# Finally Found One



## mce5802 (Mar 31, 2016)

This came up for sale on a Facebook group in northern Wisconsin Saturday. It came out of a window factory according to the individual I got it from. It came with a vise with a swivel base and a phase converter and three power feeds which all have issues but hopefully I can make two good ones out of them. The ways look good. The main problem is there is a noise in the variable speed head. But for what I paid I can afford to do a little repair. It's a Comet brand, which might be the same as modern and other mills made in Taiwan in the 80's? Anybody know of a part supplier?


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## FOMOGO (Mar 31, 2016)

Congrats on the mill. What is the HP rating on that one? Mike


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## ARKnack (Mar 31, 2016)

I have a Mighty Comet 3kv. 3 hp unit. It's a nice mill. I haven't needed to purchase many parts for it but  what I have, Bridge Port parts have been compatible. I have read else where on the net from owners that BP parts are interchangeable. You may want to contact some head rebuilding places which may have parts you need. Also search YouTube for rebuilding mill heads. There use to be some excellent posting there.


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## brasssmanget (Mar 31, 2016)

Congrats! I've been scouring craigslist recently in hopes of maybe falling into a nice knee mill for cheap.......good luck with your find.


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## mce5802 (Mar 31, 2016)

It's a 3hp head. I think the model is a 2v. I've been watching craigslist for quite a while and waiting for a good deal. Missed out on a Bridgeport last fall for $800. I'd almost made up my mind to buy a mill drill from harbor freight with 25% off  last weekend(or else enco with free shipping) and this one just happened to come up for sale. For $500. No I'm not kidding. Less than half of what the new mill drill would have been. For a lot more rigid machine. Even if I have to put $300-400 in the head I'm still better off.


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## mce5802 (Mar 31, 2016)

Good to know about Bridgeport parts being compatible. Thanks. I did call HQT in Ohio they said the variable speed parts won't interchange, though most other parts do. But he gave me a number for a place in Michigan that's a comet dealer and they can get em. Do tonight I'll take it apart and see what I need, sounds like I'll most likely need the pulleys and maybe bearings.


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## dlane (Mar 31, 2016)

Should be a good one with a little work, normally transported with head inverted 180. Ied have help straightening the head when bolts are loosened .
 My head would make noise too if it was bent like that


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## ebgb68 (Mar 31, 2016)

It looks alot like my wells index if your calling a place in Muskegon they are a wells index parts dealer.  From talking to guys the VS is noisy on them the guy I bought mine from converted the VS to step pulleys of a Bridgeport.   

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk


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## mce5802 (Mar 31, 2016)

Is the step pulley setup more trouble free? I spose it wouldn't be an easy conversion.


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## mmprestine (Mar 31, 2016)

Came across that one for sale, did you get it for less then the $500 they wanted?


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## ARKnack (Mar 31, 2016)

mce5802 said:


> Good to know about Bridgeport parts being compatible. Thanks. I did call HQT in Ohio they said the variable speed parts won't interchange, though most other parts do. But he gave me a number for a place in Michigan that's a comet dealer and they can get em. Do tonight I'll take it apart and see what I need, sounds like I'll most likely need the pulleys and maybe bearings.



Let me know what you find out about the dealer. You never know when replacement parts are needed.


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## mce5802 (Mar 31, 2016)

Ok I'll let u know. Took it apart tonight, the key slot in the  shaft that drives the spindle is worn through the side. And the motor shaft itself is worn down past the depth of the keyway. Not gonna be a cheap fix I guess. I'll upload some pics later


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## ARKnack (Mar 31, 2016)

Cut a new key slot on the opposite side of the shaft. Of course having a working mill would make the job easier.


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## mce5802 (Mar 31, 2016)

I have a k&t horizontal and I plan to try that. One thing I'm seeing is those dogs where the pulley shaft engages the spindle are worn. They still seem to engage ok though so maybe I'll leave that for now


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## Silverbullet (Mar 31, 2016)

Weld it up and turn to size then cut the key way . Not a real hard job even with a gas mig welder you can do the job. How's the pulley ?   Ok waiting for pics.


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## mce5802 (Apr 1, 2016)

Well here's the pics.


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## mce5802 (Apr 1, 2016)




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## mce5802 (Apr 1, 2016)




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## mce5802 (Apr 1, 2016)

And the motor shaft


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## mce5802 (Apr 1, 2016)

And the inside of the pulley


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## mce5802 (Apr 1, 2016)

Well I called Spartan Machinery in Detroit  (real good guy to deal with)he said none of the variable speed parts are available new anymore for this model mill. Anywhere. He said see if the guy will take it back and buy a Bridgeport. I'm not gonna do that, I bought it knowing there was problems. I'll try building up the motor shaft and spindle drive hub and recut the keyways. The drive dogs I'll have to live with I guess. If the drive dogs fail later I will put two dowel pins in and put a VFD on the motor. That's my plan, if anybody has any advice let me know. Never welded on s motor shaft before, plan to use a wire feed and do a little at a time I guess. I know heat may be an issue. I can recut the internal key on the pulley with my shaper. I'll keep you posted.


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## derf (Apr 2, 2016)

Is the spindle drive hub and the spindle pulley hub compatible with any bridgeport parts?
Instead of welding up the motor shaft, I'd turn it down to a standard size and use a single sheave pulley and run it off a VFD.


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## mce5802 (Apr 2, 2016)

According to Leonard from Spartan..and the guy at HQT, no, the parts aren't compatible. Was thinking of turning the motor shaft down until round, but it would've ended up around 1/2", which is pretty small for a 3hp motor. I'm working on welding it up, one pass at a time so it doesn't get too hot. And yes it's getting a vfd I think


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## mce5802 (May 5, 2016)

Just thought I'd update...the mill is together and working ok. The motor shaft is built back up and keyway is recut. I put a bushing in the sliding half of the motor pulley and keyed it so the variable speed works. The pulley half slides up and down on the motor shaft directly, however, and is only driven by one 5/16 key. Any opinions on this? I am able to grease it. The spindle shaft and hub are built up also


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## Tony Wells (May 5, 2016)

Comet/Mighty are still in business. They were kind enough to provide me with manuals on a lathe I acquired not long ago. I can PM you the email address for the guy I dealt with if you need it. Unfortunately, for the parts I needed (taper attachment, complete) they were not able to help me, but they were very cordial. I have run and been around several Comet VMC's and they always seemed to be pretty solid machines. I wouldn't mind having one. I've seen, but not run a manual Comet, but if they are all based on the same quality program, they are pretty decent Taiwanese  machines, and many are still in production.

As far as interchangeable parts with original Bridgeports, it's always a gamble, but a fair one.  I wish there was a way to know exactly which parts would interchange and which would not. I have an older Taiwanese clone, and it could use a little work, but I am not sure enough to start buying parts which may or may not fit. I can't have the mill down for long. Plus atm, I'm out of commission as far as any shop work goes, including maintenance. I can't even get out to the shop to get on my main CAD machine and do some design work I need to do. I need a ATV/4WD wheelchair LoL!


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## mce5802 (May 5, 2016)




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## mce5802 (May 5, 2016)

Tony Wells said:


> Comet/Mighty are still in business. They were kind enough to provide me with manuals on a lathe I acquired not long ago. I can PM you the email address for the guy I dealt with if you need it. Unfortunately, for the parts I needed (taper attachment, complete) they were not able to help me, but they were very cordial. I have run and been around several Comet VMC's and they always seemed to be pretty solid machines. I wouldn't mind having one. I've seen, but not run a manual Comet, but if they are all based on the same quality program, they are pretty decent Taiwanese  machines, and many are still in production.
> 
> As far as interchangeable parts with original Bridgeports, it's always a gamble, but a fair one.  I wish there was a way to know exactly which parts would interchange and which would not. I have an older Taiwanese clone, and it could use a little work, but I am not sure enough to start buying parts which may or may not fit. I can't have the mill down for long. Plus atm, I'm out of commission as far as any shop work goes, including maintenance. I can't even get out to the shop to get on my main CAD machine and do some design work I need to do. I need a ATV/4WD wheelchair LoL!


Thanks! I didn't realize comet may still be in business. I was thinking of taking some measurements and calling HQT to see if the main spindle drive parts are the same. But if I can get them from comet, even better. It does seem like a well built machine.


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## Tony Wells (May 5, 2016)

What you are experiencing is the main reason I have never been crazy about Reeves drive variable speeds. I have yet to see one with many "miles" on it that doesn't rattle up a storm and eventually need major work. Now that VFD's are becoming economical, I wouldn't hesitate to make that conversion. Whatever you do to fix a Reeves, it will wear out again. I've seen it over and over. Not worth it. I would only buy a Reeves drive machine if it were going to get rebuilt to a fixed speed with a VFD on the motor, and priced accordingly.


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## mce5802 (May 5, 2016)

Well that's good to know. I don't have any prior experience with these variable speed drives. I have been looking at vfds, not sure what brand to get, if the cheaper ones are reliable, etc. Also wondering what speed to have the mill run to get the best performance, meaning should I have the pulleys set to run the lowest rpm and over speed the motor? Do you lose torque otherwise? Or do you set it mid range and turn the motor at half speed or less for larger tooling?


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## Hukshawn (Sep 29, 2017)

Any more on this story? I'm seriously looking at the same model comet right now. Guy said the variable speed drive is noisy....


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## Silverbullet (Sep 29, 2017)

Tony Wells said:


> Comet/Mighty are still in business. They were kind enough to provide me with manuals on a lathe I acquired not long ago. I can PM you the email address for the guy I dealt with if you need it. Unfortunately, for the parts I needed (taper attachment, complete) they were not able to help me, but they were very cordial. I have run and been around several Comet VMC's and they always seemed to be pretty solid machines. I wouldn't mind having one. I've seen, but not run a manual Comet, but if they are all based on the same quality program, they are pretty decent Taiwanese  machines, and many are still in production.
> 
> As far as interchangeable parts with original Bridgeports, it's always a gamble, but a fair one.  I wish there was a way to know exactly which parts would interchange and which would not. I have an older Taiwanese clone, and it could use a little work, but I am not sure enough to start buying parts which may or may not fit. I can't have the mill down for long. Plus atm, I'm out of commission as far as any shop work goes, including maintenance. I can't even get out to the shop to get on my main CAD machine and do some design work I need to do. I need a ATV/4WD wheelchair LoL!


I too need a 4x4 wheelchair, gonna build one I think.


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