# At last, my arm is whole again... Surprise win on EvilBay



## British Steel (May 7, 2017)

I've been outbid on milling machines so many times lately, today I put a bid on then ignored it (to help keep my blood pressure low) and went for a bath, dried off to find it hadn't even reached my max. bid...




Now I'm gonna need a bigger electricity supply...

Dave H. (the other one)


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## tweinke (May 7, 2017)

Funny how that works. Nice mill.


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## 4GSR (May 7, 2017)

That's what I want in my shop for a second mill!  My only problem, it is over my 2500 lb weight limit that I can have.


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## scwhite (May 7, 2017)

British Steel said:


> I've been outbid on milling machines so many times lately, today I put a bid on then ignored it (to help keep my blood pressure low) and went for a bath, dried off to find it hadn't even reached my max. bid...
> 
> View attachment 233023
> 
> ...


Looks like a nice mill


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## Leggman (May 7, 2017)

Sweet find. 
I got my excello really cheap 500 dollars but had to have the motor rewound 501.60. so I have a grend total of 1,001.60. Soon I will have more than that in tooling. 
Good luck with the mill. Are you going to totally refurbish it or just use it?
Dave


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## Old junk (May 7, 2017)

Looks like a good score.


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## FOMOGO (May 8, 2017)

Good things come to those who wait. Looks like a nice machine. Mike


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## tertiaryjim (May 8, 2017)

I want one too.


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## Silverbullet (May 8, 2017)

4gsr said:


> That's what I want in my shop for a second mill!  My only problem, it is over my 2500 lb weight limit that I can have.


Why the weight limit?


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## 4GSR (May 13, 2017)

Silverbullet said:


> Why the weight limit?


This keeps me from buying 8,000 lb boat anchors all over again. (20" Lodge & Shipley LAthe)
And 2,500 lbs is much easier to handle and move around than something that weighs 10,000 lbs.  And I'm getting too old piddling around with this old iron.  I may buy something that weighs 3500 lbs., that's it!  And if you have to pick up and move, It makes it easier to move, load, unload machines when they weigh under 2500 lbs., too.  Ken


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## brino (May 13, 2017)

British Steel said:


> Now I'm gonna need a bigger electricity supply...Dave H. (the other one)



Congratulations Dave!

I hope you take (and post!) many pictures of the move, the install, any cleaning and updates required, etc.
I'd like to see more!

-brino


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## British Steel (May 26, 2017)

Apologies, a bit picture heavy! But Brino did ask...

Took a couple of days off (no overtime at work, Gummint Job, Time off In Lieu - I've added about 14 days since mid-March), hired the right tools for the job: Toyota Hilux Indestructible Diesel 4x4, tows up to 3.5 tons (7500 pounds), twin-axle "access trailer" with ramps, 800 pounds unladen, 7500 gross limit:




No pics of the loading, I'm afraid - but you've all seen a forklift and a pallet truck... So, loaded, stopped to check the tiedowns after a few miles (and obsessively several more times!), all good:






150 miles later, and after some awkward reversing it was on the driveway, lifted back then front of the mill base with a pair of trolley jacks to put it on machine skates - the skates were lower than the collapsed jacks, so a piece or three of plank helped! Two ratchet straps, fore and aft, were kept on during the jack-up and setting on the skates for stability:




The trailer was wound up on the jockey wheel to give a slight slope, with the mill's weight taken on the straps, then prybarred a few inches at a time, adjusting a few inches of slack into the straps as I went:



Tense moment moving from trailer bed to ramps - balance wasn't perfect and a skate made a desperate bid for freedom - back in place, zip tied to the plank running across the front of the base:



Once on the ramps, easy peasy! Had to put some planks down as the skates don't much like crumbling tarmac - but a one-Dave unload of a Ton+ mill, no surprises, no injuries 




Now to rearrange Garage of Danger, build the phase convertor (picked up a 5.5 kW / 7.5 HP 3-phase motor while on the trip, from another seller) 

Dave H. (the other one)


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## 4GSR (May 26, 2017)

Wish the USA government would allow the Toyota Hilix PU be imported here!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## darkzero (May 26, 2017)

4gsr said:


> Wish the USA government would allow the Toyota Hilix PU be imported here!
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk



I agree but at least we have the next best thing, the Tacoma. That's what I have been driving for the past 10+ yrs. And my next vehicle will be another Tacoma.


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## Silverbullet (May 26, 2017)

Wow nice mill, good looking trailer also. People don't believe it's so easy to move large heavy machines. Most of it only takes time and thinking , when things go wrong ,, most of the times it's to quick trying to move them and not being super careful. Hope we get to see her in her new home making chips. When I was young I moved a Bridgeport mill and 14" Sheldon lathe in my pickup , 4x4 dodge powerwagon , about 3' high at the tailgate. I dug holes for the backwheels backed into them, removed the tailgate, got blocks and planks . I used lengths of pipe as rollers and pry bars to lift and move using a comalong chained to a 4x4 anchored in the bed rails  it rolled practically by itself right in the garage by just moving the pipes to keep it rolling . Easy peasy. Like Archimedes said give me a lever and I can move the world. Good luck with your mill , wish I had room for one like it.


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## British Steel (May 26, 2017)

Thanks SB, I wish the trailer was mine - but I'd need somewhere to put it!
I move my 2+ ton Holbrook lathe on scaffold pole rollers, if anything it's too easy and rolls too fast on the sloped ramps! It does have a sturdy, flat-bottomed cabinet though, about 3/4" thick cast-iron... The Mill's a bit of a mystery, it's Italian (judging by the motors) and dates from 1962 (ditto) and I *think* it's a Dormac - and it's not as big as I feared, but bigger than I expected - that table's 48" x 11?"... and has about 30" of X travel!

Dave H. (the other one)


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## AGCB97 (May 30, 2017)

Good things come to those who wait

AHHH! That is a wonderfull motto to hold


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## KBeitz (Oct 15, 2018)

I learned a long time ago to only use 3 skates if possible... When using 4 one always is desperate bid for freedom.


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