and the picker will do 2000 at that boom setting. 

I want to give a shout out to the guys that made the Allied cherry pickers Costco sold in the '80s! You guys truly are unknown legends whoever you are. This thing is on it's third jack (mostly from being in the weather at times) but has paid for itself a thousand times over. I really should pretty it up, I probably I owe it that much. I wonder how much it'd cost to satin chrome plate it?







I left it resting on the cherry picker's legs and some wood blocks for now. No point setting it on the floor when I'll just have to pick it up again. Next up is to make some risers to go under it that also function as fork pockets for my pallet jack. Then I need a budget DRO. I was happy to see it's got a Servo power feed on X. I hadn't even noticed it in the ad because I was so excited to find a mill locally that I could actually afford. It works but the stop switch needs to be re-mounted as the bracket is missing. If my back is up to it I'll make those risers tomorrow so I can set this thing down and make some chips!


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## matthewsx (Dec 6, 2022)

Hello and welcome!!!!

Awesome find and great first posts

I almost picked up one of these a while back but timing was off. The one I was looking at matched my lathe and was badged Samson. You definitely hit it with your moving strategy, we move these things with our minds, not our muscles.

Would love to hear more about your shop and the projects you do there, assuming you're a Datsun 510 guy?

John


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## Mr.510 (Dec 6, 2022)

matthewsx said:


> Would love to hear more about your shop and the projects you do there, assuming you're a Datsun 510 guy?
> 
> John


Yes, I'm a life-long Datsun 510 nut. My father was a factory-backed road racer and Datsun/Nissan parts manager in the '70 and '80s so it's kind of in my blood. I mostly build my own product line of Datsun/Nissan high performance parts. Not having a mill and lathe in-house has really made prototyping difficult. I'm moving into a larger shop right now, when I get everything in place and running maybe I'll add a 'shop tour' showing all my tools and stuff to my intro thread or something.


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## matthewsx (Dec 6, 2022)

Nice, my first car was a 260z second was a
Datsun 1200. 

Used to race a 1978 Honda Civic that the local dealer built to go after 510’s in the ‘80s. Never quite got there but when it rained I could drive around them with impunity. 

Crazy how expensive they’ve gotten, would love to see your parts, website?

John


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## Mr.510 (Dec 6, 2022)

matthewsx said:


> Nice, my first car was a 260z second was a
> Datsun 1200.
> 
> Used to race a 1978 Honda Civic that the local dealer built to go after 510’s in the ‘80s. Never quite got there but when it rained I could drive around them with impunity.
> ...


My first car was a '71 Datsun 1200 sedan. If you read my intro thread it's the car I nearly died in. I was rear ended while stopped, by an Accord going 50mph. The roll cage saved my life but also compression fractured my skull and contributed to my spinal injuries. The first cop on scene took one look at my car and asked where the driver's body was. 

I haven't had a website for many years but I want to put up a Squarespace or similar easy online store in the coming months. I've been selling my stuff on facebook and eBay in recent years but I'm pretty sick of both.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 6, 2022)

I just ordered a set of 25 R8 collets, a hold-down clamp set, a parallel set, and what's probably the world's crappiest 5" milling vise. For $78.99 shipped I can't imagine a Vevor Super Lock is any good! It should work for the simple low precision stuff I need to do right now. Since this machine has limited Y travel I might cut the drain flange off the back of the vise and will probably clamp it down (rather than using it's slots) so it doesn't limit Y travel. A lot of people here recommend 4" vises for these machines but none that I found opens to 4" with standard jaws. I have a bunch of 4" steel tube rems I need to be able to mill slots and pockets in, so I bought a 5". Worst case it'll be a great vise to throw on my welding bench to be ruined!


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## matthewsx (Dec 7, 2022)

Mr.510 said:


> My first car was a '71 Datsun 1200 sedan. If you read my intro thread it's the car I nearly died in. I was rear ended while stopped, by an Accord going 50mph. The roll cage saved my life but also compression fractured my skull and contributed to my spinal injuries. The first cop on scene took one look at my car and asked where the driver's body was.
> 
> I haven't had a website for many years but I want to put up a Squarespace or similar easy online store in the coming months. I've been selling my stuff on facebook and eBay in recent years but I'm pretty sick of both.


I hadn't read your intro until last night and all I can say is your contributions here will be very welcome. I have a little background in racing, both as a driver and as a kart shop owner but I've spent most of my career in AV and IT, only now venturing into production engineering.

I think lots of folks looking for specialty items are happy to interact directly with the owner and websites are a good tool for getting your products out there without all the competition from China. Also, advertising on enthusiast websites worked well for me in the kart business. 

I'll keep my eye open for that good deal on a bigger mill for you.

John


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## Mr.510 (Dec 8, 2022)

Time for risers with fork pockets! Yesterday I dug out a couple 4 x 5 x 3/16" wall steel tube rems that just happened to be 36-1/2" long. They'd been outside in my scrap pile at one time and were quite rusty so I put a twisted wire cup brush on my 4-1/2" angle grinder and knocked the worst of the rust off. 






Then I grabbed a notepad, tape measure, and transfer punches and made a sketch. Pro Tip: When measuring between two holes stick a transfer punch in one of them, hook your tape measure on it, and measure to the near edge of the other hole. I put the risers as far under the machine as possible (while still looking 'right') to reduce the leverage against the mounting ears should it get set down hard with a forklift or run into something.






Laid them out with a scribe and drilled the mounting holes 9/16" and the corner holes on the pockets 1/2". Tidy inside corners are always the hardest part with torch cutting so I usually drill them and then connect the dots.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 8, 2022)

Torch work is fun! I couldn't really take a cutting pic with my phone by myself so here's one side cut. Pro Tip: Two welding magnets and a piece of damned near anything make a great torch cutting guide. If you want to cheat and cut stuff that looks like a machine did it put a small hose clamp on the torch tip so it rests on your guide keeping the tip height constant.







I knocked the slag off the pockets with a grinder and put a nice radius on the ends so they won't be hard on shoes. Then painted them inside and out with Satin Black Rustoleum.






Today I bolted them on and stepped the mill down to the floor with the pallet jack and blocks of wood.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 8, 2022)

Then I spent a couple hours cleaning and oiling the ways and checking things over. It looks like it has hand scraped ways? I didn't expect that. I think the quill spring is broken or (hopefully) incorrectly put together as it wants to park the quill about mid travel. One screw on the side of the head is missing so I'm sure somebody's had it apart. It feels like it's under spring tension to move up or down. I've never felt a broken one do that. This puzzled me for about ten seconds: 






Then I figured out it's a spring loaded belt tensioner with it's plunger missing. I don't know what was supposed to be in there, but a half inch dowel pin about an inch and a half long seems to work. The pin is probably a little long as it can't go all the way flush. Maybe I'll shorten it a little so I get the most slack possible for changing speeds. 






There's no year on the machine but the motor is stamped 1977 so I'll guess that's the year the machine was made as well. It's pretty slow to start, is that typical? It's running on 110 but I could switch it to 220. It doesn't seem down on power, cuts about like a 1hp mill ought to. Yawn. 






I swept in the head. It was out .0075 in X on a full sweep the width of the table. Got it to ~.0011 and called it good. Really sucks not having a worm screw and there's nothing I want to tap on with a brass dead blow. Good enough for what I'm doing right now but it will eat at me having a mill head that far off. Y is under .0005 and I'm really happy about that.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 8, 2022)

It makes chips! I really wish I had a shorter holder for this one inch two flute. Maybe when my collets get here I'll grab it backwards in my friend's end mill holder and turn a .875 shank on the first inch by clamping a turning tool to the table. Then I can grab it much shorter in a collet. Wouldn't really matter on a Bridgeport but it sure does on the little Select.






This is an operation I usually do on a CNC mill but I really need a few to make some customers happy so I'm going to cut them on the Select and see how it does. I mill off the top ~1-1/2" of a Nissan VG30 TBI intake plenum. Then bore the center hole out ~.200 and add four 1/4-20 tapped holes. Then a CNC machined adapter bolts on to accept a Holley two barrel carburetor (or 500cfm aftermarket throttle body injection). I've done at least a couple hundred of these over the last 20 years, usually in runs of 10 on a Fadal 4020. 

The Select dig OK for a little mill taking the top off this intake. The tool holder is way too long but it's what I've got. I think I was turning this 1" two flute 1900-ish, I don't remember what the speeds are. I found the hardest I could go was ~3/4 the diameter .075 deep. With this cutter in a collet it'll probably go full diameter .100 deep. That would make me happy. On a Bridgeport it'll go full diameter at max spindle speed and .200 deep. On the 4020 I spin it 7500k rpm and depth of cut is limited only by the usable edge of the insert, which is .600. At higher RPM the casting rings like a bell no matter what you do. Perspective. The Select is a good little mill. Yawn. I'm happy to report the Servo power feed works great. It seemed a little loud at first but now it sounds typical. The ways didn't feel gummy at all but after cleaning and oiling them and then using the machine for an hour there's a bunch of black gunk working it's way out. Typical of a machine that's been sitting for years. There's dried up, gooey oil all over. I noticed one time when I moved Y- all the way to the stop the sliding cover to protect the screw wasn't there, but it has been every other time. I don't know if it's got a spring, tabs, or what in there but I guess I'm going to find out.






Hooray, there's chips on the floor! The five inch risers make the mill a much better working height and it moves easily with the pallet jack. Yes, that's a high precision leveling device compensating for the crooked floor. I might add leveling bolts.


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## SLK001 (Dec 8, 2022)

Mr.510 said:


> There's no year on the machine but the motor is stamped 1977 so I'll guess that's the year the machine was made as well. It's pretty slow to start, is that typical? It's running on 110 but I could switch it to 220. It doesn't seem down on power, cuts about like a 1hp mill ought to. Yawn.



Your motor is a 50 Hz motor.  Running, it might get hot.  If the motor has capacitors, check them to make sure they are still in good condition and not swollen.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 8, 2022)

SLK001 said:


> Your motor is a 50 Hz motor.  Running, it might get hot.  If the motor has capacitors, check them to make sure they are still in good condition and not swollen.


I didn't even notice it's 50 Hz. I think this is the first non-60 Hz AC motor I've ever run. Did a quick web search and now I get why it's slow to start. I'll have to check my line voltage, but as I recall from checking it before plugging in my TIG machine it's on the high side, which should be easier on the motor from what I read. If it quits I'll put a 3 phase motor on it. I think I've got a 2hp kicking around here somewhere that might fit.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 16, 2022)

I've done about a dozen hours of machining with the Select and made enough aluminum chips to fill a five gallon bucket twice. Everything moves silky smooth now and the oil on the ways doesn't immediately turn black anymore. The motor also starts a lot faster, and once the machine has run about ten minutes to warm the belts up it spools up in about double the time of a typical 3 phase machine, so I'd say not bad for single phase running on the wrong phase! lol The motor barely gets warm to the touch, even when using every bit of it's power with the Carboloy clone 1" 2 flute insert endmill for an hour at a time. The Servo power feed has gotten even quieter and smoother as well, I think this mill mostly sat for the last 20 years and everything just needed to be used so it'd free up. 

I'm a little bit surprised there's no way to lock the spindle when tightening or loosening the drawbar. Does anyone know if there was a wrench that fit the spindle spline or something? If so, where can I get one? If not it looks like I can make one easily enough once my lathe is under power.


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## WEL0058 (Dec 23, 2022)

Welcome aboard. Another Select 1/2V mill owner.    I bought my first mill in March 2021 and found is perfect for my needs.  When I tighten/loosen the drawbar, I grab the v-belt together with one hand and use 3/4" wrench with the other.  Does not need to be super tight.

Great you also got a Servo powerfeed already install.  

Bob G.


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## Mr.510 (Dec 23, 2022)

WEL0058 said:


> When I tighten/loosen the drawbar, I grab the v-belt together with one hand and use 3/4" wrench with the other.  Does not need to be super tight.



That's what I've been doing, but would prefer a way that's a bit more solid. Having thrown tools out of spindles and destroyed expensive parts when drawbars came loose/tools slipped in collets I always like to err on the tight side with drawbars.


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