# Bought a Burke 4



## Rockytime (May 29, 2013)

This evening I purchased a Burke 4. It is in rather good shape. All controls work smooth as silk and all the ways are nice and firm. It comes with a rather poor excuse for a motor but I have a Baldor motor to replace it. It does not appear abused but rather has been in storage a long, long time. There is very little rust. Light rust on the table and on the overhead column. Everything works as well as the PTO. It does not have the vertical attachment but is OK. I have a Bridgeport for that. I just feel the Burke will be perfect for gear cutting. It will be a week or so before I pick it up. I have to work out the logistics with the seller. He will help getting it to my garage. The price, $200. seemed right.
Les


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## itsme_Bernie (May 29, 2013)

Holy crap Les!!

$200??!  That is a great deal for much more money!  Did it come with any tooling? 

Bernie


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## Rockytime (May 29, 2013)

itsme_Bernie said:


> Holy crap Les!!
> 
> $200??!  That is a great deal for much more money!  Did it come with any tooling?
> 
> Bernie



Hi Bernie,
It did not come with much tooling with the exception some extra sheaves, motor mount and motor and belt cover. I won't do a restoration because I wish to use it soon but will do some refurbishing. Good cleaning, oiling, removing a little rust and that is about it. It needs a GOOD cleaning as it has a lot of saw dust on it as well as cobwebs and dust.
Les


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## Ben (May 29, 2013)

Boy that is a beaut! I would gladly pay you a 50% markup on what you paid for it if you want to part ways with her).

What is that box mounted on the right side of the table? Is that a power feed?

Congrats on a great find, I am jealous!


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## itsme_Bernie (May 29, 2013)

Rockytime said:


> Hi Bernie,
> It did not come with much tooling with the exception some extra sheaves, motor mount and motor and belt cover. I won't do a restoration because I wish to use it soon but will do some refurbishing. Good cleaning, oiling, removing a little rust and that is about it. It needs a GOOD cleaning as it has a lot of saw dust on it as well as cobwebs and dust.
> Les



That is all I would do.  Good luck man!


Bernie


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## AR1911 (May 30, 2013)

Nice score!   And you got the version with the handwheels.


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## Rockytime (May 30, 2013)

Ben said:


> Boy that is a beaut! I would gladly pay you a 50% markup on what you paid for it if you want to part ways with her).
> 
> What is that box mounted on the right side of the table? Is that a power feed?
> 
> Congrats on a great find, I am jealous!



Hi Ben,
The box on the right is a PTO. It drives the table from a spindle on the side of the machine. I had the same arrangement on a Rotax mill I once had. It was similar to the Burke but was arranged as a vertical mill. I would show a photo but the mill has not yet been moved. Hopefully next week.
Les


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## itsme_Bernie (May 30, 2013)

That's also how the Hardinge mills power the table feed.


Bernie


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## Ben (May 31, 2013)

When you move it, I would love to see it. If you could get a video showing how the mechanism works that would be even cooler.

Thanks to Bernie's input I managed to find a video of a hardinge power feed in action. What a nice way to have the power feed set up so that you dont have any extra wires or motors hooked to the machine. Do they have a gear box for adjusting feeds?


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## woodtickgreg (Jun 1, 2013)

Nice looking Burke, I scored one just like it a little while ago. I did get the original motor and gear reduction with it. If you do not have the gear reduction you might want to think about using a vfd to get the speed down. I think the output shaft speed on mine is around 200 rpm. Just thought you might like to know what the correct shaft speed was.


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## Ulma Doctor (Jun 17, 2013)

Rocky that's a beauty!!!
i can only imagine the stories the old girl could tell a man.
if you ever wanna part with her,i'll give $200 for her!!!!:lmao:


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## george wilson (Jul 6, 2013)

My first mill was an Atlas. Next was a Burke #4. It proved to be a real machine,capable of taking decent cuts in steel. Mine did not have the power feed left on it. I cobbled up one with a Bodine motor and a worm and spur gear. The table was bowed from excessive tightening down of the T slot bon top. I got that,and the BOTTOM and dovetail of the table re machined. I had to cobble together a motor drive for it. Fortunately,I had on hand a heavy duty gear head Master brand motor(A really good old brand).

The guy who was running the machine shop where I took the Burke's table to have it machined was rather arrogant. He insisted that just milling the top of the table would solve the problem. He wouldn't listen when I told him the table would still move in a circular path unless the bottom,and dovetail was also re cut. He guaranteed that they would fix the table properly. Reluctantly,I left the table there. At another shop,I told the owner of the shop about the problem. He said he wouldn't touch that table for less than twice the amount I was quoted. When I came back to get the table,the guy stayed well back behind the counter. I flipped the table over. Everything had been machined,top and bottom. I said "How'd you do?" He replied they'd done o.k.. Hopefully he would not treat his customers like they were fools the next time. When the REAL machinist in the back room got hold of the table and told him the same thing,he got it through his hard head!! Mr. silk shirt got a lesson in machining.

The Burke was mounted on an old pair of forge legs. Your unit is much more complete,but I was glad to get the Burke. Actually,it was the only horizontal mill I had till years later I got a Heald. Then a real nice Harrison gear head from England came along.

I had been dragged to Miami for a vacation by my wife. I found a machine dealer in Haileah(sp?) and went there by bus. Everyone kept telling me I was late for the dog race!! That's where I found my little Burke. Everyone in that city kept apologizing for Miami. But,that's another story!!

I'd have given a lot to have the vertical head for the Burke,but this was in the early 70's,long before the internet,and I never found one. However,I got a mill drill and used it a lot for a few years till I had space for a Bridgeport type. I sold the Burke to a friend who was just starting out.

God luck with yours. They are good machines.


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## timvercoe (Dec 5, 2015)

Nice machine score.  List the spindle size and what tooling your looking for here and other sights, you'd be surprised what might turn up.  Once in a while I will purchase a box full of tooling arbors and what not and find things in there I have no use for.  I will usually save the stuff thinking I will find a use for it down the line, what better use than pass it on to some one who has a machine that needs it?

Tim


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