I went on a twelve-hour road trip yesterday to pick up a Boxford Mk2 yesterday. Nothing fancy, just a standard Mk2 with the fixed table and manual downfeed, but it is equipped with a nice swivel vise setup. Drove up to just south of Akron, Ohio to a little welding shop out in the middle of nowhere with cash in hand. This one had all the hallmarks frequently heard about the Boxford's, in that it had been purchased "several years ago" at a tech school auction and the seller described it as having no visible damage or wear aside from a missing knob on one of the handles (drive release handle).
I headed out in the middle of the night and arrived at the shop around 8:30am. I struggled with road construction and delays around/through several major cities and near the end went about fifteen miles down a hilly, snaky road I would've never guessed existing in northern Ohio, followed by 3-1/2 miles on rough gravel, and culminating in .8 miles of what would be best described as a Jeep/goat path through the woods. Sure enough, there was a welding shop back there! I was a little worried about getting back out in one piece with a top heavy, 500lb. shaper riding in the bed, though.
After introductions and pleasantries, the owner immediately apologized for his error in description, correcting his "several years ago" remark to say he got to thinking about it and he had bought the machine approximately 22 years ago. Said it had sat right there in the corner ever since. I found that to be intriguing news, with the possibility of its being a low-hours machine growing in my mind. He had dribbled some oil here and there and everthing seemed to work smoothly, so money changed hands, the little shaper was loaded, and back down the goat path I went.
Arriving home many hours later, the sky was threatening rain and I needed to get the machine into my basement. It took about an hour, but I disassembled the machine and carried it down one subassembly at a time. The steel cabinet was by far the most challenging piece, but I got it all down there. Due to the rain, I neglected to take a single photo before disassembly, but I'll post some of the cleanup and reassembly in coming days. Looking over my pile of parts late last night, I can't help but guess this machine hasn't been ran 10 hours since new. There is almost zero wear on any of the mechanisms that I could detect with the naked eye and so-so lighting. Mostly accumulated filth, welding soot, light surface corrosion on exposed metal surfaces, and the like.
Here's a link with some good pics until I can get around to uploading the real deal: http://www.lathes.co.uk/boxfordshaper/
I headed out in the middle of the night and arrived at the shop around 8:30am. I struggled with road construction and delays around/through several major cities and near the end went about fifteen miles down a hilly, snaky road I would've never guessed existing in northern Ohio, followed by 3-1/2 miles on rough gravel, and culminating in .8 miles of what would be best described as a Jeep/goat path through the woods. Sure enough, there was a welding shop back there! I was a little worried about getting back out in one piece with a top heavy, 500lb. shaper riding in the bed, though.
After introductions and pleasantries, the owner immediately apologized for his error in description, correcting his "several years ago" remark to say he got to thinking about it and he had bought the machine approximately 22 years ago. Said it had sat right there in the corner ever since. I found that to be intriguing news, with the possibility of its being a low-hours machine growing in my mind. He had dribbled some oil here and there and everthing seemed to work smoothly, so money changed hands, the little shaper was loaded, and back down the goat path I went.
Arriving home many hours later, the sky was threatening rain and I needed to get the machine into my basement. It took about an hour, but I disassembled the machine and carried it down one subassembly at a time. The steel cabinet was by far the most challenging piece, but I got it all down there. Due to the rain, I neglected to take a single photo before disassembly, but I'll post some of the cleanup and reassembly in coming days. Looking over my pile of parts late last night, I can't help but guess this machine hasn't been ran 10 hours since new. There is almost zero wear on any of the mechanisms that I could detect with the naked eye and so-so lighting. Mostly accumulated filth, welding soot, light surface corrosion on exposed metal surfaces, and the like.
Here's a link with some good pics until I can get around to uploading the real deal: http://www.lathes.co.uk/boxfordshaper/