[Newbie] Is This Worth Restoring?

Buy and Restore or keep shopping

  • Restore it!

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Keep Shopping

    Votes: 7 70.0%

  • Total voters
    10
........snip.....Do you know the differences between the 845 and 847 Mills? Want to sell yours :)

Ulma Doctor may be able to answer this better than me. Mine is a 645 model. I'm familar with the 745 and 747, or is that 757? Been too long for me to remember. I believe the heads are the same on all of the 700 models including the 800's, but I maybe wrong. The base is the same on the 645 and 745. But is slightly different, more capacity, on the later 757 and 800 models. I know there are other differences that I'm not aware of.

Yeah, if I could get a 800 model, I think I would still keep my 645! Kinda of hard to let go.
 
That is what I was thinking. I am still shopping for my first mill. I hear all these stories of $1500 bridgeports, but all I find is 4,500 versions. This fella was asking $1500 but with this picture
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That seemed along the lines of my budget and older machine with some life left. Obviously this isn't even the mill he owned. I'm glad I didn't drive the 2.5 hours to see it.

That looks like the one that HGR has for sale. Ask for more pictures. That one doesn't look too bad. I've bought several pieces of machinery from these guys. So far, been satisfied with the purchases I've got from them. I missed out on a 745 Index mill they had for sale a few months ago. Wish I had bought it! Don't worry, mamma took my plastic away from me! Can't spend anymore!
 
I'm a sucker for old iron that just needs a little luv. That seems like a good candidate, in that it has nice features (back gear, power quill, table feeds). It is certainly an ambitious project. I have taken on some challenges, but mine have still been in one piece. You are correct, that a little rust isn't that big a deal (as others have states, that actual ways are pretty tough). It looks like you already have a small mill, so this makes a good compliment. I was in the same situation, with a small mill (a Maho) and kept my eye open for a larger mill (which ended up being a Cinci Toolmaster).

That you offered him $400 was generous on your part. If all is good, there is probably a month of hard steady work - much more depending on components broken, missing, worn out, . . . . .. In my world, that would take several years to complete.

Attached are a couple of my projects:
- A good sized drill press for $100, plus another $30 for parts and a tour through my excess tool storage (like most here I don't hesitate to pick up tooling that I can't use - when it is really cheap). I spent about 60 hours, cleaning, making components, repairing. It was said to have a "bent spindle". I don't know how that would be possible with the machine still being in one piece! Anyway, I replaced the chuck/arbor and all was good.

- The Cinci Toolmaster 1D (is probably on par with that Index - does not have the nod feature, but has the Reeves drive on the spindle - otherwise very similar). That transaction took about a year and a half (patience required), then I had to collect it immediately (my guess is that other buyers backed out). Anyway, it had been in cold storage. It was very dirty, a bit of rust (nothing like your project), no option to try it - totally as is. There was only a vise and a MT4x40 adapter with a 1.25" drill bit (there was no z-axis crank or spindle wrench). There were a few broken knobs and bent handles. It was/is a well featured machine. The rest of the story is that it has cleaned up well, have sorted out most of the handles & knobs, the vise turned out to be a 6" Kurt - it is a nice machine to use. I have about 100 hours of cleaning and making parts invested. I've since spent about $400 on basic spindle tooling. The macine itself? $700.

That Tree is a worthy project, but there are more out there. Continue getting a feel for machines available to you. There is nothing wrong with letting them get away - you never know what may happen. I had the chance to buy the Cinci a year earlier, for probably 3x the price. I let it go. Then a year later the opportunity came up again. Don't sweat it. See if you can stay in touch with the seller. At $900, I doubt it will be going any where (then one day he'll call the scrap dealer). In practical terms the market for a rusty machine in pieces is extremely small.

Let us know how your search goes.

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Everyone has said just about everything I wanted to.
Chipper was bang on and obviously talks from experience.

This is a project. After a few hundred hours it could be a tool. Surprises may lurk.
For the right price($300-$400) I would not be afraid of it.

Good Luck!
-brino
 
I had about 100 hours tied up in restoring my 645 mill. It was in the same shape as the one above when I started restoring it. De-rusting was all done with elbow grease! No Evaporust or electrolysis, lots of Scotch Brite, emery cloth!
 
Cast iron can give the impression of being beyond repair when it’s rusted. But, I have been pleasantly surprised more than once to see terrible looking rusty cast iron clean up to beyond acceptable. And using Evapo rust was also a big part of that restoration process…Good Luck, Dave.
 
When I first saw my 1916 Cincinnati mill it looked like this:
55176-5aa2eb8160c78ceacfecee85d0ea3212.jpg
You cannot even see the coolant-reservoir base as it's buried in snow.
The building had been partially dismantled to remove a huge press.
okay, this was the 2nd time I saw it....I brought my sons back on this weekend to cover it with oil and a tarp until spring.
(this is from my photo gallery on this site if you want to see more)

This morning, I used that very machine to clean up the bandsawn edge of some 1x4" aluminum:
finish4.jpg finish7.jpg

I used a 2" diameter, 4-insert face mill in the vertical head at 375 rpm (the fastest speed available!), 4-3/4 inches per minute feed and 20 thou. depth of cut.

My biggest regret is not buying a big shaper and a few other pieces that were also outside.

-brino
 
I think it depends on several factors. 1) your liabilities 2) your interest 3) initial cost (including getting it home). As long as there are no broken pieces, it's restorable.

The picture of the head is confusing, it's been twisted around on the ram, at best it's upside down relative to the ram.
The pic of the head has become transposed somehow. It's a mirror image
 
It really doesn't look all that bad to me. Unless the ways are very won, it'll probably be just a lot of cleanup. The head was most likely inverted on the ram to lower height and COG for transport.
 
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