# Hardinge Bb4 Restoration



## USNFC

Hey everyone.  I picked up this cool little mill and wanted to document the dis-assembly, restoration, and reassembly for anyone interested.  Once I finish this guy up, I have a Standard Modern 1340 lathe that I will be starting on.  Anyway, lets get this started.  First I will show a few pictures of the mill as I received it.


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## USNFC

First thing to do after I unloaded it and got it into the garage, was to straighten up that front door because it bugged my OCD! Sorry for the blurry pic...I didn't realize it when I took it....now that is bugging my OCD....I can't win.  I will get a new clear pic up today after I get home from work...


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## USNFC

Next the dis-assembly begins!  First, remove the table.



I then removed the crank housing for the knee crank, and removed the saddle.


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## USNFC

Table and Saddle in the cleaning bin.


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## USNFC

All the little pieces in another cleaning bin.


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## USNFC

Then I cut the belts...they were no where near usable, and this seemed like the easiest solution to remove the head.  The head came off pretty easily.  Then I was able to remove the knee.  Here is all of the stuff ready for cleaning.


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## USNFC

I then removed the handles from the body, and removed the body from the cabinet.


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## USNFC

Here is the nasty under the base!




Some poor fella lost his favorite allen wrench underneath the base.


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## USNFC

And here is where we have the cabinet.  I did clean up the swarf and grease before I packed it up for the night...


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## Bill Gruby

You have a nice piece of equipment there. I have a friend who just restored one. He won't part with his. Good luck on the restoration.

 "Billy G"


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## USNFC

Thanks Billy.  I got a really good deal on it, so I couldn't pass it up.  If anyone reading this happens to know of a good dividing head that will work with this little guy, I would be interested to know where to pick one up.  I have a L-W chuck dividing head with a 6" chuck, but I think it may be a bit too large...


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## brino

They sell used Hardinge mills at wallmart now?
I finally got a reason to go there. 
-brino

but seriously, I am looking forward to another wonderful restoration from you. I can hardly wait for more. Thanks for sharing!


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## USNFC

Haha...I wish they did, unfortunately there is very little US made stuff in there.  I wasn't comfortable with the straps I had kicking around in my floorboards, so I picked up a couple of new ones to hold this thing down.


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## T Bredehoft

Good pictures, good documentation, looking forward to a "new" mill. 

Tom


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## Ulma Doctor

hardinge mills are really cool, 
i look forward to the progression!


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## Firestopper

Gonna be a sweet mill.
Keep the documentation coming!


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## USNFC

I definitely will.  I'm afraid work has been keeping me late the last few days, so progress has been halted.  Hopefully I can get back to it today!


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## USNFC

Ok, made some progress.  I decided to do the oven cleaner method of stripping the grease and old paint off.  I have to say that I'm very impressed with how effective that stuff was.  I got the majority of the gunk and paint off.  I will begin sanding tomorrow, and hopefully primer by this weekend.


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## AR1911

Lookin' good Steve. Those are little jewels, very well put together. 
Are you going to pull the spindle to install belts, or go with link-belts?


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## USNFC

I'm thinking link belts.  The spindle feels great, so I don't want to take it apart unless I find that I need to.


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## USNFC

After 2nd primer coat...sorry purist, I'm spraying the cabinet.  I will brush paint the mill itself though.  Also the knobs are being replaced, that's why I didn't remove them...


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## Bill C.

Looking good


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## AR1911

Steve, you are getting ahead of me.

What are you going to replace the knobs with?


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## USNFC

I'm going to turn some brass ones, and knurl the edges.  That should look pretty cool.


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## USNFC

Ok, well I got some more done.  Forgive my lack of progress pics, I got a little carried away and failed to take a lot of pics along the way.  I got the base and head cleaned, stripped and painted.  I still have a ways to go, but it's coming along.


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## rrjohnso2000

That looks great. Please keep the pics coming, they are appreciated.


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## Damiansd

This is coming up so nice. 

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk


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## USNFC

Thank you! I'm thinking I will put the levers back on and try to devise a way to use them with a VFD.


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## AR1911

Lookin' good!  Mine came with no levers, so I'm going VFD direct.  
I turned a nice aluminum plug for that hole.

I have the whole set of drum switches and the cover, but I won't use them.


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## USNFC

Well, not too much progress, but I searched for a piece of wood for the collet storage area, and couldn't find anything that fit, that I liked.  So, I decided to run a sander over the original piece and throw a stain and satin poly over it.  I think it came out pretty nice for plywood.  The plywood from the 40's was definitely a lot better made than todays junk.


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## brino

The wood turned out nice.
The entire project looks great.

But you have 2 different heads on those bolts......you must be less OCD than me. 
-brino


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## USNFC

Haha...no I am just as OCD.  I only had the 3 new bolts (stainless steel leftovers from working on my pontoon boat).  The flat head is actually just stuck in there without a nut on the back.  I put it there to block the empty hole for the pictures(example of my OCD haha).  I will be headed to the hardware store in the next couple of days to get some more stainless ones.  Good eye!


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## USNFC

I got that screw replaced!  I also cleaned up the wood inside the cabinet.  All I need to do now is get some belts and then I'll be ready to test it out.  I decided to also keep the original knobs, for now, and painted them black.  Please ignore the mess...too many projects, not enough cleaning...I shall rectify that this weekend.


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## brino

That turned out beautifully.
Well done!

-brino


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## Bill C.

rrjohnso2000 said:


> That looks great. Please keep the pics coming, they are appreciated.



Very nice, great job.


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## USNFC

Thanks!


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## markba633csi

brino said:


> They sell used Hardinge mills at wallmart now?
> I finally got a reason to go there.
> -brino
> 
> but seriously, I am looking forward to another wonderful restoration from you. I can hardly wait for more. Thanks for sharing!


The Walmart photo is interesting- A used Hardinge milling machine and the gruel Walmart peddles couldn't be more diametrically opposed.  What a contrast!
Mark S.
Mt. View, Ca


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## Fairbanks

Good Job!!


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## vtcnc

Always wanted one of these little buggers. Keep the pics coming as you test and put the finishing touches on it. Very nice work!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## USNFC

Thanks for the compliments.  I will upload some pics shortly.  It is all complete and runs great.


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## USNFC




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## AR1911

Steve, what kind of VFD is that?

Also, what did you do with the control levers - connected to anything?


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## USNFC

I used a cheap Chinese VFD off of ebay: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=181561549023&alt=web

I reconnected the levers to their original switches.  Nothing is connected to them, but I left them in case any future owner wanted it back to original.


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## AR1911

Some rainy day, connect that VFD to the drum switches. Pretty easy work, except for the Thinking part


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## USNFC

I will probably do just that.  I was just so anxious to get it running, I took the quick and easy route.  I actually have a diagram drawn up for the wiring.


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