Garage Shop - Deckel FP1

B

bukwirm

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A couple of years ago, I ran across a deal on a Deckel FP1 mill with a variety of accessories that was too good to pass up. I was living in an apartment with no garage at the time, so I stored everything in my parents' garage. I finally bought a house with a two-car garage and moved all my equipment in, so I figured I'd post some details and pictures.

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The mill is dirty and has been poorly repainted in the past, but otherwise is in excellent condition. It came with the following accessories for a total of $5k:
  • Horizontal overarm with selection of arbors
  • Vertical Spindle Head FVV
  • High Speed Vertical Spindle Head FVVS (1900 - 6000 RPM)
  • Slotting Head FVS
  • Spiral Milling Attachment FVSP
  • Dividing Attachment FVT
  • 12" Rotary Table (not the original Deckel rotary table, unfortunately)
  • Swiveling Angular Table FVW
  • Fixed Angular Table FVH
  • A box of tooling, collets, etc - including a vertical milling slide from an Atlas lathe for some reason.
  • Documentation, including two copies of the manual and the original bill of sale, slightly mouse-eaten.
  • I was offered the original Deckel accessory cabinet, but it was extremely heavy and I was already pushing the capacity of my trailer, so I did not take it.
  • A (probably Taiwanese) 1440 lathe, "Accura" branded, with a couple of issues.
Everything is now in my garage, as you can see in the next picture. Fortunately, I only have one car (and it's a Mazda MX-5), so I have plenty of space in the garage. Unfortunately, the garage only has one 15A 120V circuit, which it shares with the living room, so I'm going to have to get some electrical work done. I'm planing to add a 100A subpanel to allow room for expansion, but the real job is going to keep my quite busy for the rest of the year, so it will probably be a spring 2023 project. I'm also going to have to build some cabinets and shelves for storage.

The Deckel FP1 was supplied with a 3-phase, 220V, 2-speed motor. I'm working on replacing the original controls with a VFD.

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The machinist who previously owed this equipment was not the type of machinist who kept his shop sparking clean, so the mill and the lathe are completely coated in a combination of oil, chips, and mystery grease/tar/rust. There were also several mice living in the shop, so a few of the accessories show signs of mouse urine. I'll be spending the next few months cleaning and possibly repainting.

Finally, the lathe has a few issues that need to be repaired. The carriage handwheel and both QCGB levers are broken, this lathe is similar enough to the Grizzly G4003 and G0709 to adapt parts that Grizzly still carries for those lathes. There's also a couple of damaged gears in the QCGB, so I'll have to remake those. The compound is quite rusty, so it will be taking a bath in Evaporust. Otherwise the lathe seems to be in very good condition - no visible wear on any of the ways.
 
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I'd say you got a deal! Deckels are usually expensive with those accessories
-M
 
On my FP1, I used the orignal push buttons to control the vfd, mimicking the original functions two speeds and stop. By the way you stoled that Deckel with those accessories especially the Spiral Milling Attachment (rare) You need to go back and get that cabinet, also (rare).
 
frugalguido said:
By the way you stoled that Deckel with those accessories especially the Spiral Milling Attachment (rare) You need to go back and get that cabinet, also (rare).
Click to expand...
Yes, I know :) I don't really have any immediate use for the spiral attachment, but I'm definitely going to set it up and cut some spirals just for fun.

In addition to being too heavy for my already overloaded trailer (almost 500 lbs per the manual), the cabinet was full of mouse urine and was pretty rusty, so I passed on it. Would have been hard to persuade my parents to store a mouse-urine-filled cabinet for two years, in addition to the rest of the stuff. It's been scrapped by now, unfortunately.
 
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Spirals!
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Still no power; I'm just working out how I'm going to lift and install the attachments, as most of them are too heavy for one person.
 
I great deal you got there, especially with all those accessories. Collecting them individually would probably take years of search and a couple of grand. The spiral milling attachment is very rare (at least in Europe) and sought after by enthusiasts. If one occurs, it usually sells for 1000-1500€, depending on condition.

Does your dividing head include all of the punch milling accessories?

Just out of curiosity, what was the original asking price on that bill of sale?
 
No punch milling accessories. The section of the bill of sale with costs is missing (I suppose it's more of a packing list), but the pricing sheet that was attached says the mill cost $4995 in 1962, which would be about $45k in today's dollars. The spiral attachment was $1525 (almost $15k today).
 
Hi, I just came across this thread as I just took delivery of an FP1 myself! And have that helical/spiral milling attachment too.
@bukwirm, did you get to use this attachment? If so, can you show me what you used it to make?
 
I have not yet used the spiral attachment. Actually, I have yet to use the mill at all - got distracted by other house projects, now stuck in permitting for electrical work.
 
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