- Joined
- May 8, 2021
- Messages
- 40
Hello Hobby Machinists!
Today is my first official post on this forum. Up to this point I have been a lurker skimming tricks and tips where I can for my home shop. I've always been an operator of those slightly disappointing Chinese import machines (mostly Grizzly) and although they do the job I have always lusted over the beautiful high quality and high precision machines on this forum, especially those Swiss, Austrian and German imports from the 40s-70s.
I am finally the proud owner of one of these coveted Austrian Imports. The EMCO Maximat V10. It seems to have been built in 1969 based on the catalogs and books that came with it, I think... Can anyone confirm that?
This lathe mill combo was a craigslist find in northern CA and I paid $2,400 for it, which was at first a little too rich for my blood. Heck I could almost buy a bench top CNC Grizzly Mill for that kind of money. But after inspecting the machine and realizing that it was hardly ever used, and properly stored, it felt like a good deal. The real climax of this story however was the bomb the seller dropped on me right after we agreed on a price. He pointed to a 5 foot tall stack of Craftsman tool boxes and said, "those are full of tools and attachments that come with it". Every drawer is completely full, Yea...
Over the last few weeks digging though these tool chests I have realized that the value in tooling exceeds significantly what I paid for the whole machine. I have not only every accessory that EMCO sold for this machine, but the receipts for every purchase as well.
All original EMCO matching vices, full collet sets, 3 and 4 jaw chuck, compound quick tool post, tool post grinder and the list goes on. It seems the only part I'm actually missing is the EMCO dividing head. In addition to these machine accessories there are drawers full of micrometers, calipers, jewelers vices, reamers and taps of all sizes and at least 25 or 30 tools that are a complete mystery to me. As I sort and categorize each of the mystery tools, I hope the folks of this forum can help me devine their purpose.
If any one spots a tool or accessory that they are absolutely dying to get their hands on please let me know. Ill bet many of these tools I won't have a need for. I get the feeling the the original owner was a bit of a tool hoarder as many of these tools appear to be unused.
Post edit: I assign the "tool hoarder" title in a somewhat endearing manner. I am not innocent of buying the right tool for a job and only using it once. The original owner was methodical and purposeful in his tool selection and I wish I could have seen the things he built with this beautiful machine.
Looking forward to picking some brains and just having a good-ol chat with you all.
Signing off,
Rich
Today is my first official post on this forum. Up to this point I have been a lurker skimming tricks and tips where I can for my home shop. I've always been an operator of those slightly disappointing Chinese import machines (mostly Grizzly) and although they do the job I have always lusted over the beautiful high quality and high precision machines on this forum, especially those Swiss, Austrian and German imports from the 40s-70s.
I am finally the proud owner of one of these coveted Austrian Imports. The EMCO Maximat V10. It seems to have been built in 1969 based on the catalogs and books that came with it, I think... Can anyone confirm that?
This lathe mill combo was a craigslist find in northern CA and I paid $2,400 for it, which was at first a little too rich for my blood. Heck I could almost buy a bench top CNC Grizzly Mill for that kind of money. But after inspecting the machine and realizing that it was hardly ever used, and properly stored, it felt like a good deal. The real climax of this story however was the bomb the seller dropped on me right after we agreed on a price. He pointed to a 5 foot tall stack of Craftsman tool boxes and said, "those are full of tools and attachments that come with it". Every drawer is completely full, Yea...
Over the last few weeks digging though these tool chests I have realized that the value in tooling exceeds significantly what I paid for the whole machine. I have not only every accessory that EMCO sold for this machine, but the receipts for every purchase as well.
All original EMCO matching vices, full collet sets, 3 and 4 jaw chuck, compound quick tool post, tool post grinder and the list goes on. It seems the only part I'm actually missing is the EMCO dividing head. In addition to these machine accessories there are drawers full of micrometers, calipers, jewelers vices, reamers and taps of all sizes and at least 25 or 30 tools that are a complete mystery to me. As I sort and categorize each of the mystery tools, I hope the folks of this forum can help me devine their purpose.
If any one spots a tool or accessory that they are absolutely dying to get their hands on please let me know. Ill bet many of these tools I won't have a need for. I get the feeling the the original owner was a bit of a tool hoarder as many of these tools appear to be unused.
Post edit: I assign the "tool hoarder" title in a somewhat endearing manner. I am not innocent of buying the right tool for a job and only using it once. The original owner was methodical and purposeful in his tool selection and I wish I could have seen the things he built with this beautiful machine.
Looking forward to picking some brains and just having a good-ol chat with you all.
Signing off,
Rich
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