Burke #0 Rescued

[ogberi]

Hi All,

While visiting a friend in Michigan I ran across this sitting out in the elements -



A little Burke #0 that needs some attention. The price was right (free!), so I loaded it into the truck and it came home with me.

Now, Burke purists may want to wander elsewhere. When I saw this machine, I thought, 'Hey, that'd make a dandy starting point for a Tool and Cutter grinder. '

I'm in the process of cleaning it up enough that I can re-assemble it and check how clapped out it is. If it isn't too bad, I'll tear it back down and strip-prime-paint everything that needs it. The phosphor bronze spindle bearings will get pressed out, and I'll machine sleeves to allow me to fix Timken tapered roller bearings to a new spindle. The spindle I'll most likely make with a 3/4x16 nose, the same as a Taig spindle. Primarily because I have a lot of Taig tooling already.

More pics to come as the project progresses, but it won't be a quick project.

Thanks!

 

[ogberi]

Yesterday evening I got the spindle and knee elevation gear+shaft out of the machine. Had to gently hammer out the shaft for the knee gear using a 1 lb ball peen and brass drift. She was stuck in there good, even with penetrating oil. No damage though, just dried oil. Now that it's all apart, I went ahead and slathered Citrus Strip all over everything. By the time I had finished the last piece, the paint on the first pieces was turning to goop. Let it sit overnight, and this evening I'll go at it with a putty knife to see how much paint comes off. I figured since it was already apart, I'd go ahead and strip the paint. Even if it's too badly worn to use as a T&C grinder, my GF has already expressed that it'd make an awesome lamp. Not sure if that's good or bad...

If it's too clapped out, at least it is small enough that I can use the Atlas horizontal mill to re-machine the sliding parts flat, then hand scrape it to fit. That'll be a new experience, and at least I won't be risking a machine I depend on. I have $0 tied up in this machine so far, and if I manage to thoroughly botch the job, at least it'll make a nice lamp.