Looking To Tool-up My Burke #4 Mill, Need Advice

Tony:
Thanks for the lead on that adapter.
I was looking at a straight adapter (to fit a 3/4 inch B&S9 collet), but I believe it held a smaller ER collet.
Just in time for the Christmas list.
TomKro
 
Asked about this on my other thread, but thought I'd mention it here as well, since traffic seems to be very slow on the forum. I have come across a Porter Cable milling head I could easily adapt to my Burke #4. I'd like to hear a few comments on the PC milling head and whether it is a decent head. It has a MT3 spindle. My other option is to adapt a Bridgeport-type angle head, on which I would have a R-8 spindle.
 
Oh well. Couldn't wait for replies. Seemed like a good deal, so I bought a Porter Cable Mark II milling head today on eBay. Looking forward to getting it. It has the 2.25" shaft, though, so I'll need to turn it down to 2" to fit the overarm bores. However, the head itself is in good shape and appears to have had an easy life with little use in its time. The seller says it has a MT-2 spindle, so tooling for it shouldn't be too hard to find. Comes with a 1/2" collet. Most of these heads, from what I read, though, came with a B&S-7 spindle, so we'll see if he's right.

I've been spending quite a bit of money getting this thing tooled up. Once I get all the stuff I've bought in the next couple of weeks, I'll have a good start on things. I have bought a hold-down kit from Shars, a couple of end mills, a set of 1-2-3 blocks, a right-angle block that I think is going to be too big, the milling head, and some odds and ends.

I'm still going to need a vice at some point, a 4" I think, and a larger fly cutter than what I have, as well as a decent face mill, a couple sizes of T-slot cutters, and a couple sizes of dovetail cutters. That should get me through the projects I have in mind at this point.
 
Post pics of the head and progress with it when you get it, should be very interesting.
 
Got lucky. Found an arbor on eBay with a 6" cutter on it. The description was unclear, stating the arbor had a "morse taper" on it and that the seller didn't think the cutter could be removed. It looked just like an arbor I recently bought, except in better condition. I asked the seller some questions, but he really didn't know much about the arbor, not enough to be able to properly measure it. Since he was asking only $10 for it, and the cutter was worth about ten times that, I took the risk and bought it. Received it yesterday.

It's a perfect fit! It's a 1" diameter arbor with a B&S #9 taper. The taper had a dusting of surface rust, but otherwise was in very nice condition. A few minutes with 00 steel wool dressed it right up. The drawbar hole is threaded 1/2-13, so my drawbar fits it. The nut and spacers came right off. The cutter is a 6"X1/2", with no broken or chipped teeth, and it is very sharp. Appears to have seen little use. Not bad for $22.65 including shipping!IMG_1854.jpg IMG_1855 (1).jpg
 
Folks, there has been less response on this thread than I hoped. I will not be watching or responding to this thread in the future. I will be posting everything to my thread, "Just bought a Burke #4" (tthenrie). If you want to keep up with my tooling up and work with/on my Burke #4, that's where it will be.

Thanks to those who contributed here. Hope you'll follow the other thread as well. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top