Pristine Milling Machine--Western MA

[echelon_john]

If anybody's looking, this looks pretty interesting:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Milling-Machine-...#ht_734wt_1059

If the link doesn't work it's item # 160397247761 on ebay.

No affiliation/etc...just looks like a nice rig!
John

[suspectdevice]

Ha! That's here in town. It bums me out to think people buy those new Enco mills around here when you can get a toolroom Bridgeport for under $3k, or even less around here.
Thanks for the heads up though. If I sell a few extra frames this week I'll try to pick it up!

[echelon_john]

mickey-
i know you've moved a fair amount of equipment lately. is there a rigger local to you there that you've worked with? i'm following this machine also and may jump in if it doesn't get too crazy. moving it is the issue, as you know! at least the rain should clear out most of the snow and ice so i could get a clear shot at the barn with the thing.

best,
john

[suspectdevice]

John,
How far away are you? You can easily use a flatbed towtruck or even a small rented flatbed trailer to move a mill like that. Not really sure the price is worth it if you'd need to move it more than 1/2 an hour or so though. Enco's aren't the best things in the world, from what the grumpy old men tell me- and there are lots of good Bridgeports to be had within 1.5 hours of here that are easily worth the extra $120-$150 to get them out here and a few hundred dollars extra for the machine.

RFD might chime in here with some suggestions for good sellers on both the wholesale and private sale ends for quality used machines in southern new england. The Springfield VT area is packed full of good old mills too. If i had any extra money, i'd be scrounging hard right now for used iron. Tons of amazing deals on machines designed to last a few hundrend years. The economy isn't going to turn around any time soon, but if scrap goes back up there are going to be a lot of servicable machines disappearing around here in the next few years.

-m

[echelon_john]

Hi Mickey,
Thanks for getting back t me. I'm just outside Manchester, VT, about half way between Bennington and Rutland. An hour from Brattleboro. If you have any names to check with for inventory on this stuff that would be local to me I'd appreciate it; shoot me a PM or email me at john(AT SIGN) echeloncycleworks.com. I'm familiar with Plaza Machinery but they seem to be on a business model where they only respond to email--not phone calls--and they're not too close (Bethel). Springfield is 41 miles so in terms of dollars/mile to move things probably wouldn't be too bad.

Agreed on Bridgeport v. Enco--although I'm NO expert. It was mostly the newness and lack of wear that were appealing to a machinery newb like me, since I'm sure I don't know all the things I should be looking for.

Thanks for your help!
John

[Clockwork]

In Minneapolis, but... http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/da...569460696.html

-Joel

[echelon_john]

holy big freakin' hunk of metal, batman!

might be overkill for tube mitering--i hear across the hall you can do it on a drill press! ; )

[zank]

C&A Machinery in Norwood has 3 J-heads (one is on a Supermax base) in stock. $1500 your choice. One ran kinda rough and needs some work in the quill housing. I didn't run the other two though.

They also have 3 or 4 2J-heads and a bunch of 2J2-heads.

That might be a hike for you, John. But if you are doing the move, what's another couple of hours? And I know it's already been said, but I'm with Mickey. Stick with a Bridgeport. Parts are available and the scrapers I've talked to around here say they can scrape in a new Bridgeport gib in their sleep.

[echelon_john]

thanks mike! i'm definitely a machinery newb--and i still need to think hard about whether it makes sense for the volume i'm building (which isn't huge) when i'm decently fast w/files. it would be more to build some fixturing and other tools...

there was a nice horizontal mill priced right about 20 miles from me about a month ago--which never happens! missed it by about an hour...for that price and proximity i would jump on it just to acquire a new skill set; the greater the logistics of getting it here, the more i hesitate, given that i'm not sure i NEED it.

but the line between NEED and WANT gets crossed pretty frequently around these parts, so who knows! ; )

thanks for your input,
jc

[zank]

everyone needs a Bridgeport.

[EricKeller]

if a variable speed bport is noisy, there is a plastic plain bearing that can often be replaced that will fix it. Last time I was looking on ebay people were selling a kit for that.

[suspectdevice]

everyone needs a Bridgeport.

Neigh, everyone needs as many Bridgeports as they can get their hands on. I just learned how to make scrambled eggs with my old oldest one.

[zank]

if a variable speed bport is noisy, there is a plastic plain bearing that can often be replaced that will fix it. Last time I was looking on ebay people were selling a kit for that.

H&W has these kits. If it's a more recent 2J head (about '75 and later I think, ID'd with a teal-colored bushing), you have to replace the whole Vari-Disc assembly.

I'm going to rebuild one of the vari-drive heads at some point over the next few weeks. I'll do a photo documentary if you guys want.

[zank]

Neigh, everyone needs as many Bridgeports as they can get their hands on. I just learned how to make scrambled eggs with my old oldest one.

I'm with ya!

[EricKeller]

I would like to see a rebuild sequence. I like the looks of the H&W head remover stand, but I couldn't figure out how you use it. I have a rigid ram BP, and the last time I put the head on it I used the Egyptian method. My daughter hasn't forgiven me for that one yet.

[Archibald]

I would like to see a rebuild sequence. I like the looks of the H&W head remover stand, but I couldn't figure out how you use it. I have a rigid ram BP, and the last time I put the head on it I used the Egyptian method. My daughter hasn't forgiven me for that one yet.

You insert it into the spindle, remove the four retaining nuts and then retract the Y-axis or your ram. You don't need one, BP heads aren't that heavy. I've taken mine off by dropping the quill all the way, raising the table all the way up, then block & balance the head as you retract the y. It's a one man job.

[EricKeller]

I guess I wasn't smart enough to figure that out before i got the head back on. It also doesn't help that I have a series II with box ways so moving the table up and down is a real strain without the air assist. And I haven't gotten it apart to see why the air assist, doesn't.

the part about the stand that I couldn't figure out is how it attaches. Unless it's a lot smaller than it looks, it doesn't look like it would fit in the spindle. Or is it big enough to replace the quill?