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- May 4, 2015
- Messages
- 3,583
If it dont work out theres one on craigslist in south jersey but it needs work cleaning n restoring- says needs capacitor for motor. But its $1,000 enco Taiwan made.
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8x30 Milling Machine Restoration
- Thread starter Radials
- Start date
Hey Pfowler,
The machine looks good. Some tooling and the vice would be nice to come with it. Hope it does.
I picked up the Craftex (BusyBee) version of this mill a few years back here in New Westminster. I’m still new to milling, but have no problem smoking the odd endmill and milling bigger pieces of steel into smaller pieces! Im not too excited by belt changes and need to sort that out with some kind of mod for my machine.
I MUST add a DRO.
Best of luck lugging that monster down to the basement. I hired a HIAB and we wheeled into the garage.
The machine looks good. Some tooling and the vice would be nice to come with it. Hope it does.
I picked up the Craftex (BusyBee) version of this mill a few years back here in New Westminster. I’m still new to milling, but have no problem smoking the odd endmill and milling bigger pieces of steel into smaller pieces! Im not too excited by belt changes and need to sort that out with some kind of mod for my machine.
I MUST add a DRO.
Best of luck lugging that monster down to the basement. I hired a HIAB and we wheeled into the garage.
Attachments
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- Nov 14, 2016
- Messages
- 3,291
These mills look like they are heavily inspired by the Clausing 8520. I was able to disassemble my Clausing into 5 major components, head, motor, table, column/knee and stand which made moving it very easy. I was able to hand carry everything (most parts 50-100lbs) except the column / knee (200-300lbs) which required two people to load in my truck, and I unloaded / moved into my shop with an engine hoist and a sturdy cart. If I had removed the knee I probably could have done the whole thing by hand by myself.
One major difference is the Clausing sits on a steel box / stand which can be separated from the column. It looks like this mill extended the column casting to form a base, which will make moving the column more difficult (heavier). I was able to hand carry the column on my Clausing with 2 people, knee intact. If you remove the knee you could probably do the same. I'd recommend using a small movers cart as it sounds like you may have a bit of a walk from the driveway to your shop.
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2018
- Messages
- 171
Hi there and welcome! Looks worth the price to me as I've been very happy with my machine. Dismantling the machine isn't bad with the help of an engine hoist. I thought I was moving awhile back and designed a sled I could put just the base of the machine on laying on its back so that it could be moved in the bed of my truck. The idea was that only a engine hoist would be needed to move it. I'm happy I didn't have to but think the idea would have worked out well enough. Post some pictures of the move and good luck!
Nick
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2014
- Messages
- 2,634
+1 on Radials disassembly of the machine. I have a Jet JVM-830, same mill. I pulled the motor, then the turret. I slid the rest (base, column, knee and table) down a board into my basement. I think I used a come-along to control it down the board, but don't recall for sure as it was 35 years ago. I got it out of the basement by pulling the turret/motor and used a skid trolley and a 12V truck winch to lift it out. Pulled the turret/motor with an engine hoist.
Bruce
Bruce
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2018
- Messages
- 171
I wasn't happy with the belt tensioning method either on the machine, you can see earlier in this post how bad my machine motor mount was from the factory. I came up with this mod to easily get the tension just right. The toggle does most of the work and the threaded carriage bolt in the end of it allows the tension to be dialed in just right with a few spins. I did have to make a new belt cover as well when I did this because it pushed the motor back far enough to contact the old cover. It just sits on the shelf now if anyone is in need of one.
I assure the critiquing masses that the belts matching the toggle clamps was completely fortuitous. Not that I'm not the type that would do such a thing, but in this case I went to Napa looking for belts and lo and behold I snag a few style points out of luck.
- Joined
- May 16, 2020
- Messages
- 6
Hey all,
Well, it's in the shop ok, still in pieces, but it's in!
Took the heavy beast apart into four pieces; column/base, head, table and knee - all came apart very easily to my relief. Rented a 4foot mechanical 'Genie' fork lift to lift the column and base into the van, then out again and onto a wooden sled I made to get it down the steps. The steps here are wooden sleepers set into the hill at the front of our place. Thankfully, the sled had enough friction on the steps to prevent a total toboggan-like disaster, so we could quite easily slide it without any worry at all. Phew! Then we used the lift again at the bottom to dolly the machine inside and through all the doorways. It now rests in the four pieces in my shop while I source some nice way oil and am able to spend a bit of time cleaning and reassembling. Then I'll get round to installing a 3axis DRO. I will leave the machine in its single phase state for now I think, then maybe one day I will think about a VFD. No plans yet though.
I'm so happy I found this machine. It really does seem to have not been used very much at all. A very lucky find indeed.
Well, it's in the shop ok, still in pieces, but it's in!
Took the heavy beast apart into four pieces; column/base, head, table and knee - all came apart very easily to my relief. Rented a 4foot mechanical 'Genie' fork lift to lift the column and base into the van, then out again and onto a wooden sled I made to get it down the steps. The steps here are wooden sleepers set into the hill at the front of our place. Thankfully, the sled had enough friction on the steps to prevent a total toboggan-like disaster, so we could quite easily slide it without any worry at all. Phew! Then we used the lift again at the bottom to dolly the machine inside and through all the doorways. It now rests in the four pieces in my shop while I source some nice way oil and am able to spend a bit of time cleaning and reassembling. Then I'll get round to installing a 3axis DRO. I will leave the machine in its single phase state for now I think, then maybe one day I will think about a VFD. No plans yet though.
I'm so happy I found this machine. It really does seem to have not been used very much at all. A very lucky find indeed.
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2018
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- 377
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2018
- Messages
- 171
Yes there are two bearings on the knee lead screw. I removed my knee by rotating the head out of the way and cranked the knee up as high as it would go. With an engine hoist attached I loosened the knee gib and then hoisted the knee off the dovetail with the screw still attached. This method worked but the knee wasn't balanced and was finicky to handle once in the air. My picture below indicate I changed the sling method at one point during removal.
When I put it back on I made a block to mount to the center of the knee dovetail and got the balance right before lifting the knee up in the air so it was easier to guide back onto the base.
The bearings as I recall didn't need to be pressed out, but tapped out with a brass punch. There is a castle nut and (tabbed washer?) that hold the screw into the bearings that is easy to remove.
-Nick