# Mill question



## toolman (Mar 1, 2014)

Hey guys, I've got an interesting question for you about my mill. The top slide is frozen up and I can't get it to move to save my life. When I got it, both handles were gone, with one actually being broken off, so I built new handles for it. The gibs are loose but it is solid as a rock, I'm assuming due to rust. The machine has been picked up by the head twice when moving it, but the gibs were still tight.
My  question is, would it be worth trying to pick this beast up again with the gibs loose and seeing if it will break loose or should I borrow my son's Porta-Power and see if I can muscle it into moving? It has been soaked with every kind of penetrant I can get my hands on for over a month with no luck yet. I'm a little concerned about trying the PP route as I really do not want to break anything.
It's doubtful that I will ever need to slide the head back or forth, but it's supposed to slide, so by golly, I want it to slide! I've tried taping a 2x4 to the back of the head and whacking it with a 10 lb. sledge, which just resulted in chipping off some of the paint and Bondo.

Any ideas?


----------



## xalky (Mar 1, 2014)

I'm gonna state the obvious first, just in case. So you loosened the 2 ram locking bolts on the right side. Do you still have the handle thats supposed to be used to slide the ram? 

If everything is loose, it couldn't hurt to try picking it up by the head again. 

I'd want to be able to slide the ram because sometimes I have pieces that overhang the table. It's noice to be able to use that range occasionally.


----------



## Charley Davidson (Mar 1, 2014)

That's a gear & rack that moves the ram so you have to move it that way, unless you have the gear out. I believe there was a rebuild on here where the ram was stuck and he eventually got it loose so you may want to do a search.


----------



## Bill C. (Mar 1, 2014)

Charley Davidson said:


> That's a gear & rack that moves the ram so you have to move it that way, unless you have the gear out. I believe there was a rebuild on here where the ram was stuck and he eventually got it loose so you may want to do a search.



You need the gears because the head and ram are heavier than they look. Hopefully there is a EYE bolt to pick up the head at least the ones I used had one.


----------



## Charley Davidson (Mar 1, 2014)

Bill C. said:


> You need the gears because the head and ram are heavier than they look. Hopefully there is a EYE bolt to pick up the head at least the ones I used had one.



Yeah I know, I have one sitting in my shop floor right now completely apart & stripped for paint. It will only move so far then it runs out of rack.


----------



## toolman (Mar 1, 2014)

To sort of answer everyone at once, yes the locking bolts are loose and it won't slide even with my big ole 6'5" 230 butt wrenching on the handles and my son whacking the head from behind with a sledge. This one doesn't have an eye bolt and I don't remember any holes in the top, but I may have overlooked it. Like I said in the original post, both times it was picked up (once with forks under each end of the head and once with straps around each end) the bolts were still tight, so I'm hoping that after all the the soaking I've done, picking it up again may pop it loose so I can get it off and clean/lube it. Like I say, doing gunsmithing, it's highly unlikely that I'll ever need to move it, but I want it to work if I ever need to.


----------



## The_Crusher (Mar 14, 2014)

I had this happen once and after time got it to move, it was the gear for the rack that was seized up. I just kept spraying it with Kroil and worked the handle every day for a few weeks with a cheater pipe on it, until it began to wiggle, it finally broke loose, removed the upper and cleaned everything really well and used anti-sieze on the shaft and gear for the rack.


----------

